Store official at struggling N.J. mall tells workers their jobs are safe

The head of a major U.S. retailer visited Woodbridge Center mall last week to reassure employees their jobs aren’t going anywhere.

Boscov’s chairman and chief executive officer, Jim Boscov, spent Friday with employees at the retail chain’s Woodbridge Center location, which opened in 2013. His visit comes amid news of the struggling mall’s sale to an unnamed buyer for $70.4 million, in a huge loss to investors.

Part of the visit was to reassure employees, “because there has been so many rumors and customers not thinking we’ll stay open as the mall goes through changes,” Boscov store manager Hillary Kessler said on Monday.

“He reassured them we are not going anywhere,” said Kessler, a 15-year employee of the company. “This store is a very strong store for Boscov’s, so we’re staying at this mall and we will not be closing.”

Boscov’s might be going strong, but malls in general are struggling. Foot traffic at U.S. malls was down 4% on average in 2023 from the prior year, and about 12% lower than 2019 levels, according to real-estate data firm Green Street.

Woodbridge Center is a local example of a nationwide trend.

The huge mall in Middlesex County has been on the decline for years, since the COVID-19 pandemic. Brookfield Properties, the mall’s previous owner, reported high rates of vacancy and a decline in retail customers that has been felt throughout the state and country at other indoor shopping centers.

The Chicago-based real estate company has been experiencing challenges with other retail properties in the region. In February, Brookfield Properties announced it was also looking to sell the Neshaminy Mall in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The struggling regional mall in Woodbridge sold to an unnamed buyer in February for $70.4 million, the New York City-based credit rating firm Kroll reported. Although the sale resolved a loan issue tied to the mall, the price was still 80% less than it’s previously appraised value of $366 million, according to the commercial real estate firm CoStar.

Woodbridge Mayor John E. McCormac said previously the details of the transaction would remain confidential until those entities involved share details themselves.

It’s unclear exactly what’s next for the Woodbridge Center mall, but McCormac said it will remain a shopping center. The mayor, who has led Woodbridge since 2006, said officials “made crystal clear” they would “not accept any housing or warehouse components no matter who purchased the property.”

The mall still has attractions including JCPenney, Macy’s, Victoria’s Secret and, of course, Boscov’s.

Boscov’s describes itself as the largest family-owned department store in the nation. The retail store has eight locations in New Jersey and 51 across the country, according to its website.

“We’re still opening stores when other retailers are closing them,” said Kessler. “Boscov’s does very, very good — whether we have a mall around us or whether we are a stand-alone store. So, we independently do well as a retailer.”

Jim Boscov was named CEO of the retail chain in 2015. He’s the third generation of the Boscov family to lead the company.

“We’ve seen an evolution in the mall business and initially it was a concern, but Boscov’s is enough of a destination that what we’ve learned is that even if the mall is going through an evolution — and that’s what’s happening, sometimes they’re going through a phase where they’re dying — and then somebody steps in and they make it right,” Boscov said in an interview last year with PennLive.com.

Boscov credits the company’s success to its employees.

“It’s the relationships they establish with customers that you can’t find anymore,” he said last year.