Princeton Shopping Center
Entrance gate of the center, 2018
LocationPrinceton, New Jersey, U.S.
Coordinates40°21′49″N 74°39′04″W / 40.36361°N 74.65111°W / 40.36361; -74.65111
Opening date1954
DeveloperTheodore Potts
OwnerEdens
No. of stores and servicesaround 50
No. of anchor tenants1
Total retail floor area255,000 square feet (23,700 square meters)
No. of floors1 overall
2 in anchor store
Websitewww.princetonshoppingcenter.com

The Princeton Shopping Center is an open-air shopping mall in Princeton, New Jersey.

Encompassing 255,000 square feet (23,700 square meters) and around fifty stores and restaurants,[1][2] the center is known for its distinctive mid-century design.[3][4] It is also known for its community-based atmosphere and appeal.[1] It exists as a rectangular series of low-profile, single-story structures with roofs that protrude to give shelter walkways, with a large open courtyard in the middle.[3] At one end is a two-level anchor store that has housed Bamberger's, Epstein's and McCaffrey's Food Markets in turn. It has a large surrounding parking area, as well as a bus stop that is serviced by both New Jersey Transit and Princeton's Muni bus.[5][6]

The center has long featured a weekly concert series held in its courtyard during summers.[2] As Princeton's Town Topics newspaper has noted, the relaxed atmosphere but still well-populated nature of the center has attracted people to it: "the Shopping Center is a proven anomaly ... the open-air, California-style facility, unlike most malls and front-lot strip malls, is being celebrated in a time when suburban developmental stylings are perhaps not necessarily in style."[7]

History

The center was built in the Princeton Township portion of the Princeton area (in the era when it was a distinct entity, before merging with Borough of Princeton in 2013).[8] The developer was Theodore Potts, who in 1950 obtained township planning approval for the project.[9] The project overall encompassed 28 acres (11 ha), with 8 acres (3.2 ha) going to an adjacent recreational area,[10] now known as Grover Park.

Construction of the anchor store, then known under the name L. Bamberger & Co., began in May 1951.[11] At that point Bamberger only had stores in Newark and Morristown; another in Plainfield was also in development at that point.[12] When it opened on September 9, 1954, Bamberger's occupied two stories and 60,000 square feet, significantly smaller than other Bamberger's locations.[11] As a result, it only carried a portion of the lines that the larger stores had, such as the flagship location in Newark;[11] among the lines missing were furniture, glass, and silver.[13] Nevertheless, Bamberger's officials always liked the store and kept it going.[11] The Bamberger's there finally closed in 1980, in part because a large Bamberger's had opened as an anchor store at Quaker Bridge Mall, only five miles away, in 1976.[11][13]

It was replaced in the Princeton Shopping Center later that year by Epstein's, a New Jersey family department store chain whose generally smaller size and orientation towards personalized service was a better fit for the center.[13] Epstein's also had the belief that it was better to be a bigger store in a smallish center, as opposed to being a run-of-the-mill store in a large mall.[14] Epstein's moved out in 1990, relocating to the Princeton MarketFair.[14]

It was replaced in 1992 on the first floor of the anchor building by McCaffrey's Food Markets, a regional chain of supermarkets in southeastern Pennsylvania and west-central New Jersey.[15] McCaffrey's became what one writer termed the "go-to supermarket" in the immediate area.[8] The second floor of the building has a McCaffrey's eating area and also the locations of a yoga facility, a ballet school for youngsters, and other offices.[16]

For many years the center was owned by George Comfort & Sons,[1] a New York-based company.[3] The center underwent a renovation in 2007, under the supervision of Rosen Johnson Architects.[3] The redoing of the center involved the digging up and replacing many of the courtyard's trees and gardens, to the consternation of some longtime shoppers.[9]

In 2012, the center was sold to Edens, a South Carolina-based company, which pledged to keep up the community atmosphere which had made the center a success.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Persico, Joyce J. (May 21, 2012). "Princeton Shopping Center's new ownership plans to keep up with community atmosphere". The Times of Trenton.|
  2. 1 2 Bearse, Myrna (2005). Princeton: Still Making History. Macon, Georgia: Indigo Custom Publishing. pp. 27, 73.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Upgrades in the bag for Princeton Shopping Center". Real Estate Weekly. August 29, 2007 – via The Free Library.
  4. ↑ "Princeton Shopping Center". Anthony Johnson Architect. Retrieved March 10, 2019.
  5. ↑ "Bus Services". Institute for Advanced Study. Retrieved March 16, 2019.
  6. ↑ "Princeton Muni Bus Service". Retrieved January 8, 2024.
  7. ↑ Hersh, Matthew (September 27, 2006). "Princeton Shopping Center Looks Ahead as Town's Second 'Downtown' Turns 50". Town Topics.
  8. 1 2 Riordan, Kevin (November 20, 2011). "In Princeton, vote brings an opportunity to share the yoke". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. B2 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. 1 2 "Shopping Center Coming Into Focus". Town Topics. Princeton. May 14, 2008.
  10. ↑ "The History of Princeton Shopping Center". Princeton Shopping Center. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 Lisicky, Michael J. (2016). Bamberger’s: New Jersey’s Greatest Store. Charleston, South Carolina: The History Press. pp. 57, 59, 123, 128.
  12. ↑ Hatala, Greg (November 25, 2013). "Glimpse of History: Newark's Bamberger's was flagship location". The Star-Ledger. Newark, New Jersey.
  13. 1 2 3 Cook, Winifred I. (April 10, 1980). "Bam's out, Epstein in at Princeton center". The Central New Jersey Home News. p. 18 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. 1 2 Ostermiller, Marilyn (November 1, 1992). "Epstein's: there's still a spot for family department stores". The Sunday Courier-News. Bridgewater, New Jersey. p. D1 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ↑ "McCaffrey's, Princeton's Hometown Market, Is Celebrating Its 20th Anniversary This Month". Town Topics. Princeton. September 5, 2012.
  16. ↑ "Services". Princeton Shopping Center. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
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