View source for Harbor Square

{{More citations needed|date=December 2007}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2025}}
{{infobox shopping mall
| name = Harbor Square
| image = Shore Mall.png
| caption = Picture of the Shore Mall (Harbor Square) in Egg Harbor Township NJ
| logo = 
| location = [[Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey]], United States
| coordinates = {{coord|39.40012|N|74.56472|W|source:placeopedia|display=inline,title}}
| opening_date = 1968
| developer = 
| owner = Aetna Realty
| number_of_stores = 50+ at peak
| number_of_anchors = 3
| publictransit = {{bus icon|12px}} {{rint|njt|60px}} [[NJ Transit]] bus: 502<br>{{bus icon|12px|Local Transit}} [[South Jersey Transportation Authority|SJTA]]: English Creek-Tilton Road Community Shuttle
| floor_area = {{convert|337423|sqft|m2|abbr=on}}
| floors = 1 (2 in Boscov's)
}}
'''Harbor Square''', formerly '''Shore Mall''', is a shopping plaza (formerly a [[shopping mall]]) in [[Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey|Egg Harbor Township]], [[New Jersey]] in the United States on [[U.S. Route 40 in New Jersey|U.S. Route 40]]/[[U.S. Route 322 in New Jersey|U.S. Route 322]] originally known as "Searstown". The plaza is accessible from Exit 36 off the [[Garden State Parkway]]. The plaza is owned by Aetna Realty. The plaza has a [[gross leasable area]] of 337,423&nbsp;ft², formerly 620,000&nbsp;ft² when it was a mall, located on {{convert|73|acre|m2}} of land. The plaza's [[anchor store]]s include [[Boscov's]], Restaurant Depot and Proshot Pickleball.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.aetnarealty.com/listings-all/https-6725-black-horse-pike-egg-harbor-township-nj-08234-harbor-square/ | title=HARBOR SQUARE MALL | publisher=Aetna Realty}}</ref>

==History==
===1968-1988===
Shore Mall originally opened in 1968 as an open-air mall called '''Searstown'''. Original [[anchor stores]] included [[Sears, Roebuck and Company|Sears]], [[W.T. Grant|Grant City]] and a [[Pantry Pride]] supermarket. Between 1971 and 1974, the mall was enclosed and expanded, with regional up-market department store [[Steinbach (store)|Steinbach]] being added as a fourth anchor store. A [[time capsule]] was buried next to the Steinbach store to be opened 100 years later on March 20, 2074. Grant City closed in 1976 when the chain declared [[bankruptcy]]; by the end of the year, [[JCPenney]] opened in the former Grant City space. Pantry Pride was subsequently replaced with [[Foodtown (United States)|Foodtown]], and the mall was renamed '''Shore Mall'''.

In 1987, Developer Kravco Company (Kravco Company LLC) and JCP Realty, the development arm of JCPenney, opened the new [[Hamilton Mall]] about 5 miles west on the [[Black Horse Pike]] ([[U.S. Route 40 in New Jersey|U.S. Route 40]] and [[U.S. Route 322 in New Jersey|U.S. Route 322]]). This caused problems with the Shore Mall, because the Sears and JCPenney anchors moved to the Hamilton Mall. With the two anchors gone, Shore Mall underwent a fair sized renovation enclosing the still open-air portion between the two anchors as well as re-tiling the mall to its current blue and white color scheme.

In 1988, [[Clover Discount Store]], a discount chain owned by the [[Strawbridge's]] chain (now [[Macy's]]), opened in the former JCPenney/Grant City space, while [[Boscov's]] replaced the former Sears. [[Circuit City (1949–2009 company)|Circuit City]] opened in the former Foodtown, which closed in the early 1990s. Steinbach went out of business in 1995 but was replaced in 1996 with [[Value City]] Department Store. Clover closed in 1997 when that chain also faced closure by its parent company, becoming [[Burlington Coat Factory]] a year later.<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://plana-journ.medium.com/south-jersey-mall-history-shore-mall-a5d589425923 | title=South Jersey Mall History: Shore Mall | work=[[Medium (website)|Medium]] | date=April 12, 2021}}</ref>

===2004-2010===
In 2004, Circuit City moved to a strip mall called Hamilton Commons near the [[Hamilton Mall]]. The Circuit City's location at the mall was replaced with a [[K&G Fashion Superstore]] in 2006 (which has since closed). Since then it has remained vacant but in 2012 it was rented by The Spirit Halloween Costume Store as a seasonal tenant. In January 2006, the Shore Mall was sold [[Cedar Realty Trust]] for $36.5 million, with initial plans to "de-mall" the mall converting it into an open-air plaza.

In 2008, the Value City store at Shore Mall was among 24 locations sold by Value City's parent company to Burlington Coat Factory. The store closed on September 21, 2008 and remained vacant until it was occupied temporarily by The Community Food Bank of New Jersey in 2011-2012 while their permanent location was torn down and reconstructed.

Construction began in 2010 on a [[Golden Corral]] restaurant near the main entrance to the mall (where the former Dairy Queen stood, before moving into the outer building where the AT&T store and Wells Fargo bank are located) and opened in 2011.

In August 2010, Cedar Shopping Centers applied for a state Economic Redevelopment and Growth(ERG) grant in the amount of $3 million to $41 million. The grant would be used to help finance an $87 million revamp of the mall. The plan called for demolishing most of the mall (except Boscov's, Burlington Coat Factory, and all everything else that can be seen from the Black Horse Pike), then converting the site to a strip mall with four additional large stores. It also includes $23 million for transportation upgrades such as a reconfiguration of Exit 36 of the Garden State Parkway, an intersection between West Jersey Avenue and the Black Horse Pike, and a boulevard style road network.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/press/atlantic/article_c27033a5-6cd3-5a12-9036-cc11bbfe4c1b.html |title=Shore Mall owners seek grant for expansion |first=Sarah |last=Watson | work=[[The Press of Atlantic City]] |date=September 27, 2010 | url-access=limited}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://pressofatlanticcity.com/currents_gazettes/egg_harbor_township/township-backs-state-grant-for-shore-mall-redevelopment/article_0435e992-cc78-5158-8e0a-4e4c8f6e9ff6.html | title=Township backs state grant for Shore Mall redevelopment | first=Jordon | last=Wompierski | work=[[The Press of Atlantic City]] | date=September 29, 2010 | url-access=subscription}}</ref>

===2012-present===
In July 2012, Cedar Realty Trust announced plans to raze 1/3 (over 250,000 square feet) of the mall including the former Value City location, forcing tenants to relocate. After demolition, Cedar Realty Trust planned to do some improvements to the location such as a new south entrance to what is remained of the main shopping center, new landscaping, parking lot improvements, and fencing off the excess land in the rear part of the property to put up for sale as vacant commercial land unless phases of new development occur under the owner.<ref name=consider>{{cite news | url=https://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/press/atlantic/egg-harbor-township-planners-to-consider-shore-mall-demolition/article_0dfb16d2-2df2-11e2-abe2-001a4bcf887a.html |title=Egg Harbor Township planners to consider partial demolition of Shore Mall | first=Wallace | last=McKelvey | work=[[The Press of Atlantic City]] |date=November 14, 2012 | url-access=subscription}}</ref>

On January 28, 2013, the Steinbach Time Capsule was dug up in a small ceremony due to demolition process needing it to be moved. The plaque and contents of the capsule were given to the Egg Harbor Township Historical Society who will create a display in remembrance of the mall at their location.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://pressofatlanticcity.com/currents_gazettes/egg_harbor_township/time-capsule-buried-in-shore-mall-unearthed-today/article_d84f6381-0f9c-5681-b672-39adb2814fb0.html | title=Time capsule buried in Shore Mall unearthed today | work=[[The Press of Atlantic City]] | date=January 28, 2013 | url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140820005904/http://www.shorenewstoday.com/snt/news/index.php/egg-harbor-twp/eht-general-news/34276-time-capsule-buried-in-shore-mall-unearthed-today.html |archive-date=2014-08-20 | url-status=live}}</ref> Demolition continued through early-mid 2013, including the former Value City store.

The [[New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission]] office closed on August 23 and August 24, 2013, due to demolition of the back of the mall and the relocation to behind Boscov's which opened on August 26<ref>{{cite news |url=https://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/breaking/mvc-in-shore-mall-will-be-closed-august-and/article_46c3eb36-05d0-11e3-a027-0019bb2963f4.html | title=MVC in Shore Mall will be closed August 23 and 24 | first=Anjalee | last=Khemlani | work=[[The Press of Atlantic City]] | date=August 15, 2013 | url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref name=consider/>

The center was renamed Harbor Square in October 2013.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/press/atlantic/shore-mall-becomes-harbor-square-in-egg-harbor-township/article_bc8b0de2-32e7-11e3-bb6a-001a4bcf887a.html | title=Shore Mall becomes Harbor Square in Egg Harbor Township |first=BRIAN | last=IANIERI |work=[[Press of Atlantic City]] | date=October 11, 2013 | url-access=subscription}}</ref> In February 2014, Cedar Realty Trust sold Harbor Square to Aetna Realty for $25 million.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/blog/real-estate/2014/02/center-in-egg-harbor-sells-for-25m.html |title=Egg Harbor Twp. center sells for $25M |last=Kostelini |first=Natalie |work=[[American City Business Journals]] |date=February 28, 2014 | url-access=subscription}}</ref>

In February 2017, the Carrabba's was closed abruptly along with 13 others due to under performance,<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/business/egg-harbor-township-carrabba-s-restaurant-closes-abruptly/article_ffd03f5e-df03-5ee7-a38f-a66ed6b91110.html |title=Egg Harbor Township Carrabba's restaurant closes abruptly |first=MARTIN |last=DeANGELIS | work=[[The Press of Atlantic City]] | date=February 17, 2017 | url-access=subscription}}</ref> in Fall 2019, Burlington Coat Factory moved to Consumer Square in Mays Landing.

In early 2020, Golden Corral permanently closed due to the [[COVID-19 pandemic]]. Umi Sushi opened in August 2023 along with Restaurant Depot and Proshot Pickleball in the former Burlington.<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://wfpg.com/new-sushi-and-seafood-buffet-now-open-in-egg-harbor-nj/ | title=New Sushi and Seafood Buffet Now Open in Egg Harbor twp, NJ | first=Steve | last=McKay | work=[[WFPG-TV]] | date=August 28, 2023}}</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery mode=packed heights=180>
File:Shore Mall Time Capsule.JPG|The Shore Mall Time Capsule. Buried in 1974 and un-earthed on January 28, 2013 due to the demolition of part of the mall. The plaque and content are currently in the hands of Greater Egg Harbor Township Historical Society.
File:Former Value City Shore Mall.JPG|The Former Steinbach/Value City entrance from the mall, 2012
File:Boscov's Center.JPG|Front of the Mall's "Hall" facing the front, to the left includes Boscov's Furniture. To the right is the main Boscov's store and the center is also Boscov's Merchandise.
File:Rest. Depot in Harbor Square EHT NJ.jpg|Work Underway for Restaurant Depot in 2023
File:Umi_Sushi_EHT_NJ.jpg|Umi Sushi in former golden corral in August 2023
File:PPB_in_EHT_NJ.jpg|Proshot Pickeball in former Burlington in June 2023
File:RestDepot_EHT_NJ.png|Restaurant Depot in former Burlington in May 2023
</gallery>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://www.aetnarealty.com/listings-all/https-6725-black-horse-pike-egg-harbor-township-nj-08234-harbor-square/ Harbor Square Mall official website]
* [http://www.labelscar.com/new-jersey/shore-mall Shore Mall Pictures]
* [https://pressofatlanticcity.com/communities/eht/shore-mall-owner-wants-to-demolish-part-of-shopping-center/article_439a0fbc-d20f-11e1-baec-001a4bcf887a.html Announcement of Mall Demolition]
* [https://pressofatlanticcity.com/communities/eht/shore-mall-stores-begin-to-move-on-some-set-to/article_4802d328-523d-11e2-a8db-001a4bcf887a.html Prepping Closure of the Mall]
* [https://www.deadmalls.com/malls/shore_mall.html Deadmalls.com Commentary on The Shore Mall]
{{Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey}}
{{Atlantic City Malls}}
{{Shopping malls in New Jersey}}
{{Philadelphia Malls}}

[[Category:Buildings and structures in Atlantic County, New Jersey]]
[[Category:Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey]]
[[Category:Shopping malls in New Jersey]]
[[Category:Shopping malls established in 1968]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Atlantic County, New Jersey]]