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Woodbridge Center

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Coordinates: 40°33′24″N 74°17′57″W / 40.556666°N 74.299213°W / 40.556666; -74.299213
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For the historic town center of Woodbridge, Connecticut, see Woodbridge Green Historic District.
Woodbridge Center
An entrance to the Center; The four W towers face the four compass directions, with the ones most prominent in the picture being west and south.
Map
Location250 Woodbridge Center Drive
Woodbridge, New Jersey, 07095
Coordinates40°33′24″N 74°17′57″W / 40.556666°N 74.299213°W / 40.556666; -74.299213
Opening date1971 (1971)[1]
DeveloperThe Rouse Company
ManagementJLL Properties
OwnerJLL Properties
No. of stores and services200[1]
No. of anchor tenants4[1]
Total retail floor area1,633,000 square feet (151,700 m2)[1]
No. of floors2
ParkingParking lot with 8,651 spaces[1]
Public transit accessBus transport NJ Transit NJ Transit bus: 48, 810, 815
Websitewww.woodbridgecenter.com

Woodbridge Center is a major two-level shopping mall located in Woodbridge Township, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, at the intersection of U.S. Route 1 and U.S. Route 9. As of 2025, the mall features Macy's, Boscov's, JCPenney, and Dick's Sporting Goods. The former Lord & Taylor anchor is being developed into a medical lab and office facility.

The land that Woodbridge Center now stands on used to be the location of Maple Hill Dairy farm and old clay pits.[2] The mall is owned and managed by JLL (Jones Lang LaSalle Inc.).[3] The mall features a fountain, carousel, train ride, and children's play area. Although most malls have a food court, Woodbridge Center's eating establishments are spread throughout the mall with their own individual seating areas and restrooms.[4]

The mall's proximity to Staten Island and the absence of sales tax on clothes in New Jersey makes this mall, along with nearby Menlo Park Mall in Edison, a popular choice for shoppers from New York City. The mall has gross leasable area (GLA) of 1,633,000 square feet (151,700 m2), making it the fourth largest of all shopping malls in New Jersey, behind Freehold Raceway Mall in Freehold Township, Westfield Garden State Plaza in Paramus, and American Dream Meadowlands in East Rutherford.

Mall history

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The mall was developed by the Rouse Company and opened on March 4, 1971, with Abraham & Straus, Ohrbach's, and Stern's.[5] In 1978, the mall was expanded with a new wing to include Hahne's and JCPenney.[6] By 1987, the mall got a fresh new look through renovation.[7] The stairwell in the A&S wing next to center court was removed, new flooring was added, new lighting was added, the mall entrances were redone, and the fountains in front of A&S were either changed (the 2nd floor fountain) or removed (the first floor fountains). The Mall's current fountain is on the 1st floor outside of Macy's. (The fountains in front of Lord & Taylor and Sears have been disabled.) In 2003, the mall was expanded with a new 100,000-square-foot (9,300 m2) Galyan's, the chain's first location in New Jersey,[8] which become Dick's Sporting Goods in 2004.[9] Notable department stores that have closed include Hahne's (became Fortunoff now Boscov's),[10] Ohrbach's (which became Steinbach and later Lord & Taylor), Stern's (now Macy's), and A&S (later Sears).[11]

In October 2007, the carousel ride was relocated near the JCPenney. The train ride was also reconfigured to ensure both rides stay together at the same location. A toddler's play area, "Tiny Town", is located near the carousel and train rides.

On November 14, 2017, Dave & Buster's opened on the upper level by Sears, their first location in New Jersey.[12]

In October 2019, Lord & Taylor announced that it would be closing.[13][14]

In February 2020, it was announced that Sears would be closing.[15]

In February 2024, Brookfield Properties sold the mall to JLL Properties.[16]

In November 2024, Accu Reference Medical Laboratory purchased the 124,000-square-foot (11,500 m2) site that had been the Lord & Taylor store, which will be repurposed as a medical lab and offices, bringing 300 employees to the site, once completed.[17]

Incidents

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On March 8, 2012, police shot and killed a shoplifter in the Sears wing who had held a woman hostage.[18]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "Woodbridge Center Mall". Brookfield Properties Retail Group.
  2. ^ Moran, Mark; Sceurman, Mark (2003). Weird N.J.: Your travel guide to New Jersey's local legends and best kept secrets. New York, NY: Barnes & Noble. p. 72. ISBN 9780760739792. Retrieved March 2, 2015.
  3. ^ Jones, Stacy. "Boscov's readies Woodbridge store for debut", The Star-Ledger, August 4, 2013. Accessed January 20, 2025. "A steady stream of empty cardboard boxes leaving Woodbridge Center and 50 empty tractor-trailers only begin to hint at the more than 350 people transforming what used to be a Fortunoff into the mall’s newest anchor.... The Woodbridge location will be the mall’s sixth anchor store, joining Dick’s Sporting Goods, J.C. Penney, Lord & Taylor, Macy’s and Sears."
  4. ^ "Dining & Entertainment". Woodbridge Center Mall. Retrieved March 2, 2015.
  5. ^ "Centre Opening in Woodbridge". Home News Tribune. New Brunswick, New Jersey. March 3, 1971. p. 1.
  6. ^ "New Woodbridge Center debuts tomorrow". Home News Tribune. New Brunswick, New Jersey. October 25, 1978. p. 19.
  7. ^ "Woodbridge Center gets facelift". The Central New Jersey Home News. New Brunswick, New Jersey. June 19, 1987. p. 12.
  8. ^ "Indiana-Based Sports Retailer Joins Woodbridge, N.J., Mall.", Home News Tribune, August 28, 2002. Accessed February 14, 2018. "Indiana-based Galyan's Sports & Outdoor Adventure, an innovative specialty retailer offering a broad range of products for customers with active lifestyles, plans to build its first New Jersey store at Woodbridge Center. Galyan's, which has 26 stores in 14 states, will join the five existing anchors -- Macy's, Fortunoff, Lord & Taylor, Sears and JC Penney."
  9. ^ "Woodbridge, N.J., sporting goods store to become Dick's.", Home News Tribune, October 25, 2004. Accessed February 14, 2018. "Sporting-goods and specialty-apparel retailer Galyans Sports and Outdoor Adventure's first New Jersey store in the township is about to become Dick's Sporting Goods. At 10 a.m. on tomorrow the 100,000-square-foot store near Macy's in Woodbridge Center will hold its grand reopening."
  10. ^ Star-Ledger, Stacy Jones/The (August 4, 2013). "Boscov's readies Woodbridge store for debut". nj.
  11. ^ "Woodbridge Center Timeline". The Central New Jersey Home News. New Brunswick, New Jersey. October 9, 2011. pp. A4.
  12. ^ "Dave And Buster's Opened Tuesday In Woodbridge". Woodbridge, NJ Patch. November 14, 2017. Retrieved May 30, 2018.
  13. ^ Russell, Suzanne. "Lord & Taylor at Woodbridge Center closing". My Central Jersey.
  14. ^ Goldman, Jeff. "Lord & Taylor at N.J. mall to close. Up to 84 could lose jobs on Christmas Eve.", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, October 15, 2019. Accessed October 15, 2019. "The Lord & Taylor store in the Woodbridge Center Mall plans to close with Christmas Eve listed as the day up to 84 employees could lose their jobs, officials said."
  15. ^ Russell, Suzanne. "Sears at Woodbridge Center closing". My Central Jersey.
  16. ^ Staff, AOL. "Woodbridge Center mall has been sold. What does the new owner have planned?". www.aol.com.
  17. ^ Moss, Linda. "Lord & Taylor's next store transformation? Medical labs and executive offices.", CoStar Group, November 15, 2024. Accessed January 20, 2025. "Accu Reference Medical Laboratory has acquired a 124,000-square-foot former Lord & Taylor site at the Woodbridge Center mall in Woodbridge, New Jersey, for $11.5 million, according to the company's local broker, Marvin Glazerman of Glazerman Realty."
  18. ^ Staff. "Shooting at Woodbridge Center mall: Alleged shoplifter shot, killed by police; customers run for cover", The Star-Ledger, March 8, 2012. Accessed January 20, 2025. "A suspected shoplifter who held a woman hostage at knifepoint inside Woodbridge Center was shot to death by a police officer this evening, setting off a scene of chaos inside one of New Jersey's largest shopping malls, authorities said.... After he was confronted by mall security for an alleged shoplifting in the Hollister Co. apparel store, the suspect put a knife to the throat of a random shopper and pulled her inside the Sears store, according to several officials familiar with the incident who were not authorized to comment publicly."
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