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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.
Location	Woodbridge, New Jersey
Coordinates	40°33′24″N 74°17′57″W / 40.556666°N 74.299213°W
Address	250 Woodbridge Center Drive
Opening date	1971
Developer	The Rouse Company
Management	JLL Properties
Owner	JLL Properties
No. of stores and services	200
No. of anchor tenants	4
Total retail floor area	1,633,000 square feet (151,700 m2)
No. of floors	2
Parking	Parking lot with 8,651 spaces
Public transit access	NJ Transit bus: 48, 810, 815
Website	www.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 2022, the mall features Macy's, Boscov's, JCPenney, and Dick's Sporting Goods.

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 location near Staten Island and the benefit of no sales tax on clothes in New Jersey makes this mall, along with nearby Menlo Park Mall in Edison, a popular choice for New York shoppers. 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

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. 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,^[7] which become Dick's Sporting Goods in 2004.^[8] Notable department stores that have closed include Hahne's (became Fortunoff now Boscov's),^[9] Ohrbach's (which became Steinbach and later Lord & Taylor), Stern's (now Macy's), and A&S (later Sears).^[10]^[11]

In October 2007, the carousel ride was relocated near the J. C. Penney. 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]

On October 15, 2019, it was announced that Lord & Taylor would be closing.^[13]^[14]

On February 4, 2020, it was announced that Sears would also be closing during a series of closures.^[15]

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

Incidents

On March 8, 2012, police shot and killed a shoplifter in the Sears wing who had held a woman hostage.^[17]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Woodbridge Center Mall". Brookfield Properties Retail Group.
^ 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.
^ Jones, Stacy. "Boscov's readies Woodbridge store for debut", The Star-Ledger, August 4, 2013. Accessed February 14, 2018. "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."
^ "Dining & Entertainment". Woodbridge Center Mall. Retrieved March 2, 2015.
^ "Centre Opening in Woodbridge". Home News Tribune. New Brunswick, New Jersey. March 3, 1971. p. 1.
^ "New Woodbridge Center debuts tomorrow". Home News Tribune. New Brunswick, New Jersey. October 25, 1978. p. 19.
^ "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."
^ "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."
^ Star-Ledger, Stacy Jones/The (August 4, 2013). "Boscov's readies Woodbridge store for debut". nj.
^ "Woodbridge Center Timeline". The Central New Jersey Home News. New Brunswick, New Jersey. October 9, 2011. pp. A4.
^ "Sears to move into Woodbridge Center". The Courier-News. Bridgewater, New Jersey. December 28, 1994. pp. A10.
^ "Dave And Buster's Opened Tuesday In Woodbridge". Woodbridge, NJ Patch. November 14, 2017. Retrieved May 30, 2018.
^ Russell, Suzanne. "Lord & Taylor at Woodbridge Center closing". My Central Jersey.
^ 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."
^ Russell, Suzanne. "Sears at Woodbridge Center closing". My Central Jersey.
^ Staff, AOL. "Woodbridge Center mall has been sold. What does the new owner have planned?". www.aol.com.
^ "Shooting at Woodbridge Center mall: Alleged shoplifter shot, killed by police; customers run for cover". The Star-Ledger. March 8, 2012. Retrieved March 9, 2012.