Echelon Mall
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Echelon Mall, located in Voorhees Township, New Jersey, is the third-largest shopping mall in South Jersey, behind Deptford Mall and Cherry Hill Mall. It was developed in 1970 as the center of a residential and commercial center in Voorhees. Currently, its anchor stores are Boscov's (173,000 sq. ft.) and Macy's (224,000 sq. ft.). The mall has a gross leasable area of 1,140,000 ft²[1].
In recent years, Echelon Mall has struggled, to the point where some are preparing to consider it a dead mall, even though the surrounding area is not considered to be in decline. The current vacancy rate is about 50%. There are multiple reasons for this; There are numerous other malls in South Jersey, including moderately-sized malls in Moorestown, Cherry Hill, Deptford, and Burlington. While Echelon competed with these centers for years, the advent of newer centers such as The Promenade at Sagemore (Marlton) and The Gallery at Market East (central Philadelphia) have provided additional shopping alternatives in the area. Also, whereas most United States shopping malls are located near an Interstate highway or at least a principal thoroughfare, Echelon is relatively difficult to get to, located at the somewhat obscure intersection of Somerdale and Burnt Mill in Voorhees.
Voorhees Township and Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust have been developing several initiatives to revitalize the mall. One idea involved demolishing the mall and replacing it with a Wal-Mart. This proposal was strongly opposed by residents and was abandoned in 2006. The latest prevailing proposal, which involves demolishing the abandoned anchor stores and developing an outdoor "town center", has achieved a considerable amount of support from local residents.
