After Sears relocated, the building was home at different times to a nightclub, a car dealership, a day care center, and a housing authority office, before becoming vacant for several years.

Zaken spent more than $1 million on a plan to transform it into his company's headquarters as well as a culinary school and restaurant supply mall, but the project was not completed.

[4] In February 2011, a New Jersey Superior Court judge ruled that the city could acquire the building through eminent domain.

[5] On June 11, 2012, Campbell Soup Company, whose corporate headquarters is nearby, purchased the building for about $3.5 million, with plans to demolish it.

Campbell contended that uncertainty surrounding the building impeded its development of an adjacent office park.