South Jersey’s Spencer’s, armed with lava lamps and band tees, plans for a future beyond the mall

Pink cheetah-print beer bongs. Fugglers. Studded belts. A fridge full of Red Bull. Band T-shirts and lava lamps galore.

It’s hard to predict what you’ll spot when you round a corner at Spencer’s, or more specifically, what expletive, hit TV show, or meme will be featured on the next rolling tray. The novelty item retail chain recently moved into a new spot, 1,000 square feet bigger than its last one, in the JCPenny wing of the Cherry Hill Mall.

In 1963, the South Jersey mall gave Spencer’s its first in-person retail store after 16 years as a mail-order catalog.

Now, Spencer’s is one of Cherry Hill Mall’s last remaining early tenants, and though the gag gifts have changed over the years, the chain remains alive and well, even as mall culture and the ways people shop change across the country.

The Cherry Hill location is one of hundreds of Spencer’s stores across the U.S. and Canada. While CEO Steven Silverstein declined to share how much Spencer’s made in 2025, he said the company’s revenue has grown 50% since 2019 and benefited from a spike in shopping interest post-pandemic.

On a rainy Thursday afternoon in July, the store was mostly quiet. Eddie Frazier of North Philadelphia looked for a new T-shirt. One woman bought a lingerie set, and a grandmother stopped in to browse.

Alex Williams of Mount Laurel said she and her friends have shopped at Spencer’s for years. Since she recently turned 21, Williams said she likes to hunt for novelty shot glasses. Last time she visited, she bought a mini Playboy-themed tumbler.

“I just like how comfortable everybody is,” Williams said. “They don’t make you feel weird.”

Silverstein agrees. He has run the parent company of Spencer’s, which also owns Spirit Halloween, since 2003. Spencer’s Spirit Holdings is headquartered in Egg Harbor Township, Atlantic County, a short drive away from the Shore, and has been since the ‘70s. It counts about 700 employees.

“We’re a South Jersey-based company,” Silverstein said. “I say that with a lot of pride because I think that we belong here.”

Max Spencer Adler, a U.S. Army Corps bombardier once imprisoned by Germany during World War II, founded Spencer Gifts in Atlantic County in 1947 with “$200 and an idea.”

That idea, in alignment with the Spencer’s of today, was a bit outrageous. A catalog from 1956 featured “imitation shrunken heads” ($1, or 2 for $1.49 if you’re seeking a deal) and a “magic stump remover” ($1.50), a powder that claims to quickly dissolve tree stumps of any size.

Giant rubber feet and golf tees (spelled “tease”) in the shape of a woman’s body were also available.

By 1963, the novelty business had bloomed. Adler sent about 14 million copies of the Spencer’s Christmas catalog across the country and opened his first retail store in Cherry Hill, store #001.

Since then, Spencer’s physical presence has moved well beyond South Jersey, and teens and young adults have continued to shop for sparkly lava lamps, body jewelry, horror movie dolls, and whatever is trending at the moment. During the July visit, the store featured Dubai chocolate, blind boxes, and plushes from popular TV series.

“It is a rite of passage,” Silverstein said. “You remember the first time when your mom said, ‘OK, you can go in there, but I’m not going in there with you.’”

Today the chain has 661 stores across the U.S. and Canada, Silverstein said, a number not dramatically different fromprevious years. Spencer’s will open 20 stores this year and will likely close the same amount. Its most popular products tend to be its T-shirts, accessories, jewelry, and objects from the sex and wellness section.

The Cherry Hill location gets about 100 customers on a regular weekday, but more people flood in on weekends and at night, said Danielle Voelkel, the district store manager. Voelkel, who has worked there for 11 years, said sometimes people are hesitant to enter.

“You don’t always know what you’re coming into the store for, but at the end of the day, there’s something for everyone,” Voelkel said.

While American mall culture isn’t dead, it has certainly changed, at least in the Philly region. The pandemic turned some malls into ghost towns, and the popularity of online shopping has grown immensely.

“You could never invent Spencer’s today,” Silverstein said. “It’s just really been that tree that’s been pruned in so many different directions ... but somehow works.”

Spencer’s has found ways to keep moving forward, Silverstein said, by building up in malls that are thriving, such as the Cherry Hill Mall, and reevaluating its place in struggling markets. Spencer’s, like other retailers, has an online store for shoppers who can’t or won’t go in-person.

To stay embedded in the community, employees volunteer at the Community Food Bank of New Jersey, and the chain’s anti-cancer campaign, “Boobies Make Me Smile,” has raised $16.5 million since 2008, Silverstein said. In April, the chain launched a sex education tour to Temple University, Stockton University, and Rowan University. Stockton and Rowan students currently make up half the company’s interns.

Plus, Spencer’s is no longer just for mall rats.

The chain recently expanded to strip malls and shopping centers, where Spencer’s can’t rely on the fleeting curiosity of mall walkers for revenue.

“The power of our brand has to be strong enough to be its own destination. ... Can we attract an intentional shopper?” Silverstein said.

Spencer’s has discovered it can, at least right now.

The chain has opened 50 non-mall locations, Silverstein said, though it’s unclear how they’re performing financially. There are no strip mall spots in Jersey so far, though Spencer’s intends to open a location at Consumer Square in Mays Landing, Silverstein said, about 10 minutes from its Atlantic County headquarters. And some outlets down the Shore already feature Spencer’s, including Jersey Shore Premium Outlets.

Despite the move beyond malls, Silverstein said the rumors of mall death are greatly exaggerated. Mall culture will keep pushing Spencer’s forward, so long as the chain keeps coming up with original ideas, whether that’s alien-duck shot glasses or Pennywise lava lamps.

“Retailing is like being a shark,” Silverstein said. “You constantly have to be moving or you die.”

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