East Route 4 and South Route 17
Paramus, New Jersey
Technically speaking, Princeton, New Jersey's PRINCETON CENTER qualifies as New Jersey's first mall-type shopping complex. Dedicated in June 1954, the community-class venue encompassed a modest 205,000 leasable square feet. The first major shopping mall in New Jersey was built on a 150-acre plot, lying 18 miles northwest of New York City's Times Square. GARDEN STATE PLAZA, a 2-level, open-air structure, was designed by New York City's Abbott, Merkt & Company.
An original plan, devised in 1951, would have had a joint venture of R.H. Macy & Company and Allied Stores develop a single New Jersey shopping hub. This plan was abandoned in August 1953, with the two companies deciding to build their own respective retail centers. R.H. Macy, under the auspices of the Garden State Plaza Corporation, established GARDEN STATE PLAZA. Allied Stores developed BERGEN MALL.
The 26 million dollar GARDEN STATE PLAZA was implemented in three Stages. Stage I stores were officially dedicated on May 1, 1957. 8-year-old Barbara Brannon, of Saddlebrook, New Jersey, cut the ceremonial ribbon, assisted by Fred C. Galda (Mayor of Paramus). Eighteen stores opened for business. Among these were Arcadian Gardens, Bond Clothes, Thom McAn Shoes, A.S. Beck Shoes, Loft's Candies, Milmar Shop, Peoples Trust Company of Bergen County, a 2-level (31,000 square foot) S.S. Kresge 5 & 10 and 3-level (340,000 square foot) L. Bamberger & Company (Bamberger's being a Newark-based Macy's subsidiary).
Nineteen additional Stage I stores were in operation by November 1957. A listing would include Merrill Lynch Pierce Fenner & Beane stock brokers, Russek's ladies' & children's apparel, a Horn & Hardart sit-down restaurant and (32,600 square foot) Grand Union supermarket.
Stores completed as part of Stage II included the Garden State Bowl-A-Rama, Mack Drug, a (31,000 square foot) Safeway supermarket, 2-level (30,000 square foot) Neisner's 5 & 10 and 3-level (88,000 square foot) J.C. Penney. These opened on, or around, October 23, 1958.
Stage III added a 3-level (245,000 square foot) Gimbels-New York. Dedicated on September 12, 1960, it was the chain's first New Jersey location. With Gimbels' completion, GARDEN STATE PLAZA was the world's largest shopping center. It encompassed approximately 1,340,000 leasable square feet, with a roster of seventy-two stores and services.
The Paramus Drive-In Theater, which was adjacent to the mall's northwest parking area, had opened in August 1947. It would be in business until the late 1980s. A sit-down venue, the Century's Paramus Theatre, was situated in the mall's southeast parking area. It showed a first feature on June 30, 1965. In the mid-'80s, it was operating as the RKO-Stanley-Warner Triplex. By the time the cinema was shuttered, in January 2006, it had operated under five owners.
Meanwhile, the open-air GARDEN STATE PLAZA had fallen behind the three interior malls now operating in Paramus. These were BERGEN MALL (1957) {1 mile east}, FASHION CENTER (1967) {3.1 miles north} and PARAMUS PARK (1974) {2.3 miles north}.
A 21 million dollar renovation of GARDEN STATE PLAZA was announced in February 1975. The enclosure and remodeling was to encompass three phases. The first consisted of the enlargement of Bamberger's (to 485,000 square feet). This was done by expanding into adjacent inline store space. When construction dust settled in May 1977, the store became the chain's flagship.
The Phase 2 makeover got underway in early 1981. This entailed enclosing courts and concourses in the southern half of the mall. As part of the "roof raising," new tile floors, cathedral ceilings, fountains, and landscaping were installed. Moreover, a 12-bay Food Court was built in the Lower Level of the complex. Stores such as Sam Goody Music, Atlantic Cards and Wallach's moved from the northern end of the mall into the new enclosed portion on the south. A dedication ceremony was held on October 21, 1982.
Work was already underway on Phase 3, which enclosed the North Mall. This project was finished and dedicated in late 1984. The shopping center now housed 120 stores and services. Tenants added to the directory included Talbot's, Foxmoor Casuals, Victoria's Secret, Pants Place Plus, Cache' and The Express. A fourth phase renovation, consisting of the enlargement of J.C. Penney, would not come to fruition for several years.
All stores in the Bamberger's chain were rebranded by Macy's on October 5, 1986. In December of the same year, Australia-based Westfield acquired an ownership share of GARDEN STATE PLAZA. Gimbels had been rebranded as a Newark-based Hahne's ["haynz"] in March 1986 and was permanently shuttered in April 1989.
Meanwhile, Westfield announced a major GARDEN STATE PLAZA remodeling in December 1987. The project entailed creating a second retail level out of the existing basement. Work got underway in March 1988 and was completed in the spring of 1989. The vacant Gimbels-Hahne's was demolished and replaced by a 3-level (272,000 square foot) Nordstrom. This store debuted on September 7, 1990.
Westfield entered into a joint venture with Holland's Rodamco North America in June 1993. In January 1995, a fourth major renovation of GARDEN STATE PLAZA commenced. The mall would be expanded into its west parking area. Moreover, the adjacent drive-in theater, abandoned for several years, would be demolished, with an auxiliary parking area created for the mall.
During construction of the mall's new West Wing, an expansion of the existing J.C. Penney (planned since 1975) was completed. The store now encompassed 176,000 square feet. A 2-level (130,000 square foot) Lord & Taylor, 3-level (135,000 square foot) Neiman Marcus and two parking garages were added as part of the mall concourse. New sections of GARDEN STATE PLAZA opened to the public on August 15, 1996. The mall now spanned approximately 1,980,900 leasable square feet and housed 275 stores and services under its roof.
In November 1998, the retail center was renamed WESTFIELD SHOPPINGTOWN GARDEN STATE PLAZA. This was truncated to WESTFIELD GARDEN STATE PLAZA in June 2005. Westfield had established 100-percent ownership of the mall in January 2002.
A fifth major enlargement of WESTFIELD GARDEN STATE PLAZA included a remodeling of the Food Court, installation of twenty new inline stores, and construction of the AMC Garden State 16. This cinema megaplex, built over a covered parking area, showed first features on May 25, 2007.
By the turn of the 20th century, WESTFIELD GARDEN STATE PLAZA had become one of the most profitable shopping malls in the nation. Old Navy, who could no longer afford their premium-priced store space, closed. The 2-level (43,000 square foot) area was renovated. It re-opened, as a Tokyo-based Uniqlo fashion boutique, on September 28, 2010.
In January 2013, a 160 million dollar construction project got underway. A parking garage adjacent to Neiman Marcus was demolished and replaced by a larger, state-of-the-art deck. Retail space in the southwest corner of the mall was reconfigured into a 2-level -twenty-three tenant- Premium Fashion District. This included "fashion-forward" stores such as Tory Burch, Vince Camuto, Maje, Sandro, Triumph Intimate Apparel, Scotch & Soda, A/X Armani Exchange, Lush and Forever Flawless. The renovation was conducted in two phases.
The first, comprising construction of the new parking deck, was dedicated in November 2013. Charter stores in the Premium Fashion District opened on March 22, 2014. The gross leasable area of the WESTFIELD GARDEN STATE PLAZA now stood at approximately 2,182,900 square feet, with a retail roster of 314 stores and services.
Two of these bolted in 2018. J.C. Penney shuttered their 59-year-old store on March 10. A freestanding Best Buy, which had assumed a vacant Nobody Beats the Wiz location in 2003, closed in April. Westfield's American and European property portfolio was merged into the holdings of Paris-based Unibail-Rodamco in June 2018. A new company, known as Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield was created. Westfield shopping centers in Australia and New Zealand were not included in the merger.
On February 27, 2021, a second WESTFIELD GARDEN STATE PLAZA anchor store went dark. Lord & Taylor, who had operated at the mall since August 1996, shuttered their store as part of the chain's dissolution.
In May 2019, a mixed-use redevelopment of the New Jersey mega mall was announced. The first phase reconfigured the vacant J.C. Penney space as inline stores. This project added Mango, Under Armour, Arena STEM, Champs Sports, Old Navy and Planet Playskool, among others. A second redevelopment phase will build 550 luxury apartments, a 1-acre town green and "Main Street" streetscape of retail and restaurants. These will be constructed in the mall's parking area.
Sources:
The New York Times
The Record (Woodland Park, New Jersey)
The New York Times
The Record (Woodland Park, New Jersey)
R. H. Macy & Company, Incorporated Annual Report 1957
http://www.westfield.com / The Westfield Group (website on Internet Archive Wayback Machine)
http://www.westfield.com / The Westfield Group (website on Internet Archive Wayback Machine)
http://www.westfield.com / The Westfield Group
https://www.preservenet.cornell.edu
https://www.preservenet.cornell.edu
https://www.prnewswire.com
https://www.cinematreasures.org
https://www.movie-theatre.org / Mike Rivest
https://www.reuters.com
https://www.cinematreasures.org
https://www.movie-theatre.org / Mike Rivest
https://www.reuters.com
https://www.nj.com
