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Family entertainment center Urban Air has signed a lease to take over space at the Staples office supply store in Lawrence Mall, according to mall owner JJ Operating Inc.
The Staples office supply store will vacate its 36,666 square feet of space on January 6, 2023. The store posted a note on the door announcing its closure and has been one of the mall’s anchor stores since 1998.
A Staples spokesperson confirmed the store’s imminent closure and encouraged “all of our customers to continue shopping at nearby stores.” The closest Staples store is at the Windsor Green Mall at 3495 Route 1 in West Windsor Township.
No reason for the closure was provided.
Urban Air is expected to open in summer 2023, an Urban Air spokesperson said. This is a franchise family entertainment and indoor adventure park designed to provide active, fun play for children and young adults.
Urban Air was originally developed as a trampoline park, but the concept has evolved into an indoor adventure park that includes a climbing wall, laser tag, dodge ball, bumper cars and a warrior obstacle course, the spokesperson said.
The Lawrence Mall site will have a cafe and party room for birthdays and other celebrations, the spokesman said.
Urban Air joins a long list of businesses that have opened or are about to open at Lawrence Mall since JJ Operating Inc. acquired the 393,430-square-foot mall in 2016.
New Jersey Camera, Cafe du Pain and Plato’s Closet, which sells second-hand clothing for teens, are the first to open in the revitalized mall in the past few years.
The Dollar Tree outlet store relocated across the street from its former location on Brunswick Pike in August 2020. It is next door to the Auto Zone auto parts store which opened around the same time.
Princeton e-Bikes, which sells electric bikes, also opened at the mall. It donates profits to the Boys and Girls Club of Mercer County, which has a venue on Spruce Street in Lawrence Township.
Germany-based minimalist grocery chain Lidl opened in June 2021 in part of the space previously occupied by the ACME Markets grocery store.
Opening in July 2021, Five Below sells everything from room decor, clothing, toys to games for $1 to $5.
Also opening in late 2021 is Ollie’s Bargain Outlet, which sells clearance items and excess inventory from major manufacturers.
Several restaurants and other businesses have moved into a series of separate buildings across from the parking lot of the Main Street Mall building.
LA Fitness is planned to be built on the site of the former Huffman Koos furniture store, which was demolished in January 2020 to make way for the gym. Building permits have been cancelled, but there are no firm plans for when construction will start.
JJ Operating Inc. acquired Lawrence Mall in December 2016 for $16.5 million.
Previous owner wbcmt 2007-c33 Brunswick Pike LLC acquired the mall in 2013 at a Mercer County Sheriff’s auction. Lawrence Centers LLC, which owns the mall, defaulted on a $39.5 million loan, causing the sheriff’s auction to fail to pay to get rid of the debt.
Opened in 1960, Lawrence Mall was the first large shopping center in Lawrence Township. It consists of 150,000 square feet and 13 stores.
Lawrence Mall underwent several expansions and renovations between 1966 and 1997.
Dunham’s was one of the original stores in the Lawrence Mall, along with WT Grant (a 5-cent and 10-cent store) and Rexall Drugstore, according to records in the Lawrence Township Tax Assessor’s Office.
Pantry Pride Grocery and Lawrence Liquors are also among the original stores in the Lawrence Mall, according to tax assessor’s office records.
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