Shopping at Quakerbridge Mall Will Be Different After Coronavirus

It has been almost 2 months since Quakerbridge Mall in Lawrenceville, NJ was forced to close its doors due to the Coronavirus outbreak.

In that time, mall retailers have missed both Easter and Mother's Day sales, as well as lots of opportunities to take advantage of people shopping for spring and summer clothing.

When the mall does eventually reopen, it is almost definitely going to be a different experience than the one we were used to prior to the Coronavirus.

The owner of Quakerbridge Mall, Simon Property, has already published COVID-19 Exposure Mitigation Protocols.

Some of Simon's measures to protect customers include reduced occupancy, temporary closure of child play areas, and no access to drinking fountains.

Simon also says that it will use signage and floor decals to remind customers of the importance of social distancing.

In addition to the new safety measures, Quakerbridge Mall may also have fewer tenants. According to reuters.com, J.C. Penney is planning on filing for bankruptcy as early as next week.

Reuters.com also says that J.C. Penney has plans to close "about a quarter of its roughly 850 stores" and while a list of which stores will close has not been revealed at this time, it seems likely that at least one of the J.C. Penney stores in our area will not survive.

In addition to Quakerbridge Mall, other local J.C. Penney locations include Oxford Valley Mall in Langhorne, PA, Cherry Hill Mall in Cherry Hill, NJ, and Freehold Raceway Mall in Freehold, NJ.

If J.C. Penney were to close at Quakerbridge Mall, that would leave just 2 anchor stores - Macy's and Lord & Taylor.  The mall's 4th anchor spot was vacated by Sears in the Fall of 2018.