The Cherry Hill Mall is an indoor shopping center located in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, within the unincorporated namesake neighborhood and census-designated place (CDP) of Cherry Hill Mall, New Jersey. The mall opened on October 11, 1961, as the Cherry Hill Shopping Center, designed by architect Victor Gruen and built and managed by The Rouse Company. It was the first indoor, climate-controlled shopping center east of the Mississippi River in the United States. Rouse sold its shopping center portfolio to PREIT in 2003. The mall has a gross leasable area of 1248347 sqft, placing it in the top ten among the largest shopping malls in New Jersey. It is currently anchored by JCPenney, Macy's, and Nordstrom. The farm that was near the site of the Cherry Hill Mall is widely held to be the source of the 1962 renaming of what had been called Delaware Township to its current name of Cherry Hill Township. The town was named Cherry Hill in a voter referendum due to the development of a new U.S. Postal Service office for the region, and historical ties to Cherry Hill Farm, which once occupied land opposite the current mall site, and various locations named for the farm, including the Cherry Hill Estates housing development and the Cherry Hill Inn.

History

The Cherry Hill Mall opened on October 11, 1961, on the former site of the 16 acres George Jaus farm. It was designed by Victor Gruen and built and managed by The Rouse Company at a cost of $30 million (equivalent to $ million in ). Upon opening, it was the largest mall in the nation and is commonly referred to as the first enclosed and climate-controlled mall in the Eastern United States. The mall featured 90 stores, exotic birds, tropical plants, fountains and a movie theater. The mall layout was unique for the time. Unlike the dumbbell malls of the time, the mall started from the east anchor, Bamberger's, with a large "Delaware Mall" concourse to the west of it. About halfway along this concourse was an exit way that led back to a twin movie theatre and a children's amusement park with six rides and a mini roller coaster with a giant arcade. The center of the mall featured Cherry Court, a court with high ceilings, more tropical plants, fountains, parrots, plus a staircase leading directly to the second floor into Strawbridge & Clothier. The northern wing featured the "Market Court", Food Fair, and Thrift Drug. There were also a Kresge's, Woolworth's, and two liquor stores. The mall changed through the years; 1973 brought a detached nine-story office tower. In 1977, a new two-story wing was built in the north part of the mall, following the closure and demolition of Pantry Pride and the Market Court. This wing was anchored by JCPenney. The 1990s brought more change to the mall, with the mall being remodeled once more, featuring a teal/gray color scheme and skylights. The mall received different fountains and the ornate Strawbridge's staircase was replaced with a simple escalator/stairs combination. By 1997, two distinct parts of the mall had formed: an upscale wing near Macy's featuring Banana Republic and Victoria's Secret, while the JCPenney wing featured General Nutrition Centers and several urban shops. In 2003, the mall was sold to PREIT.

PREIT renovation and expansion

Under PREIT's ownership, Old Navy moved in early on, but the company had bigger plans for the mall. From the period of 2007 to 2009, the mall underwent a massive $220 million renovation that saw 228000 sqft of new retail added. Jim Ryan and his team at JPRA Architects were brought in to create the mall’s new design. Following Strawbridge's closure after the Macy's takeover, the store was razed and backfilled to make way for the new Grand Court featuring 140000 sqft of new retail, along with a new 138,000 sq ft. Nordstrom anchor store which opened on March 27, 2009. In December 2022, the Cherry Hill Police Department banned shoppers under the age of eighteen from entering the Cherry Hill Mall unaccompanied between the hours of 4:00 and 7:00 p.m. during the last week of December; this was in response to a series of fights that occurred at the mall five years earlier.

Anchors

Former Anchors

In popular culture

The Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War DLC map "The Pines" is based on the Cherry Hill Mall.