A doomed mall?

The list is getting too long to follow, the changes having made only moderate difference, leaving us with a still-failing shopping center.

The South Brunswick Mall is losing another anchor store — Bob’s, which had become a favorite of mine.

Consider the history of closings: Channel, Rickel, Jamesway, Grand Union, Rumbleseats, Ground Round, Bloomingdale Discount Furniture, Pizza Hut, Macy’s — and these are just the major players. We’ve also witnessed a long and unfortunate list of smaller stores bite the dust, including The Little Professor Book Store (where I had worked occasionally while in grad school and when I started out as a reporter).

The closings are a reminder that population growth does not, in and of itself, guarantee business. In this case, the mall has been weighed down by a poor design (it can’t be seen from the highway, for instance, and has a dopey traffic circulation plan) and failed mix of merchants. The hope when Bob’s and Home Depot opened was that they’d bring the shoppers in; the reality is that they have not been the kinds of draws needed.

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Author: hankkalet

Hank Kalet is a poet and freelance journalist. He is the economic needs reporter for NJ Spotlight, teaches journalism at Rutgers University and writing at Middlesex County College and Brookdale Community College. He writes a semi-monthly column for the Progressive Populist. He is a lifelong fan of the New York Mets and New York Knicks, drinks too much coffee and attends as many Bruce Springsteen concerts as his meager finances will allow. He lives in South Brunswick with his wife Annie.

2 thoughts on “A doomed mall?”

  1. Could it be that maybe the central planners, (i.e., the zoning board), have had entirely too much sway in the center? Perhaps, if they would just let the mall alone, then the owners could figure out all the problems you\’ve cited. Let\’s give the owners carte blanche to \”fix\” the problem. And, I\’ll be you\’d be astonished at how fast the problems would be solved. (I remember the tved whining about home depot this and trucks that.) Let\’s give freedom a chance. It was America.

  2. I had actually written to Bob Stores about ten years ago asking them to come to that mall. I had liked shopping in their Freehold store. When they finally came here I was quite disappointed. It was not what it was ten years ago. Although they did have name footwear at great prices.

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