House of cards: Is Hamilton Mall in Mays Landing, NJ, losing yet another store?

Is yet another big store at Hamilton Mall in Mays Landing getting ready to make a move out of the troubled shopping center?

It appears that way.

Just one week ago, we reported that Rainbow is closing its store on the second floor of the mall after opening only about 20 months ago.

Sadly, that's not the store that we're writing about now.

Watching Hamilton Mall in Mays Landing, NJ

Those who have been following this four-decade-old shopping center in the heart of Atlantic County have witnessed its rapid decline over the past few years.

The dominos began to fall in the fall of 2018 when Sears closed its massive 207,000-square-foot store. The next year, JCPenney closed. Shoppers World, which filled half of the JCPenney space, quickly came and went. Countless other stores and restaurants have also faded into history — The Disney Store, GameStop, Buckle, Johnny Rockets, Ruby Tuesday, GNC, Champs, Express, New York & Company, The Children's Place, and American Eagle, just to name a few.

• READ MORE: Macy's at Hamilton Mall Not Closing This Year, But...

Of course, in its prime, perhaps you'll remember Hamilton Mall had stores like the San Francisco Music Box Company, Sundance Video, Sam Goody, Radio Shack, and KB Toys, along with a food court that featured all kinds of great little eateries. I'm not sure if the mall ever had a 100% occupancy rate, but it was pretty close.

Obviously, many of those national chains had their own problems, so one cannot blame the mall itself for stores closing in the mall itself. However, the mall has certainly seen better days.

And to be fair, the mall has had a few recent success stories. Cinnabon and Auntie Anne's have just reopened (and there was a rather long line there the other day) and a new furniture store has just opened in the lower half of the old JCPenney store. We took a quick walk through the store Friday afternoon and it is packed with a massive selection of home furnishings.

But there might be some more negative news in the not-too-distant future.

Is Norman's Hallmark leaving Hamilton Mall?

On Friday, word began to spread that a brand new sign for Norman's Hallmark had just been installed above an empty storefront in the Consumer Square Shopping Center (where Target and Kohl's are) on Wrangleboro Road just across the street from the mall.

That sign is located in the corner of the shopping center, with Old Navy and Ulta Beauty on one side and Kirkland's and Bath & Body Works on the other — quite a good location for a Hallmark store.

From a quick glance inside, it appears this store is still a few months away from opening as it's still bare inside with not even a drop ceiling in place yet.

So what's going to happen to Norman's Hallmark inside Hamilton Mall?

One would assume that Norman's won't keep two stores in the same area open, especially if they're only 2,690 feet apart (yes, we measured).

We reached out to Norman's late Friday afternoon and they have not yet responded; we'll update this story if or when they give us a statement.

• READ MORE: The Best Restaurant in Every NJ Shore Town

And it is interesting to note that it wouldn't be totally out of the realm of possibilities for two stores that are that close to stay open. In fact, at the other end of Consumer Square is a Dollar Tree store, and a new Dollar Tree just opened in the small strip mall at the back of Hamilton Mall (they're 4,900 feet apart — yes, we measured).

Hamilton Mall needs to succeed

Hamilton Mall has been receiving a lot of negative press lately thanks to a series of store closures, but many locals want to see it succeed. The mall (and the crumbling Atlantic City Race Course right behind it) sits right in the middle of the middle of Atlantic County. Located right on the busy Black Horse Pike with two Atlantic City Expressway exits in its backyard, there's no reason why it can't thrive.

Sure, traditional malls might not be front-and-center these days, but you only need to look at the Deptford Mall in Gloucester County or the Ocean County Mall in Toms River to see that malls can be successful stories if some time and money are spent on those properties.