This New Jersey shopping center is a time capsule from the ‘90s
Ready to go back in time?
Classic Stores That Once Ruled New Jersey
For whatever reason, I've always been interested in old stores. Just think of some of the chains that used to dot the landscape around the Garden State:
- John Wanamaker
- Jamesway
- Caldor
- Two Guys
- Bradlees
- Clover
- Strawbridge & Clothier
- Sears
- Kmart
And that doesn't even include old home improvement stores like Channel or Rickel's, electronics stores like Silo and Circuit City, or supermarkets like SuperFresh, Pathmark, and A&P.
As a kid, I would spend my entire allowance in those places on anything I could find for a couple of bucks. And it was those childhood memories that came flooding back recently when I toured an old shopping center.
A NJ Shopping Center Stuck in Time
In the world of shopping, among the things seemingly frozen in time in South Jersey is the Cardiff Shopping Center on the Black Horse Pike in Egg Harbor Township, almost across the street from the old Shore Mall.
Locals know that the shopping center has certainly seen better days. And while several businesses do well there, a majority of the plaza has been empty for a long time.
Pathmark, for example, closed over 11 years ago, and that space has remained vacant.
And it is that Pathmark store where some retail history can still be found.
A Glimpse Into an Old Pathmark Store
This old Pathmark sign was on the back of the building until recently.
- TAKE A LOOK: A look inside a NJ Sears store that closed years ago
But cool stuff can be found on the front, too.
This may be the last original Pathmark sticker with store hours. This may have been for the store's pharmacy.
And another sign with store hours is still hanging by the front doors.
Just think, that sign hasn't been touched in over a decade. It hangs there just waiting for the next customer that will never come in.
Not that there's anything worth looking at inside anyway...
But we did find an old Pathmark shopping cart!
And it's worth mentioning that Pathmark does still exist. After the chain went bankrupt in 2015, a firm purchased Pathmark's intellectual property the following year. One Pathmark store reopened in Brooklyn in 2019. Whether or not the chain will expand again has yet to be determined.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the shopping center, there's more cool stuff.
Bradlees Still Has a Footprint
Bradlees used to be over by Forman Mills. Check this out:
And a peek through that door...
...reveals something else that you don't see anymore -- "in" and "out" stickers on doors. These days, it's usually arrows. "Mrs. B" would be proud.
Scariest Empty Stores in New Jersey
But, perhaps, even cooler than that is the strip of stores that's between the old Pathmark and the old Bradlees. Sure, those stores have been empty for a long time, but I had no idea what they looked like until I peeked inside... and it was shocking, to say the least.
These Old, Neglected Stores in New Jersey Look Like a Zombie Apocalypse
Gallery Credit: Chris Coleman
