Woodbridge Center

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.
LocationWoodbridge Township, New Jersey, U.S.
Coordinates40°33′24″N 74°17′57″W / 40.556666°N 74.299213°W / 40.556666; -74.299213
Address250 Woodbridge Center Drive, 07095
Opened1971; 55 years ago (1971)
DeveloperThe Rouse Company
ManagementSpinoso Real Estate Group
OwnerSagehall Partners
Stores150+
4
Floor area1,633,000 square feet (151,700 m2)
Floors2
ParkingParking lot with 8,651 spaces
Public transit
Bus transport NJ Transit NJ Transit bus: 48, 810, 815
Websitewww.woodbridgecenter.com
Interior view (July 2021)

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 Route 1 and Route 9. As of 2025, Woodbridge Center features a variety of retail stores, including Macy's, Boscov's, JCPenney, and Dick’s Sporting Goods as anchor stores. Additionally, Hollister, ALDO, Skechers, and JD Sports are among the specialty retailers operating within the mall.

The land that Woodbridge Center now stands on used to be the location of Maple Hill Dairy farm and old clay pits. The mall is owned and managed by Sagehall Partners and Spinoso Real Estate Group. The previous owners and managers were JLL Properties and Brookfield Properties. 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.

The mall's proximity to Staten Island and the absence of sales tax on clothes in New Jersey makes this mall, along with nearby Menlo Park Mall in Edison, a popular choice for shoppers from New York City. 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 in East Rutherford.

History

The mall was developed by the Rouse Company and opened on March 4, 1971, with Abraham & Straus, Ohrbach's, and Stern's. In 1978, the mall was expanded with a new wing to include Hahne's and JCPenney. 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, and the mall entrances were redone. 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, which became Dick's Sporting Goods in 2004. Notable department stores that have closed include Hahne's (became Fortunoff now Boscov's), Ohrbach's (which became Steinbach and later Lord & Taylor), Stern's (now Macy's), and A&S (later Sears). In 2024, Express filed for bankruptcy and announced the closure of several store locations, including its Woodbridge Center location.

In October 2007, the carousel ride was relocated near the JCPenney.[citation needed]

In October 2019, Lord & Taylor announced that it would be closing.

In February 2020, it was announced that Sears would be closing.

In February 2024, Brookfield Properties sold the mall to Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL).

In May 2024, JLL sold the mall to Sagehall, a private New York–based firm, who later hired Spinoso Real Estate Group as manager.

In November 2024, Accu Reference Medical Laboratory purchased the 124,000-square-foot (11,500 m2) site that had been the Lord & Taylor store, which will be repurposed as a medical lab and offices, bringing 300 employees to the site, once completed. As of 2026, the new medical labs at the mall are currently under construction.

Notable incidents

1994 abandoned person

On November 4, 1994, a woman was found abandoned at the Woodbridge Center. She had lost her memory and had no idea of her identity. It would be 14 years before she was identified as Elba Soccarras.

2012 shooting

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

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Woodbridge Center Mall". Spinoso Real Estate Group.
  2. ↑ "Woodbridge Center". Spinoso REG.
  3. 1 2 "New York Private Equity Firm Was Buyer of Distressed North Jersey Mall". CoStar. May 1, 2024. Retrieved February 18, 2026.
  4. ↑ "Directory of Stores | Visit Us at Woodbridge Center".
  5. ↑ 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.
  6. ↑ Jones, Stacy. "Boscov's readies Woodbridge store for debut", The Star-Ledger, August 4, 2013. Accessed January 20, 2025. "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, JCPenney, Lord & Taylor, Macy’s and Sears."
  7. ↑ "Dining & Entertainment". Woodbridge Center Mall. Retrieved March 2, 2015.
  8. ↑ "Centre Opening in Woodbridge". Home News Tribune. New Brunswick, New Jersey. March 3, 1971. p. 1.
  9. ↑ "New Woodbridge Center debuts tomorrow". Home News Tribune. New Brunswick, New Jersey. October 25, 1978. p. 19.
  10. ↑ "Woodbridge Center gets facelift". The Central New Jersey Home News. New Brunswick, New Jersey. June 19, 1987. p. 12.
  11. ↑ "Indiana-Based Sports Retailer Joins Woodbridge, N.J., Mall". Home News Tribune. August 28, 2002. Archived from the original on February 15, 2018. Retrieved February 14, 2018 – via HighBeam Research. 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.
  12. ↑ "Woodbridge, N.J., sporting goods store to become Dick's". Home News Tribune. East Brunswick, NJ. October 25, 2004. Archived from the original on February 15, 2018. Retrieved February 14, 2018 – via HighBeam Research. 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.
  13. ↑ Star-Ledger, Stacy Jones/The (August 4, 2013). "Boscov's readies Woodbridge store for debut". nj.
  14. ↑ "Woodbridge Center Timeline". The Central New Jersey Home News. New Brunswick, New Jersey. October 9, 2011. pp. A4.
  15. ↑ Baldwin, Carly (April 24, 2024). "Express Store At Woodbridge Center Mall Will Close". Woodbridge, NJ Patch. Retrieved July 18, 2025.
  16. ↑ Russell, Suzanne. "Lord & Taylor at Woodbridge Center closing". My Central Jersey.
  17. ↑ 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."
  18. ↑ Russell, Suzanne. "Sears at Woodbridge Center closing". My Central Jersey.
  19. ↑ Staff, AOL. "Woodbridge Center mall has been sold. What does the new owner have planned?". www.aol.com.
  20. ↑ Moss, Linda. "Lord & Taylor's next store transformation? Medical labs and executive offices.", CoStar Group, November 15, 2024. Accessed January 20, 2025. "Accu Reference Medical Laboratory has acquired a 124,000-square-foot former Lord & Taylor site at the Woodbridge Center mall in Woodbridge, New Jersey, for $11.5 million, according to the company's local broker, Marvin Glazerman of Glazerman Realty."
  21. ↑ NJ.com, Susan K. Livio | NJ Advance Media for (March 25, 2009). "Family members are glad to know about 'Elba,' N.J. investigator says". nj. Retrieved March 27, 2025.
  22. ↑ Staff. "Shooting at Woodbridge Center mall: Alleged shoplifter shot, killed by police; customers run for cover", The Star-Ledger, March 8, 2012. Accessed January 20, 2025. "A suspected shoplifter who held a woman hostage at knifepoint inside Woodbridge Center was shot to death by a police officer this evening, setting off a scene of chaos inside one of New Jersey's largest shopping malls, authorities said.... After he was confronted by mall security for an alleged shoplifting in the Hollister Co. apparel store, the suspect put a knife to the throat of a random shopper and pulled her inside the Sears store, according to several officials familiar with the incident who were not authorized to comment publicly."