Anchor Shop Fulfillment Center To Open At Moorestown Mall

MOORESTOWN, NJ — The space formerly occupied by Macy’s in the Moorestown Mall will become the first fulfillment center for Anchor Shops, the retail brand announced this week.

Anchor Shops Powered by ShopFulfill also intends to open a location at Fashion District Philadelphia on Market Street in the heart of Center City. The store is expected to house more than 40 online retailers.

Both locations are expected to open in the spring. The Moorestown Mall and Fashion District Philadelphia are both owned by Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust (PREIT).

“As the retail ecosystem continues to evolve, the mall platform is a vital component of successful multichannel retail strategies,” PREIT Chairman and CEO Joseph Coradino said. “Our portfolio, concentrated in densely populated markets, is uniquely positioned to support innovative solutions such as Anchor Shops, allowing emerging and digitally native brands to access our prime physical space as they position them for growth. Shoppers who frequent our properties will be able to engage with new, exciting and emerging brands, making the merchandising mix at properties like Fashion District Philadelphia even more compelling. Solving for logistics and infrastructure challenges positions these brands for sustainable growth within our portfolio.”

It will join Five Below, Homesense and Sierra in the spot formerly occupied by Macy’s, which was sold by PREIT in 2017.

Anchor Shops offers online distributors a brick-and-mortar location, so they can compete with legacy retailers.

In this way, they can market their products directly to the customer, and deliver them quickly and more efficiently, the retailer said in a release.

“The retail paradigm has shifted to require a brick and click approach. It has been much easier for legacy retailers to build out their online infrastructures, but digitally native brands have found it difficult and cost prohibitive to develop physical footprints,” ShopFulfill Founder and CEO Shlomo Chopp said. “We are offering online-first brands something that is entirely unique and practical — the only all-in-one solution that empowers them to achieve profitability, establish a physical retail presence and build stronger customer connections.”

Anchor Shops also helps online providers lower their costs associated with customer acquisition, leasing and operating stores, shipping product and handling returns. It also offers buy-online-pick-up in-store services.

“Anchor Shops is the logical next step in the evolution of retail,” said Chris Walton, the CEO of Omni Talk and Third Haus and an advisor to Anchor Shops. “It is easy to start a shop online nowadays, but the infrastructure and knowledge it takes to expand a brand’s presence into the physical world is complicated and expensive. Anchor Shops offers the best of the best digital brands a smarter way to enter physical retail for the first time.”