Why your mom’s weekly trip to Boscov’s may be saving N.J.’s struggling malls

The fire-damaged, temporarily closed mall in Camden County has lost nearly all its tenants.

Shoppers can’t even access the interior of the once thriving shopping center, formerly known as Echelon Mall. The storefronts are closed behind metal gates, caution tape and locked doors in eerie silence.

But somehow, the mall’s ’90s-era, old-school Boscov’s is still bustling with holiday shoppers.

The two-floor department store that anchors Voorhees Town Center continues to bring in customers even as the mall around it sits dark and empty.

Boscov’s lights are bright and the aisles are active. On a recent weekday afternoon, workers rang up longtime shoppers as Christmas music played and discount signs lined the store.

Almost nothing has changed inside the Boscov’s , built in 1992 to replace