Freehold Raceway Mall

Freehold Raceway Mall is a super-regional shopping mall in Freehold Township, New Jersey. The mall's anchor stores are JCPenney, Lord & Taylor, Macy's, and Primark with two vacant anchors last occupied by Nordstrom and Sears. The mall is owned and managed by The Macerich Company, having purchased the mall from developer Wilmorite in 2005, and has 1,669,000 square feet (155,055 m2) of gross leasable area,[1] making it the second largest shopping mall in New Jersey. An outdoor lifestyle addition, begun in January 2007, added 100,000 square feet (10,000 m2) of additional retail space. On November 23, 2011, the mall was ranked in a Weather Channel news article titled "The Most Congested Malls for Black Friday". Freehold Raceway Mall ranked third in the nation.[2]

Freehold Raceway Mall
Mall entrance, seen from the 2007 Lifestyle Center addition
LocationFreehold, New Jersey
Coordinates40.2521°N 74.2946°W / 40.2521; -74.2946
Opening dateAugust 1, 1990 (August 1, 1990)
DeveloperWilmorite
ManagementMacerich
OwnerMacerich and Heitman
No. of stores and services237 (As of 2021)
No. of anchor tenants6 (4 open, 2 vacant)
Total retail floor area1,669,000 square feet (155,055 m2)[1]
No. of floors2 (3 in Macy's and former Nordstrom)
ParkingParking lot
Public transit access NJ Transit bus: 67, 836, 838
Websitefreeholdracewaymall.com

History

Construction on Freehold Raceway Mall commenced in 1987,[3] across the street from the Freehold Raceway on land used for stables. The stables still exist, connected by a small pedestrian/horsecart bridge over Route 9, but they can only be accessed via mall entrance road. In preparation for the mall's opening, the Freehold Circle was eliminated and rebuilt into an at-grade intersection with traffic lights and jughandles. A traffic light and jughandle for the mall entrance road from Route 9 was also constructed due south of the intersection of U.S. Route 9 and Business Route 33.

The mall officially opened on August 1, 1990; the public opening was preceded by a private "preview" gala and fundraiser for CentraState Medical Center which included papier-mâché racehorse centerpieces and a fabric replica of the food court's carousel, which had not yet arrived from Italy.[4] The mall originally had two anchors: Sears and Lord & Taylor with construction already underway on JCPenney (originally planned to be Hahne's, but the company was merged into Lord & Taylor), which later opened in 1991 as well as Nordstrom, which later opened in 1992.[5] A fifth anchor, Macy's, was opened on October 7, 1998.[6]

The mall was not initially successful. Vacancies were imminent, and many of the spaces were filled with non-traditional mall tenants, such as municipal services. Local photography clubs displayed their photos on the mall's empty walls, while other areas sported photos of the raceway and the fire that occurred in 1984. The only evidence of the mall from Route 9 was the monument sign approaching the mall entrance, as the satellite big box stores were not yet built. Customers could also easily travel to the nearby Monmouth Mall, Seaview Square Mall, Brunswick Square Mall, or the Manalapan Mall. Once Nordstrom opened, Freehold Raceway Mall now had a store that was sure to be a success due to the fact there was not another Nordstrom around for 30 miles (48 km). The crowds eventually came, the vacancy rate at the mall significantly dropped, and led to the downfall of Manalapan Mall closing in 1999 and Seaview Square Mall, which redeveloped into a power center.

The Freehold Raceway Mall under renovation in Summer 2007. Note the new and old paint colors and flooring.
The Center Court post-renovation, January 2009

Freehold Raceway Mall was expanded in 2007, and construction began in January. The expansion was built in the space between JCPenney and Sears in the upper floor parking lot. The addition included a strip of outdoor stores along the JCPenney side of the mall, occupied by 13 to 15 stores, two restaurants, a promenade, an area for community events and a valet parking station.

In April 2007, the mall's first renovation project was underway. The renovation replaced the flooring, changing the brown and green tile to a beige stone tile, it replaced the green paint on the ceilings and ironwork with a more beige/earthtone, the brass rails were replaced in favor of wooden rails, new lighting under the skylights and along/under the columns was added, the globe lighting along the skylights, pillars and ironwork was replaced, a new escalator next to Sears was added, soft, carpeted seating areas were added and the large center court fountain was replaced with a smaller fountain, and a soft seating area.[7] New additions include single- and two-story retail spaces, and two new parking lots which were built on site to replace those that were lost. They are located along the Raceway Mall Drive entrance and on the opposite side of the ring road next to Nordstrom.

On July 18, 2011, Borders Books & Music announced that they will be liquidating all of their stores, including their Freehold location.[8]

In September 2013, L.L.Bean opened their third New Jersey location inside the former Borders Books & Music anchor. They hosted a grand opening festival including giveaways, contests, and also a Birds of Prey exhibit as well.[9]

In 2015, Sears Holdings spun off 235 of its properties, including the Sears at Freehold Raceway Mall, into Seritage Growth Properties.[10]

Since July 16, 2016, Primark leases the second floor of the Sears building.

On December 11, 2019, Sears announced that its store will be closing at the mall in mid-February 2020.[11] The lower level of the space was to be converted into a Round One Entertainment before being cancelled from the township.[12]

On May 7, 2020, it was announced that Nordstrom would also be closing after being at the mall for 28 years. A petition to save the store and employee jobs was circulated which garnished over 10,000 signatures. The store did have a fixture liquidation sale that went from July 19 to July 29 and the closure was made permanent on July 31 with an expected impact of the loss of 252 jobs.[13]

On August 27, 2020, it was announced that Lord & Taylor would be closing all 38 stores, including the Freehold Raceway Mall location. The store will close in February 2021. This will leave JCPenney, Macy's, and Primark as the only anchors left.[14]

References
  1. "Freehold Raceway Mall Market Profile" (PDF). Macerich. 2016. Retrieved January 23, 2017.
  2. "The Most Congested Malls for Black Friday Archived November 26, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, accessed November 24, 2011
  3. "Wilmorite : Portforlio Information". Archived from the original on July 24, 2011.
  4. Henderson, Marguerite (August 1, 1990). "Plenty to ogle at raceway mall preview". Asbury Park Press. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
  5. Conroy, William (June 9, 1991). "Despite recession, retailer continues expansion plans". Asbury Park Press. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
  6. Serra, Maria Jose (October 8, 1998). "Macy's wins at Raceway". Asbury Park Press. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
  8. Rooney, Ben. "Borders liquidates: 10,700 jobs lost". CNNMoney. Retrieved 2020-11-30.
  9. "L.L. Bean Grand Opening Celebration This Weekend". Freehold, NJ Patch. 2013-09-19. Retrieved 2020-11-30.
  10. "At Freehold Raceway Mall". seritage.com.
  11. Willis, David P. (December 11, 2019). "Sears to close Freehold Raceway Mall store; sales start soon". Asbury Park Press. Retrieved February 15, 2020.
  12. https://www.app.com/story/money/business/main-street/whats-going-there/2020/02/07/round-1-bowling-amusement-freehold-raceway-mall/4682902002/
  13. Alexander, Dan. "Nordstrom to close the store at Freehold Raceway Mall". New Jersey 101.5. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
  14. https://www.app.com/story/money/business/main-street/whats-going-there/2020/08/27/lord-taylor-closing-all-stores-including-freehold-raceway-mall/5643558002/
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