Beloved Stores Frozen in Time at a Once-thriving NJ Shopping Center

Ready to go back in time?

For whatever reason, I've always been interested in old stores. I mean, just think of some of the establishments that used to dot the landscape around here:

• 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.

Frozen 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 (which doesn't exist anymore, either).

Locals know that shopping center has certainly seen better days. And while several businesses do well there, a majority of the plaza has been empty for years.

Pathmark, for example, closed over 11 years ago and that space has remained vacant since (check out some old pictures below).

And it is that Pathmark store where some retail history can still be found.

This old Pathmark sign was on the back of the building until recently.

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.

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 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.

And this is where I always make the distinction: this shopping center is NOT abandoned. For the urban explorers reading this, if you break in to any of these stores, you will be arrested.