Washington Street Mall (Cape May, NJ) - Raw & Real Retail

This is our walkthrough of the Washington Street Mall in Cape May, NJ from September 3, 2020. This is a quaint outdoor pedestrian mall located in the downtown area of Cape May, NJ. The entire town of Cape May is designated a National Historic Landmark District, preserving the charm of this idyllic seashore town. Many of the homes and businesses around town are old Victorian style houses, quite ornate and colorful. The Victorian thing is the theme of the town as a whole, and the Washington Street Mall is located right in the heart of this town. Vehicle traffic is closed off for the two streets that make up the pedestrian mall. There is also a very small enclosed mall area with a very tiny handful of shops. The town is a wonderful stop on anyone's summer vacation and it wouldn't be a proper Cape May visit without a stroll up and down the Washington Street Mall.
Songs used in this video (in order):

Al Alberts - On the Way to Cape May
Il Guardiano Del Faro ‎- La Collina Dei Pensieri
Gerry Butler - Headliner
David Marriott, Jr. - On the Seventh Day
Steve Gray - Wonder Groove
Steve Gray - Reach Out
The Wiki article is terribly short, so rather than a link here it is:

Washington Street is a major east-west street in downtown Cape May, New Jersey.

It begins at Lafayette Street (New Jersey Route 109) and (officially) ends at Ocean Street. Unofficially, there is a walkway,named the Washington Street Mall, between Ocean Street and Perry Street. Washington Street Mall is filled with restaurants and stores, and, beside Cape May's beaches and Victorian houses, is one of the city's most noticeable features. Washington Street is parallel with Lafayette Street for all of its length.

The City of Cape May closed Washington Street to traffic from Ocean Street to Perry Street in 1970 to allow commercial development. Trees, flowers, and shrubs were planted, and the street was filled in. The Washington Street Mall was officially opened on June 24, 1971.

In December 1976, during the Christmas shopping season, the block between Jackson Street and Perry Street was consumed by a fire, but was rebuilt.
Here is a fairly decent recap of the history of this property from SouthJersey.com:

https://www.southjersey.com/article/20439/Cape-Mays-Washington-Street-Mall
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I'd like to say a few words about being an ambassador to your local malls. We have been taking the time to visit all the malls within a reasonable driving distance to check up on them and see how they are doing. Also filming an updated video every year or so, regardless of the lack of many changes, just so there is a video record of the health over time. We think this is an important thing to keep tabs on, especially in these wildly turbulent times. The current health emergency has accelerated the impending Retail Apocalypse we've all been talking about these last several years. This was already a big problem, but the shutdowns and restrictions have made the issue 5x worse and likely hastened the death of the enclosed shopping mall.

I know we've all been on pins and needles wondering how bad the fallout is going to be from all of this.

There really is no way to know exactly unless we ALL go and do our small part to make it known how it turns out. I implore you, if you have the means to pick an area you would like to be an ambassador for, and go document your local malls. Whatever your medium, it doesn't matter, any and all documentation is necessary and vital in this day and age. Whether it be on Social Media, Flickr, Youtube, any platform gets it out there and preserves it for posterity. We can't paint this picture unless we all grab a brush...
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Видео Washington Street Mall (Cape May, NJ) - Raw & Real Retail канала Raw & Real Retail