Shopping malls in New Jersey

Shopping malls in New Jersey have played a major role in shaping the suburban landscape of the state following World War II.

History

Westfield Garden State Plaza in Paramus was the first mall to open in New Jersey.

New Jersey, the most densely populated state in the United States, and in the suburban sphere of influence of both New York City and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, has a comparatively large number of notable malls throughout the state. Paramus, in Bergen County, is one of the largest shopping meccas in the country, with its four major shopping malls accounting for a significant proportion of the over $5 billion in annual retail sales generated in the borough, more than any other ZIP Code in the United States.^[1] This high level of retail sales persists despite the fact that the County, in general, and the Borough, in particular, have blue laws that force the malls and other retailers to close on Sunday.

Garden State Plaza was the state's first shopping mall. It opened in three stages between May 1957 and August 1960 and was fully enclosed in 1983. The shopping complex is now known as Westfield Garden State Plaza. The Garden State's second mall-type shopping venue, Bergen Mall (now known as Outlets at Bergen Town Center), was built in Paramus and Maywood and was officially dedicated on November 14, 1957, with great fanfare, as Dave Garroway, host of The Today Show served as master of ceremonies.^[2]

The mall, which was fully enclosed in 1973, was first planned in 1955 by Allied Stores to have 100 stores and 8,600 parking spaces in a 1.5 million ft² mall that would include a 300,000 ft (91,000 m)² Stern's store and two other 150,000 ft (46,000 m)² department stores as part of the initial design. Allied's chairman B. Earl Puckett confidently announced The Outlets at Bergen Town Center as the largest of ten proposed centers, stating that there were 25 cities that could support such centers and that no more than 50 malls of this type would ever be built nationwide.^[3][4]

Cherry Hill Mall, was the first large indoor shopping center on the East Coast of the United States and attracted busloads of visitors soon after its opening in October 1961. (The Southdale Shopping Center in Edina, Minnesota, was the very first enclosed mall, beating Cherry Hill to the honor by five years). The popularity of the mall as a destination is often cited as one of the factors that led the mall's host municipality to change its name from Delaware Township, to its current name of Cherry Hill Township.^[5]

Role as public square

Freehold Raceway Mall

With the shift in shopping from publicly owned Main Streets to privately held shopping malls, the question of access to malls, and their shoppers, as a public forum has been an issue raised nationwide. This issue has become particularly relevant in New Jersey, where malls in both suburban and exurban areas have largely supplanted local downtown districts as shopping destinations, depriving individuals and organizations of a public location to reach out to neighbors for distribution of fliers and other forms of expression. While different conclusions have been reached elsewhere, New Jersey's approach has been one of the most expansive in providing groups with access to malls as a public forum, despite their private ownership.

The Bergen Mall was the target of a lawsuit by nuclear-freeze advocates who challenged the malls restrictions on distribution of literature to shoppers. On October 12, 1984, Bergen County Superior Court judge Paul R. Huot ruled that the organization should be allowed to distribute literature anywhere and anytime in a shopping mall, noting that "The Bergen Mall has assumed the features and characteristics of the traditional town center for the citizens who reside in Paramus and surrounding Bergen County towns."^[6]

The New Jersey Supreme Court has been at the forefront in providing access to malls as a public forum under the New Jersey State Constitution's free-speech protections, requiring private owners of shopping malls to allow use as a forum by individuals and groups. In New Jersey Coalition Against War in the Middle East v. JMB Realty Corp. (1994), the Court ruled that because the mall owners "have intentionally transformed their property into a public square or market, a public gathering place, a downtown business district, a community," they cannot later deny their own implied invitation to use the space as it was clearly intended.^[7] Despite the broad powers granted to those seeking to use these facilities as public forums, mall owners retain the right to establish regulations regulating the time, place and manner of exercising of freedom of speech rights on their properties.^[8]

Role as performance venue

In their role as a public forum, malls have also developed a role as a public performance venue, as an addition to theaters, arenas and stadiums. Singer Tiffany was one of the pioneers in this innovative use of malls, using the mall tour as a stepping stone to stardom. The first performance on Tiffany's mall tour — "The Beautiful You: Celebrating The Good Life Shopping Mall Tour '87" — took place on June 23, 1987 at The Bergen Mall (now known as Outlets at Bergen Town Center) in Paramus. The tour was sponsored by major advertisers Toyota, Clairol, and Adidas.^[9] While perhaps not the first singer to do so, Tiffany established the shopping mall as a location for public performances. Britney Spears' Hair Zone Mall Tour built on Tiffany's use of the mall as a medium to reach fans. Currently, the New Jersey Youth Symphony plays annually in the Jersey Gardens Outlet Mall. This performance is known as the Playathon and occurs in March.

List of malls

The following is a sortable list of shopping malls in the state of New Jersey:

Mall	Location	Gross leasable area (in sq ft)	Notes
Playground Pier	Atlantic City	320,000	[10]
The Quarter at Tropicana	Atlantic City	200,000	[11]
The Marketplace At Brick	Brick		Current stores open include Costco, Christmas Tree Shops, Harmon FaceValues, Dick's Sporting Goods, Staples, City Nails and Spa, Hair Cuttery, Turning Point Café, Petco, Tommy's Coal Fired Pizza, Qdoba Mexican Grill, American Automobile Association, Chase Bank, and Houlihan's.
Bridgewater Commons	Bridgewater	900,000	[12]
Bridgewater Promenade	Bridgewater	370,545	[13]
Bridgewater Town Centre	Bridgewater	460,000	[14]
Kinnelon Mall	Butler
Burlington Center Mall	Burlington Township	670,000	[15]
Cherry Hill Mall	Cherry Hill	1,283,000	[16] First enclosed shopping mall in New Jersey and on East Coast of United States
Streets of Chester	Chester Borough
Cinnaminson Mall	Cinnaminson		Cinnaminson Mall (1972) was a mini-mall with a Woolco and a twin cinema. The new shopping complex redeveloped by Centro Properties Group, offers opportunities for various sized retailers in diverse categories for both in-line space and outparcels. The redevelopment of the Cinnaminson Mall and The Shoppes at Cinnaminson whereby all existing buildings have been demolished and a new ground up 330,000-square-foot (31,000 m^2) Shop-Rite supermarket anchored community shopping center is being constructed on 40 acres (160,000 m^2).
Deptford Mall	Deptford	1,069,657	[17]
Brunswick Square Mall	East Brunswick	769,041	[18]
American Dream Meadowlands (under construction)	East Rutherford	2,000,000	Formerly named "Xanadu Meadowlands". This is to be one of the largest entertainment and retail complexes in the New York Metropolitan area. Despite many delays and issues, this mall will open in 2018. Tenants will include Nickelodeon Universe, an indoor theme park, an indoor water park, a rooftop movie theater overlooking Manhattan, an indoor ski slope, an indoor ice rink, and nearly 500 stores, services, and restaurants. [19]
Monmouth Mall	Eatontown	1,500,000	[20]
Menlo Park Mall	Edison	1,232,000	[21] Anchors: Macy's & Nordstrom
Hackettstown Mall (defunct)	Hackettstown
Harbor Square (formerly Shore Mall)	Egg Harbor Township	635,000	[22]
Jersey Gardens	Elizabeth	1,292,611	[23]
The Promenade at Sagemore	Evesham	272,000	[24]
American Way Mall (defunct)	Fairfield
ITC Crossing South	Flanders (in Mount Olive)	508,066	[25]
Flemington Marketplace (Flemington Mall)	Flemington		Flemington shopping directory Dead Malls
Liberty Village Premium Outlets	Flemington		Chelsea Property Group
Freehold Raceway Mall	Freehold	1,671,000	[26] Anchors: Macy's, JCPenney, Lord & Taylor, Nordstrom, & Sears
Garwood Mall	Garwood	87,500	[27] Stores include Investors Savings, Union County Healthcare, Crunch Fitness, Gamestop, Kings Dry Cleaners, RadioShack, Pet Valu, AutoZone, Rudy’s Restaurant, Jumbo Wash, GNC and Kings.
The Shops at Riverside	Hackensack	637,963	[28] Mall tenants include Bloomingdale's, Barnes & Noble, H&M, and Pottery Barn. Closed on Sundays due to Bergen County blue laws except for some of the restaurants and Barnes & Noble.
Cedar Knolls Plaza (formerly Morris County Mall)	Hanover Township	258,524	[29]
Hudson Mall	Jersey City		Hudson Mall
Newport Centre	Jersey City	1,149,147	[30]
Quaker Bridge Mall	Lawrence Township	1,102,000	[31]
Ledgewood Mall	Ledgewood (in Roxbury)	518,246	[32]
Livingston Mall	Livingston	980,000	[33]
Manalapan Mall (defunct)	Manalapan		became Manalapan EpiCentre
Hamilton Mall	Mays Landing	1,028,500	[34]
Moorestown Mall	Moorestown	1,046,100	[35]
The Mall at Wild Geese	Mount Olive	21,474	[36] Plaza stores include Dunkin' Donuts, Fantastic Sams, Phil-Asia, Hi Tek Nails, Italian Villa, Edible Arrangements, & Farmers Market
Seaview Square Mall (defunct)	Ocean Township (Monmouth County)
Gateway Shopping Center	Old Bridge
The Outlets at Bergen Town Center	Paramus	917,129	[37] One of several malls within a short distance. Mall tenants include Target, Whole Foods Market, Century 21, Marshall's, Saks off 5th Avenue, Gap Inc., and Nike Factory Store. Closed on Sundays due to Bergen County blue laws except for some restaurants, Whole Foods Market, CVS Pharmacy, 24 Hour Fitness, Ulta Spa, and Blink Fitness.
Fashion Center	Paramus	446,000	[38] One of several malls within a short distance. Mall tenants include Lord & Taylor, World Market, Best Buy, TJ Maxx, Bed Bath & Beyond, and Buy Buy Baby. Closed on Sundays due to Bergen County blue laws except for Applebee's, Blimpie Subs, and Fairway Market.
Garden State Plaza	Paramus	2,132,112	[39] One of several malls within a short distance. Mall tenants include AMC Theaters, Macy's, Nordstrom, Lord & Taylor, and Uniqlo. Closed on Sundays due to Bergen County blue laws except for those restaurants that have special Sunday entrances and the AMC Theaters movie theater.
Paramus Park	Paramus	771,000	[40] One of several malls within a short distance. Closed on Sundays due to Bergen County blue laws except for Tommy's Coal Fired Pizza. Mall tenants include Macy's, Sears, Old Navy, and LL Bean.
Troy Hills Plaza	Parsippany-Troy Hills	211,000	[41]
Hillcrest Professional Plaza (formerly Hillcrest Mall)	Phillipsburg		SMB Construction, Inc.
Phillipsburg Mall	Phillipsburg	536,000	[42]
Forrestal Village	Plainsboro	720,000
Princeton MarketFair	Princeton
Rio Mall (defunct)	Rio Grande		now Kmart and Frank's Theatre
Rockaway Townsquare	Rockaway Township	1,250,000	[43] Anchors: JCPenney, Lord & Taylor, Macy's, & Sears
Mill Creek Mall	Secaucus	400,000 sq ft[44]
Short Hills Mall	Short Hills in (Millburn)	1,342,000	[45] Anchors: Bloomingdale's, Macy's, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom & Saks Fifth Avenue
Middlesex Mall	South Plainfield	320,000	[46]
Roxbury Mall	Succasunna (in Roxbury)	706,000	[47]
Jersey Shore Premium Outlets	Tinton Falls		Opened November 13, 2008
Ocean County Mall	Toms River	890,000	[48]
Seacourt Pavilion	Toms River	253,000	[49]
Cumberland Mall	Vineland	921,593	[50]
Voorhees Town Center	Voorhees	1,127,308	[51]
Wayne Hills Mall	Wayne	250,000
Willowbrook Mall	Wayne	1,514,000	Tenants include Macy's, Sears, Bloomingdale's, and Lord and Taylor. [52]
Wharton Mall	Wharton	45,500	[53] Plaza stores included Wharton Farm Market, Fortune Buffet, Rite Aid, United States Postal Service, Lakeland Bank, Quick Mart, Frank's Laundromat, and La Forchetta
Village Mall	Willingboro	527,000	Village Mall was anchored by Acme Market, Woolco/Caldor, and a twin Eric Theater. Became Grand Marketplace
Willingboro Town Center (former Willingboro Plaza)	Willingboro		Plaza stores included Sears, Pomeroy's, Woolworth, Walgreens, Food Fair, Fox theater, Cutler Camera, Baker's Shoes, Radio Shack, Ricardo's Pizza, and Burlington County College Center II.
Woodbridge Center	Woodbridge	1,633,000	Tenants include Dick's Sporting Goods, Macy's, Lord & Taylor, JCPenney, Boscov's, and Sears. [54]

Largest malls

The largest malls in New Jersey — those with at least 1 million square feet (90,000 m²) of Gross Leasable Area (GLA) and ranked in descending order by size — are:

1. Westfield Garden State Plaza - 2,292,611 sq ft (212,990.5 m²)
2. The Mills at Jersey Gardens - 2,140,120 sq ft (198,824 m²)
3. Freehold Raceway Mall - 1,671,000 sq ft (155,200 m²)
4. Woodbridge Center - 1,633,000 sq ft (151,700 m²)
5. Willowbrook Mall - 1,514,000 sq ft (140,700 m²)
6. Monmouth Mall - 1,500,000 sq ft (140,000 m²)
7. Short Hills Mall - 1,340,000 sq ft (124,000 m²)
8. Rockaway Townsquare - 1,249,000 sq ft (116,000 m²)
9. Cherry Hill Mall - 1,248,347 sq ft (115,975.2 m²)
10. Menlo Park Mall - 1,232,000 sq ft (114,500 m²)
11. Newport Centre - 1,149,147 sq ft (106,759.2 m²)
12. Quaker Bridge Mall - 1,102,000 sq ft (102,400 m²)
13. Moorestown Mall - 1,046,100 sq ft (97,190 m²)
14. Deptford Mall - 1,069,657 sq ft (99,374.4 m²)
15. Hamilton Mall - 1,028,500 sq ft (95,550 m²)
16. Livingston Mall - 985,000 sq ft (91,500 m²)

References

1. Paramus 07652, GlobeSt. Retail, October 3, 2005.
2. "Shoppers Throng to Opening of Bergen Mall in Jersey". New York Times. November 15, 1957. Retrieved 2007-06-07. The 106-acre Bergen Mall regional shopping center here will open Thursday morning. The center, at which Stern's will be the principal-store, is being built by the Allied Stores Corporation at a cost of $40,000,000.
3. "10 Shopping Centers Scheduled For Allied Stores Within 3 Years; Chain' s Chairman Gives Details of Biggest, 7 Miles From George Washington Span, Where Stern Will Open Branch by '57: STORE CHAIN PLANS 10 RETAIL CENTERS", The New York Times, January 13, 1955. p. 37
4. Bergen Mall's makeover approved, The Record (Bergen County), December 1, 2006.
5. Cherry Hill Township: About Us, accessed September 4, 2006.
6. "JERSEY JUDGE ORDERS LEAFLET DISTRIBUTION IN MALL AT ANY TIME", The New York Times, October 21, 1984. p. A.49
7. assembly on private property, First Amendment Center, accessed August 10, 2006.
8. The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press: ACCESS TO PRIVATE PROPERTY, accessed August 10, 2006.
9. Chronology of the Life and Career of Tiffany, accessed August 10, 2006.
10. Playground Pier. Accessed 27 November 2015.
11. The Quarter, International Council of Shopping Centers. Accessed December 6, 2006.
12. Bridgewater Commons, International Council of Shopping Centers. Accessed October 3, 2006.
13. Bridgewater Promenade, International Council of Shopping Centers. Accessed December 25, 2006.
14. Bridgewater Town Centre, International Council of Shopping Centers. Accessed December 25, 2006.
15. Burlington Center Mall, International Council of Shopping Centers. Accessed September 21, 2006.
16. Cherry Hill Mall, International Council of Shopping Centers. Accessed September 21, 2006.
17. Deptford Mall, International Council of Shopping Centers, backed up by the Internet Archive as of March 6, 2012. Accessed November 9, 2013.
18. Brunswick Square Mall, International Council of Shopping Centers. Accessed December 25, 2006.
19. Meadowlands Xanadu, International Council of Shopping Centers. Accessed December 6, 2006.
20. Monmouth Mall, International Council of Shopping Centers, backed up by the Internet Archive as of February 5, 2012. Accessed November 9, 2013.
21. Menlo Park Mall, International Council of Shopping Centers. Accessed September 21, 2006.
22. Shore Mall, International Council of Shopping Centers. Accessed December 25, 2006.
23. Jersey Gardens, International Council of Shopping Centers. Accessed November 6, 2006.
24. The Promenade at Sagemore, International Council of Shopping Centers. Accessed September 21, 2006.
26. Freehold Raceway Mall, International Council of Shopping Centers, backed up by the Internet Archive as of May 5, 2012. Accessed November 9, 2013.
28. The Shops at Riverside, International Council of Shopping Centers. Accessed November 6, 2006.
29. Cedar Knolls Plaza, International Council of Shopping Centers. Accessed April 23, 2008.
30. Newport Centre Mall, International Council of Shopping Centers. Accessed September 21, 2006.
31. Quaker Bridge Mall, International Council of Shopping Centers. Accessed September 21, 2006.
32. Ledgewood Mall, International Council of Shopping Centers. Accessed October 16, 2006.
33. Livingston Mall, International Council of Shopping Centers. Accessed September 21, 2006.
34. Hamilton Mall, International Council of Shopping Centers. Accessed September 21, 2006.
35. Moorestown Mall, International Council of Shopping Centers. Accessed December 25, 2006.
37. Bergen Mall, International Council of Shopping Centers. Accessed November 6, 2006.
38. Fashion Center, International Council of Shopping Centers. Accessed September 21, 2006.
39. Westfield Group
40. Paramus Park, International Council of Shopping Centers, backed up by the Internet Archive as of February 7, 2012. Accessed November 9, 2013.
42. Phillipsburg Mall, International Council of Shopping Centers. Accessed December 25, 2006.
43. Rockaway Townsquare Mall, International Council of Shopping Centers. Accessed September 21, 2006.
44. Mill Creek Mall, International Council of Shopping Centers. Accessed September 21, 2006.
45. The Mall at Short Hills, International Council of Shopping Centers. Accessed September 21, 2006.
46. Middlesex Mall, International Council of Shopping Centers. Accessed December 25, 2006.
47. Roxbury Mall, International Council of Shopping Centers. Accessed October 16, 2006.
48. Ocean County Mall, International Council of Shopping Centers. Accessed September 21, 2006.
49. Seacourt Pavilion, International Council of Shopping Centers. Accessed September 21, 2006.
50. Cumberland Mall, International Council of Shopping Centers. Accessed December 25, 2006.
51. Echelon Mall, International Council of Shopping Centers. Accessed September 21, 2006.
52. Willowbrook Mall, International Council of Shopping Centers, backed up by the Internet Archive as of May 7, 2012. Accessed November 9, 2013.
54. Woodbridge Center, International Council of Shopping Centers, backed up by the Internet Archive as of May 7, 2012. Accessed November 9, 2013.