Paramus Park Mall; Paramus, New Jersey
Paramus, New Jersey is one of the nation’s biggest retail towns, boasting over six million square feet of retail space racking up some of the largest sales of any town in America. The area around routes 4 and 17 has been home (at one point or another) to no less than six enclosed shopping malls, including the legendary (and previously-blogged-about) Bergen Mall.
Paramus Park Mall is one of the newer of the area’s enclosed malls, opening in 1974. Strangely, this large, twisty, mostly one-level mall with two anchors (Sears and Macy’s) seems largely redundant given the large malls nearby, in particular the Garden State Shopping Center, since it has an almost total tenant overlap with that mall. While in most markets, Paramus Park would probably be long dead, Paramus isn’t like most markets. Perhaps the size of the the GS Shopping Center makes it a pain for residents to deal with for every mall trip, so they have Paramus Park as an alternative.
Either way, Paramus Park is really an unexpectedly cool mall, due to its sloping glass ceilings (which best nearly every other skylight-based ceiling configuration that I’ve seen) and great court areas, especially in front of the anchor stores. The Macy’s court especially made me want to sit down and spend the entire day (though it was much cooler when it had a fountain, as opposed to that massage table)… but that’s just me, and I’ve established that I’m weird. A 2001 renovation sapped Paramus Park of a little bit of its character, but the basic idea is preserved. What’s cool is that we have two photo sets for this mall, one taken by Prangeway in 2001 and another by me in 2006, and the older set was taken while the renovations were still underway. You’ll also notice that the exterior of the mall was made over sometime after the interior, and the 2001 set has some intact shots of that rather ugly old exterior. Note the difference, in (I think) the same place:
Sorry there, innocent bystander. You’ve been Labelscarred. (Oh, he knows, he knows. We think.)
2001:
2006:
Max
September 28th, 2006 at 5:18 am
Thank you for posting this. I believe this is the second mall in Northern NJ that you posted about.
Prior to 1995, the Macy’ s in this mall was an A&S. Also, according to wikipedia (which is not always correct), the A&S opened in 1974; therefore, we can assume that the entire mall opened around this time.
Unfortunately, while I live in New Jersey, Paramus is located too far from my house for me to visit regularly. However, if you would ever like to profile any other New Jersey Malls, here is a list of malls (that I’m very familiar with) that are close to my home:
Bridgewater Commons (Bridgewater, NJ)
Livingston Mall (Livingston, NJ)
The Mall at Short Hills (Millburn, NJ)
Rockaway Townsquare (Rockaway, NJ)
Willowbrook Mall (Wayne, NJ)
Also, there are some dead/dying malls that are nearby:
Headquarters Plaza Mall (Morristown, NJ)
Morris County Mall (Cedar Knolls, NJ)
Wayne Town Center (Wayne, NJ)
Please note that I am really not all that familiar with the Wayne Town Center. Also, the Morris County Mall is actually thriving today as an outdoor shopping center.
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Max
September 28th, 2006 at 5:39 am
In my above post, I said that I thought the mall opened in 1974. When I said that, I had forgotten that you had already mentioned that. I am sorry about this.
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Bergen Mall; Paramus, New Jersey » Labelscar: The Retail History Blog
September 28th, 2006 at 10:42 am
[...] Paramus Park Mall; Paramus, New Jersey [...]
XISMZERO
September 28th, 2006 at 9:15 pm
What a sleek looking little mall. Skylight mania definitely are the mall’s high point (pardon the pun). I find that malls with more natural light give it a good atmosphere and twilight of just enough outdoor and indoor (too much outdoor feels disintegrated, strip mallish and too indoor feels too old-style and bunkered).
I notice a Record Town in Prangeway’s photos, which the gallery as a whole, are a splendid contrast of the mall then and now. Decidedly, the mall has improved but kept a lot of the charm it originally had using a simple and effective revitalization plan. I also like that inverted “L” shaped pilon – nice and artsy fartsy and truly 1970s in nature. Too bad about the fountain; I felt the hurt when they got rid of the Westfarms Mall one (and I’ll be even more disheartened if they ever do away with Danbury Fair Mall’s).
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Steven Wilson
September 28th, 2006 at 11:32 pm
I visited this mall in the early 1980s. I don’t remember it having as many skylights back then. I do remember the skylights over the central court with the fountan and escalators to the upper level food court. Nice to see that Nathan’s is still in the food court! As to tenants, I do remember the A&S being there. I’m pretty sure that I remember a Harmony Hut record store being there as well. I bought a Sasson winter coat at one of the stores at Paramus Park. That brand was known mainly for jeans.
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Steven Swain
September 29th, 2006 at 1:45 am
All in all, a really good mix of design. The exterior used to be tragic, but it’s a little bit better than it used to be.
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Matt from CLT
September 29th, 2006 at 2:58 am
I swear, it’s almost like macy*s is embarrassed to have their name show on any signs, exterior or interior. Here we have black on……black.
(Sorry, guys…I just had to rant again on that. I think I only have one or two more in me, though, so soon it should go away.)
I’m not a huge fan of the yellows and blues left over inside, but overall, I’d say the renovations look pretty good. And yes, that exterior was horrid before.
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D. Jordan Berson
September 29th, 2006 at 3:49 am
Yes, Paramus Park opened in 1974. It was the talk of the town… or rather, of all of Bergen County. The skylights are all original from ‘74. The interior was a grand mix of ultramodern and earthy. The giant fieldstone waterfalls and gardens, with the elevator that rose through the center was truly the showpiece. When nighttime fell, the mall’s atmosphere became very cool and classy, and the illumnated fountains etc were really beautiful. The Merry-Go-Round was always extremely popular too. The mall was really gorgeous and had a cohesive decor and overall feel that has sadly been greatly diminshed in the past few years, especially with the demolition of the distinctive waterfalls, and replacement with a nondescript pool of water. There was also a giant turkey sculpture donated to the mall for its opening, representing New Jersey heritage that was moved from its prominent location to a dismal spot on the second level. The eateries of the 70’s were much more fun and eclectic too: Farrel’s was an 1890’s style ice-cream parlor/eatery with mechanical bells and drums that would go off for special occasions. The Magic Pan was the higer end restaurant. This was a French Creperie, with a giant revolving range of pans with crepes being cooked in them while in motion. The only store that is still in its original 1974 decor is Fortunoff’s. This snazzy store’s decor has aged well and it still looks great to the modern eye. In many ways, Paramus Park’s arrival in ‘74 could be attributed to the beginning of the demise of the Fashion Center, and the point where the Bergen Mall’s fate lay sealed like a fly in amber.
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Max
September 29th, 2006 at 5:28 am
There are a couple of more points that I would like to make:
*While having three malls in Paramus seems redundant, especially due to the fact that (until recently) each mall had a Macy’s in it, this was not at all the case decades ago: before the dreadful Macy’s juggernaut, the Garden State Plaza had a Bamberger’s, Paramus Park had an A&S, and the Bergen Mall had a Stern’s. Even today, the fact that only Paramus Park has a Sears makes it somewhat unique; similarly, the Century 21 discount department store is unique to the Bergen Mall, as it maintains that mall’s image as the most discount oriented of the three.
*Fortunoff is a unique store, and one of the unique things about it is that some of its branches are full-sized department stores, while other stores are smaller jewelry boutiques. (The one in Paramus Park is just a jewelry store.) Another thing unique about Fortunoff is that–in those stores that are actually department stores–no clothing is sold; instead the entire store is filled with jewelry, china, furniture, electronics, and housewares.
*I am pretty certain that–at least on its exterior–the mall’s A&S never had that store’s last logo on it; while A&S had several logos, the one on this store was probably the logo right before the last. Also, this mall’s A&S was one of four stores that chain had in New Jersey; the three others were at Millburn’s The Mall at Short Hills (which is now a Macy’s), Woodbridge’s Woodbridge Center (which closed in 1995 and was sold to Sears), and Eatontown’s Monmouth Mall (which became a Stern’s in 1995, then closed once Stern’s went defunct in 2001, and is now a Boscov’s). (Note that while the vast majority of A&S stores were renamed Macy’s, there were some others that were renamed either Bloomingdale’s or Stern’s.)
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Scott
September 29th, 2006 at 11:22 pm
The roof on this center is amazing! Say, does it get unusually hot or cold inside? With that much sun, I’d think summer would be baking everyone like little Tollhouse cookies.
Nevertheless, you almost feel like you are outside here, which is a big plus.
Scott
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The Fashion Center; Paramus, New Jersey » Labelscar: The Retail History Blog
October 1st, 2006 at 9:18 pm
[...] Paramus Park Mall; Paramus, New Jersey [...]
D. Jordan Berson
October 5th, 2006 at 2:54 am
I cannot really remember what exterior signage there was for A&S, but I am pretty sure there was one. I definately remember the interior entry (see top photo showing black area with Macy’s signage) used to read “Abraham and Strauss”. Incidentally, that black paneling with the “rivet” details is original to the mall, circa 1974 and I believe if you look closely you can see where the original Abraham and Strauss sign mounts were fixed. The stone crescent shaped waterfall in foreground is also 1974 original There used to be an ornate old-fashioned “town center” clock on a tall pedestal in this area that may still be there. It too would be from 1974.
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Craig
December 6th, 2006 at 5:47 am
The A&S at Paramus Park never had the store’s final logo, which was a bold, block AS with the ampersand located in white in the right leg of the A. Instead, the outside of the store had the large, serifed and italicized A & S that the store used until the 1980s. Inside the mall, Abraham & Straus was spelled out in the same font on the wall where the Macy’s name currently is, and A & S was located on a half-wall that dropped down from the ceiling at the entrance to “A&S Court” (the space around the planters at A&S’ mall entrance). I think, by the way, that one of the roads leading to Paramus Park is still called A&S Drive (the other being Sears Drive).
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chris
December 21st, 2006 at 4:55 am
I visited this mall for the first time back in 2002 never been to the paramus area before pretty nice mall I miss A&S. I hate that macy’s took over everything they are garbage. when I was walking out of the macy’s store into the mall area,I noticed I could still see the abraham and straus name on it was never painted over after macy’s took over it looked like the logo that they used at the woodbridge store and they never used the final logo but at woodbridge they had it going to the mall entrance only
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chris
January 4th, 2007 at 7:40 am
I have a new page its not complete but its about the A&S store’s a tribute page of sorts its called the abraham and straus its terrific page!!!!!!!!!!
enjoy
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Bobby
January 4th, 2007 at 2:40 pm
This is in response to “Max”, above.
Do you have any more information on Headquarters Plaza Mall or Morris County Mall? I can’t find anything about either one on the Internet.
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chris
January 15th, 2007 at 6:42 am
http://occulude06.tripod.com
http://occulude06.tripod.com/sternstributepage
http://occulude06.tripod.com/bambergerstributepage
I have three tribute sites for A&S,bambergers and stern’s check them out there is a lot of interesting facts pics its pretty cool
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chris
January 17th, 2007 at 5:36 am
http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/abrahambamster/
new group i started I need new members so add on
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mallguy
April 2nd, 2007 at 3:26 am
While I do miss the waterfalls in center court and the garden style ambiance to go along with the mall’s name, the renovations give the mall a very fresh look…the greens and tans used in the mall, along with the variety of seating areas allow the mall to continually associate itself with its name. They still need to light the new fountain at night.
Paramus Park also heavily markets itself toward the stay-at-home moms who live in the northern Bergen County/17 towns by making the mall quite family oriented. One of the gem malls of North Jersey and a very nice and more intimate alternative to the traffic of Garden State Plaza.
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XISMZERO
May 16th, 2007 at 11:25 am
I want to go here just to see the legendary Turkey statue. Judging by Malls of America’s photo, I seems they couldn’t have disrespected it anymore by throwing up upstairs in the food court in some corner area. I’m surprised you guys didn’t get a complete shot if it (seen in #11)!
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mallguy
May 17th, 2007 at 10:17 pm
The Turkey Statue in Paramus Park Mall used to be prominently displayed in the Macy’s (formerly A&S) midcourt surrounded by a lowered seating area. That lowered seating area has now been leveled and is now a Lego Play Area. The statue has now been moved upstairs to the food court and is actually displayed overlooking the atrium at the Route 17 Center Court entrance of the malll; a less prominent place but still noticeable.
By the way, if anyone has pictures of the old waterfalls in center court, do post.
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SEAN
June 20th, 2007 at 1:17 pm
pp had 2 problems 1 the mall was hemed in to the point that expandtion was next to imposible, but it still draws many people. 2 gsp this mega mall gets the lions share of paramus’s mall business. when you add the new amc theatre & borders plus cheesecake factory new grand lux cafe consept exept gsp to keep growing.
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Matt
July 16th, 2007 at 11:44 am
Hung out and worked there as a rougue teen in early and mid 80’s. Waterfalls were awesome as well as the maze stairs leading down from food court and glass elevator. Scarlattos was the pricey pizza. Acropolis has Greek food. Nathan’s and Chick Fil A still original. Ah take me back to the Magic Pan (hop over back area and get your own seat on a busy Saturday), Buffalo Bobs, and Philly Cheese steak. Truly a right of passage for teens at that time. And the place screamed 70/80’s decor.
Mall still close to my heart and is managable to shop at as compared to Garden State Plaza. For those who know what they need, you can get in and out in a reasonable amt of time. What ever happend to the huge Santa they’d hang o/s at Garden State Plaza?
Long live the Mongoose (old secuirty guard).
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mallguy
July 16th, 2007 at 11:25 pm
Following up, Matt, on your description of the ‘uniqueness’ of Paramus Park, the Wikipedia entry on Paramus Park describes McDonald’s unique design. Reading about it, I always remembered that Mickey D’s being one of the nicer ones in a mall.
Something else I’ve noticed is that along with the Rockaway Townsquare Macy’s, the Paramus Park Macy’s is the only other one that still has a furniture department under the same roof.
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Cynthia
August 6th, 2007 at 6:28 am
I have a bit of a random question;
Does anyone have a photo of the old McDonald’s? I remember it looking so cool when I was little.
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Cynthia
August 6th, 2007 at 7:10 pm
Oh and by the way, I think the exterior before and after photos are in two different places. One is the entrance that leads to stores like New York and Co., Bath and Body Works, and Mandee’s, and the other is the entrance that leads to the center of the mall, where the escalators to the food court are. It doesn’t really matter, just thought I’d point it out. Great pictures.
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Mike
October 20th, 2007 at 8:58 pm
Growing up in Paramus…..I can definetly remember the Grand Opening Day of Paramus Park……I still have the red shoehorn I got from Kinney shoes and also remember Harmony Hut, the record store…..giving out kazoos. I don’t think Sears was open yet on that first day. the parking lot was so big and not yet numberes that we spent quite a while trying to find our car when it was time to go home. I also remember going there with all the rest of the kids on the block when Henry Winkler and Donny Most from Happy Days made a personal appearance…the food court was packed that day with screaming fans
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Matty
December 10th, 2007 at 5:23 pm
I found this site about the Turkey Statue.
http://mallsofamerica.blogspot.com/2007/05/paramus-park-mall-turkey-statue.html
Paramus Park as a kid…
)
*Thinking I would love to ride that turkey
*Do turkeys really come that big?
*(Not sure if true) I was told once by mall employee that when they first filled up the main waterfall in food court they took water from every town in Bergen County as a symbol of the mall being part of the community
*Trying to hit the mannequins on display at the water fall (I know, messed up
*The maze-like stairs that went behind the water fountain to get to food court….reminded me of jungle.
*The fountain on the Macy’s side – putting my hand in the water and feeling how cold it was
*”Picnic in the Park” side on the outside of the elevator shaft in food court
*About the random birds flying in the food court – thinking if they birds are there on purpose of they flew in and got trapped
*McD’s – how you could have a private party there and also there was a mirror at the end of the McD’s hallway that made the hall look like it went on forever
Think that is all for now…
Random pick of the “new” pool –what were they thinking trying to replace a wonderful waterfall with a kiddie pool.
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z90/williamb_bucket/2002%20USA%20First%20Travel%20-%20WPB%20Family/518a.jpg
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I.
December 11th, 2007 at 5:24 pm
I had my 7th birthday party at the Farrell’s in ‘82!
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mallguy
December 11th, 2007 at 10:13 pm
Farrell’s was in Brunswick Square also and that place seemed like it would totally fit in on Main Street USA in the Magic Kingdom. I was saddened when it closed.
I do miss some of the old features of Paramus Park, especially the big waterfall, but the mall’s renovations overall were positive and it still holds its own against Garden State Plaza. At least the fountain in front of Macy’s is still there.
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FormerNJguy
December 14th, 2007 at 5:50 pm
I miss the waterfalls in the center of the mall. Me and my friends would throw pennies into it from above on the 2nd floor food court. It was unique if you ask me. Also, the McDonalds decor from the late 80’s/early 90’s in there was truely one of a kind. Any pics of the McDonalds back then or the waterfalls would greatly be appreciated.
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MikeP
March 23rd, 2008 at 9:41 pm
Not only does the insanity that is going to Garden Stae Plaza help this mall but it’s location as well. Well away from the RT 17/4 crossover you can actually still here (going from 17 South) with no trouble most times.
A nice little place, the crowrds aren’t bad and I second the Chick-Fi-A being an original feature for this mall.
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SEAN
March 29th, 2008 at 5:54 pm
I wonder if anyone noticed, when you go to Paramus Park the 2 entrances off 17 are Sears Drive & A & S Drive. Even though A & S was macy-aided in 1995.
At least Macy*s kept something from being rebranded.
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mallguy
March 29th, 2008 at 11:59 pm
I also noticed that! That was one nice A&S and it is still one nice Macy’s…one of only 2 in NJ that have furniture depts in the main store.
A couple of months ago, the Bergen Record alluded to an expanison of Paramus Park…anyone hear anything?
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mallguy
April 12th, 2008 at 6:02 pm
Well, it looks today that my question has been answered . Paramus Park is getting a lifestyle center attached to the Route 17 Center Court Entrance. We’ll see who they get to fill it.
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Max
April 27th, 2008 at 3:02 pm
Please forgive me for my rudeness, but I’d really like to see the Garden State Plaza profiled on this site, because it will complete the Paramus story. (A profile of The Shops at Riverside would also add to the Paramus story, even though that mall is located in nearby Hackensack.) As most folks at Labelscar already know, Garden State Plaza has a rich history: it was an outdoor mall from 1957 until the early-80’s, and underwent a massive expansion that was completed in 1996. The mall has an extremely impressive anchor selection–consisting of JC Penney, Lord & Taylor, Macy’s, Neiman Marcus, and Nordstrom–and also has a very elegant interior.
Mallguy has previously pointed out that the only Macy’s locations in northern NJ that have furniture departments are the ones at Paramus Park Mall and Rockaway Townsquare. I must say that I am very surprised that the Macy’s at Garden State Plaza does not sell furniture, given that this store is absolutely huge (at 435,000 sq. ft., it is actually one of the largest mall-based locations of the entire chain).
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SEAN
April 27th, 2008 at 3:30 pm
Max,
The town of Paramus is the story, & how it became the retail capitol that it is today. Yes, Hackensack is part of this whole epic.
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mallguy
April 27th, 2008 at 5:03 pm
Max/Sean:
True…the town of Paramus really influenced retail across the US. Combining the growth with suburbanization, the growth of the highway, proliferation of the automobile and fall of influence of the cities, you have a recipe for success. This topic has established quite a prominent place in my USII classes over the years. Both GSP and Bergen Mall provided the early influence of what would become the shopping center as we know it today. Paramus Park was the 1st large scale indoor mall in Paramus and continues to stay relevant today with its upcoming lifestyle addition. It is also helped by its location as giving the Northern Bergen County suburbs easier access and a less congested place to shop. The Shops at Riverside was built around a freestanding Bloomingdales in 1976-77 (downtown Hackensack was already hurting at this time as a shopping destination) and its remerchandising as ultra-upscale saved it. Prior to the GSP expansion in 89-90 (when Nordstrom opened), each mall in the Paramus area served a specific group as the major anchors were scattered between the centers. When GSP exanded, the rest had to fight to survive.
And all the Paramus/Hackensack centers are trying to stay at the top of the game with the upcoming opening of Xanadu.
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Max
April 27th, 2008 at 5:41 pm
Mallguy, I had no idea that you are a teacher (who teaches U.S. History II at the high school level). That’s very impressive!
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SEAN
April 27th, 2008 at 6:06 pm
Mallguy,
I have 2 questions to ask you & i don’t mean to get personal,
1. How long have you been teaching US history?
2. I would like to know where you got your knowledge about malls, because you keep amazing me time & time again.
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mallguy
April 27th, 2008 at 11:14 pm
Glad I could amaze, Sean
Almost 5 years into it, I still hope I amaze my students. There’s an interesting book I read a few years ago titled A Comsumer’s Republic (Lizabeth Cohen) and she makes many of the arguments I mentioned in my previous post, however her tone strikes me as against the whole mall proliferation and 1950s suburbanization. I’ve lived in NJ my whole life, I’ve enjoyed visiting malls all over the state and am totally into how the mall is a cultural, social and economic phenomenon. It’s been an interest for a very, very long time. I vividly remember being excited for the openings of Bridgewater Commons in 1989, Freehold in 1990, Menlo’s reopening in 1991. I also remember when Short Hills was on life support from 1991-94 with the closing of B Altman’s, Bonwit Teller and many of the smaller stores in the mall (I think I still have the Star-Ledger’s article and coverage when the expansion opened in 1995…and it can probably be found on Lexis-Nexis).
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SEAN
April 28th, 2008 at 10:25 am
Mallguy,
As a history teacher you should read “The Long Emergency” by James Howard Kunstler. http://www.kunstler.com is his site. The book goes in to detail about the discovery of oil in the US, THE CAR DEPENDENT SUBURBS after WWII & what impacts we are now seeing with climate change & peak oil.
His historical information is right on, but you may question some of his conclusions. Reguardless if you agree with him or not the book is a good read & very sobering.
On a personal note i agreed with the book, but i still question the conclusions he draws, although he may be closer to the truth than we know. Only time will tell.
You may ask yourself why is bringing this up on a mall weblog rellivent? The answer i think you already know. If gas prices keep rising noone is going to have money to spend at the mall, let alone buy enough food to live.
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Kelly
May 1st, 2008 at 10:47 pm
Growing up in Rockland Cnty NY we always went to this mall growing up. I LOVED the maze of rock staircases by the waterfall — my brother and I would try and get lost in the maze and try to beat our parents downstairs…ah loved it.
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Kelly
May 1st, 2008 at 10:49 pm
Oh and PS — I TOTALLY agree about the amazing McDonalds decor. The McDonalds is now just a front with no seating but I remember from the 90’s a lot of brass and two “floors” of sorts in McDonalds itself…Plus the seats with the characters on it. Never seen anything like that before.
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FormerNJguy
May 21st, 2008 at 4:04 pm
Nice call Kelly. I forgot about the maze of stairs going to the foodcourt. That was definitely original.
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SEAN
May 21st, 2008 at 6:11 pm
The staircase as I recall sort of wownd around the waterfalls & plantings to the left of the escalators & elevator. every few steps you had to turn to continue, wich made it challenging when you were carrying a drink & people wern’t nessessarily looking where they were going. Squeeze plays were commonplace making the use of the elevator a nessessity at times.
Many Rouse malls used pre-fab construction, making the fonyness of the artificial surroundings even more glaring than it otherwise would have been. Paramus Park is an excelent example of this.
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linda
May 30th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
what was the name of the restraurant that was next to the Lofts candy store, at the garden state plaza, when it was an outside mall. The restraurant use to have the garlic pickles in a bowl on the tables and i can’t remember the name of it , can you help.. thanks
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mallguy
July 2nd, 2008 at 12:50 am
Sean,
I remember the setup of center court before the renovation and while I do miss the waterfall, that staircase and elevator needed to go. You had very, very long lines waiting to use that elevator, making the food court unecessarily crowded…and that elevator was as small as the center court elevator currently located in Freehold Raceway Mall. The twin elevators just off center court alleaviated a lot of those crowds. General Growth markets Paramus Park as the “family oriented mall” that is smaller and less crowded than Garden State Plaza (and closer for the Northern/Northwestern Bergen County/Route 17 towns) and the renovation was effective in pursuing this strategy. It will be interesting to see how the upcoming lifestyle center affects the mall.
And a quick note on Xanadu…it’s opening has been delayed until mid/late 2009.
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Chris
August 22nd, 2008 at 11:08 pm
Does anyone happen to have a picture of that cool waterfall with the maze staircase? I was trying to explain what it looked like to my husband but words can’t describe it : (
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Jonah Norason
August 25th, 2008 at 5:57 pm
What are the other malls in Paramus? OK, we’ve blogged about Bergen, Paramus Park, and Fashion Center, the ones left include GSP, Mall at IV, and one other…
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mallguy
August 25th, 2008 at 6:28 pm
Jonah: The last one is The Shops at Riverside (known as Riverside Square until 2005). Technically, it’s in Hackensack, but it’s only 4 miles east of Garden State Plaza on Route 4.
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Mr.D
September 12th, 2008 at 8:12 pm
Yeah the pet store in the mall got shut down because of just one sick dog,so
And anyone notice that the Calender Kiosk has come to town early?
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mallguy
September 28th, 2008 at 9:29 am
The Calendar stores are open up all over NJ about now. At least we’re not seeing Christmas Departments up in all the malls (just the Willowbrook Macy’s as of late August). Any more news on the upcoming lifestyle expansion at Paramus Park?
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Joey
September 28th, 2008 at 11:51 am
GSP’s Macy*s has a huge Christmas section already.
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SEAN
September 28th, 2008 at 12:51 pm
I cant understand why Macy’s insists on Christmas displays in September. The White plains store has it’s displays up just after Labor day. It’s nuts.
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Bill Griffin
October 15th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
Of interesting historical note on Paramus Park. It was originally envisioned by the Rouse Company as a office/retail hybrid, NOT a traditional mall. Tiffany and Co was going to take the space now occupied by Sears (which was going to close it’s Hackensack location). The concept of the food court was to serve the needs of the imagined hundreds of office workers. The location of the mall – virtually invisible from Route 17 and almost inaccessable from the Garden State Parkway was not a problem given the original intent as office/retail. The Mack Centers on Midland Ave and E. Ridgewood Ave (bookending the mall) are close to the original intent. Rouse had no visions of grandeur building Paramus Park – they figured they could write-off the anticipated high vacancy in the retail portion of the mall as a loss. Tiffany’s backed out of the deal and A&S went in. Sears decided to keep Hackensack open as well as opening in PP. What happened after the mall opened is almost legendary. The mall was wildly successful. Most of the “6 day” stores in the mall dramatically outperformed “7 day” stores in their chains. There are many reasons for it’s success. The rule of thumb around here is you browse in the Garden State (putting up with the denizens that stream out Rt 4 from the Bronx) but do serious buying at Paramus Park. I rue the day the “gardens of Babylon” waterfall area was removed – it was part of the “soul” of that place that made it so different. Most locals will not go to the Garden State – besides the unruly kids – the traffic flow is awful. Locals all go to PP since it is a breeze to get in and out…
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Max
November 9th, 2008 at 6:25 pm
I visited this mall for the first time yesterday, and I must say that I was pretty underwhelmed. What surprised me the most was just how small it was: the mall’s size was considerably smaller than Livingston Mall (which I consider to be relatively little in size). Also, there did not seem to be any really unique stores at this mall. Honestly, the only real plus this mall has going for it is that it has a Sears (which GSP does not have). (I liked the second floor food court as well.)
On the discussion forums for Nanuet Mall, somebody pointed out that Paramus Park Mall has always been far more preferred than the Nanuet Mall when it came for locals to decide which non-mammouth shopping mall was best to visit. This is somewhat perplexing to me, as Nanuet (prior to it becoming a dead mall) seemed superior to Paramus Park: Nanuet had one more department store than Paramus Park, had a prettier interior, was open on Sundays, and was considerably bigger as well (which meant a lot more little stores to choose from). Aside from the facts that Paramus Park was much closer to GSP and that NY has higher sales taxes than NJ, I honestly don’t know why anyone would prefer Paramus Park.
Before I close, I’d like to add that according to Wikipedia, the Paramus Park Macy’s is 289,000 sq. ft. in size, and that this mall’s Sears is 170,000 sq. ft.
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mallguy
November 16th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
Max,
Paramus Park, over the years, has benefitted from two things:
1) The mall is more manageable in size compared to Garden State Plaza and is closer to the Northern Bergen County communities, as well as the fact that it is more easily accessible by side streets than is Garden State Plaza.
2) Paramus Park is in NJ, as opposed to Nauet Mall which is in NY. Despite Nanuet’s larger size than Paramus Park, sales tax on clothing exists at Nanuet Mall due to the fact that it’s in NY.
Those two items are big draws to Paramus Park and the management realized this when they renovated back in 2001, making the food court more accessible and modernizing it’s “park-like atmosphere” (yes, I miss the waterfalls, but the renovation was a good one and center court is more open) Now Paramus Park will be embarking in a lifestyle addition and can further cyphon off the Northern Bergen population from Garden State Plaza.
And Max, that Macy’s is definitely on par with Macy’s in Garden State Plaza…and Fortunoff is there too.
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Victor M
November 16th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
Bill,
It was Hahne & Company, not Tiffany, that was supposed to be at Paramus Park before Sears came in.
I also miss Paramus Park’s iconic waterfall, I worked there in college. does anyone remember ‘The Design Store’, sort of a small Crate & Barrel-concept store between A&S and the center court?
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mallguy
November 27th, 2008 at 12:05 am
It looks as if Pacific Grill has closed. That now opens up that space as part of the new lifestyle expansion. I would hope that the lifestyle expansion includes a bookstore. Barnes and Noble has a quite large store across route 17 and the mall lifestyle center would be a better more easily accessible location. Also Borders could give another shot to having a 2nd store in Paramus, locate it at the mall and go head to head with the large B&N across 17.
I was at Paramus Park this week and it was quite busy. Happened to notice they have opened a few high end tenants and this is good for the long term health of the mall. Sad that they still have the same old tired and inispid Christmas decorations they’ve had since the renovation.
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Dan
January 2nd, 2009 at 10:42 am
I live very close to Paramus Park and have been to it several times. I would like to give you some updates about this mall
1.) A LOT of stores have closed, and are vacant
2.) The Mall might undergo an expasnion in the next few years, which would add some restaurants(it currently has 2), a movie theater(probably Regal, since there are several AMC theatres in the area), and possibly a major renovation to the mall. Also, when they took the glass elevator out in 2001, they replaced it with 2 new elevators by the new Main Entrance(west). Also, from the mid-1980’s to 2001, the mall featured a sit-down wait staff McDonalds, which I remember very well. it had a lot of tables, and if I remember correctly, it didn’t serve just typical McDonalds food. For more info, wikipedia has a few words about it on there Paramus Park article
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Jonah Norason Reply:
June 18th, 2009 at 7:50 pm
I thought it still served regular McD’s food. Do you know what they might have served?
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Peter
January 2nd, 2009 at 2:37 pm
Max,
In the 70’s and 80’s, Nanuet mall only had two anchor stores and was considerably smaller than PP before the mid-1990’s expansion. There was no food court at Nanuet and the quality of stores in the mall was lower.
More importantly, Bergan County did not have sales tax on clothing and shoes, which made everything at PP about 8% cheaper.
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Mr.d
January 9th, 2009 at 1:27 pm
Dan,
Where the hell are they going to fit this stuff?
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anonymousnj
February 1st, 2009 at 5:21 am
Seriously!? Paramus Park might think of getting a movie theater!? Woot!! Finally! I don’t want to go to a crowded theater in Garden State Plaza on a Saturday or a Friday! As much as AMC is “nice”, a new Regal or any other movie chain would be nice too. Plus, it would be closer. Yesssh!
Hmm.. Maybe, they should expand the Borders Express? But then, that would really compete with Garden State Plaza on a new level…
I still have fond memories of those old waterfalls. It was my favorite area to go to when I was little because that’s where the video game store was. I like PP’s new look though. It’s a much more warmer inviting area to be in.
I can sadly update that KB Toys is closing leaving only ten KBs in the entire state. =_= So sad. That was like, one of my first toys stores as a kid. It was my local alternative to the two Toys R’ Uses that dominate the town. But I wonder, why would they choose the Paramus KB to lay-off/hack from their list? Paramus makes more than the national average so I thought, it would be one of their more profitable locations. but perhaps, because it’s an old location or it really isn’t making much due to PP being dwarfed by GSP?
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Rob
April 9th, 2009 at 1:24 pm
I feel PP lost its character when they got rid of the waterfall and the elevator. The generic change pit in the middle, along with escalators that aren’t side-by-side is pathetic. I can remember when the food court upstairs had virtually no franchises. With the exception of McDonalds, which by the way was the best with its dine-in facilities, the restaurants were unique. Farrell’s, Uncle Miltie’s–this was in the mid ’80s. Other stores I remember being there were Plymouth!, B. Dalton, Pants Place Plus, The Crackerjack Kid, 5-7-9, This End Up, Keepsake Jewelry and Just Shirts. I still go to PP when I get a chance but I think malls overall are definitely not what they used to be.
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James
May 17th, 2009 at 8:23 pm
I wish we had pictures of the food court/waterfall/elevator before the renovation. Been trying to explain it to my wife who doesn’t remember what it looked like.
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Cindy Reply:
September 13th, 2009 at 6:32 pm
@James, I still have a mental picture of the waterfalls in Paramus Park mall. It was calming and serene. When I was a little girl, every time I went, I used to drop a penny in the bottom part and make a wish- I remember sitting on the white pillars that were around the base. I also remember a restaurant in the upstairs food court that you could here a fire engine type siren every once in a while too, at least if my memory serves me right. I sure wish I could see a picture of those falls though!
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SEAN
June 18th, 2009 at 7:11 pm
Stopped over at PP on my way home on Saturday. The customer service booth has been closed acording to a security officer. Seriously I asked? It has been that way for several months he said.
I guess when you are in bankruptcy this is what happens.
The good news is there were only five empty stores in the entire mall wich is about 4%. However those empty spaces were smaller retail locations, making the square footage factor less of an issue.
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Gary
June 18th, 2009 at 9:33 pm
Yeah, it seems that malls around the country have been eliminating those services, consolidating them with mall management.
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James
June 22nd, 2009 at 10:29 pm
I’ve been to this mall a few times, and always have found it very slick-looking, with all the indoor plants and glass ceilings and dark colors, as well as the waterfalls. The darker color scheme and small size also rid it of those shabby areas that haunt larger malls.
I find it interesting that this mall seems to cater more towards the northern Bergen County population as opposed to the southern Bergen County population. As most North Jersey people know, Bergen County is perceived as having fairly clear cut socioeconomic lines along geography. Those towns south of Paramus, and in particular Route 4, are mostly middle and working class. Those north of it are mostly upper middle class and wealthy, including extremely affluent places like Alpine, Woodcliff Lake, and Upper Saddle River. This is more marked in the western than the eastern part of the county. Part of this seems to be that the western part of the county (Hackensack and west) hasn’t received as much immigration as the eastern half, where wealth is clustered along the Hudson River. For example, there’s a very pronounced difference between the middle and working class areas of Elmwood Park and Fairlawn along Route 4 and south, and the ritzier areas of Glen Rock and Ridgewood to the north. In the eastern half, middle-income areas (Bergenfield, Dumont, New Milford, River Edge) run north of Route 4, north of very wealthy areas like Englewood Cliffs and upper middle class places like Tenafly. So, it’s more complex than it’s perceived…but there is a very real difference between the southern areas, which are mostly working and middle class Italian, Polish, and German-Irish with a fairly strong Hispanic and Jewish component in southwest Bergen County (these are tied also more to Passaic and Essex counties) and heavily Asian, Russian, and Hispanic in southeastern Bergen County near the bridge, and the posh northern areas, which tend to become wealthier the further north you go. Part of this is an extension of the “Gold Coast”, and is tied more to Hudson County development trends. The northern part of Bergen County is one of North Jersey’s biggest uninterrupted affluent areas, and one of it’s biggest uninterrupted purely suburban, and overwhelmingly residential, areas. The southern and central portions are more commercial and industrial. On either side, the household income of towns rises with each one as you go further north (say, middle and working-class Elmwood Park, to middle-income Fairlawn, to upper middle-class Glen Rock, to upper middle-class and rich Ridgewood in the west, or working-class western Englewood, to middle-class Bergenfield, to more firmly middle-class Dumont, to upper middle-class Haworth and Harrington Park in the east.) So, it’s both a perceived and real difference. As this relates to Paramus Park Mall, I think that both Paramus Park Mall and Riverside Square cater more to the northern crowd…which is why I always found it bizarre that Riverside Square is located in Hackensack. They both also cater to the older crowd and seem less diverse, whereas Garden State Plaza is really New Jersey’s preeminent “teen mall”, seems to get a HUGE chunk of people from southern and central Bergen County, as well as Essex, Hudson, and Passaic counties, and so gets a very diverse and younger population.
Bergen County is bizarre in North Jersey in lacking any older cities of the same size as Elizabeth, Paterson, Newark, or Jersey City. It’s also almost entirely and very densely developed, and is more tied to the economy of New York City, together with Hudson County, than areas further west. This makes it an ideal environment to study nearly “pure suburbia” on a grand scale. So, I’m wondering how the financial industry downturn will affect places like Paramus Park Mall, which cater to a northern Bergen County crowd that HEAVILY works in New York City’s financial industry. These areas were heavily affected, for example, by deaths from 9/11. It’s alot of tiny towns reliant on affluent homeowners. Bergen County, while growing slowly, isn’t growing quickly, and its retail faces increasingly stiff competition from developments further west, south (Xanadu), and north (the Palisades Center in Rockland County.) So, will Paramus be in trouble?
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SEAN Reply:
June 25th, 2009 at 9:33 am
@James,
Your Palisades vs Paramus arguement is backwards. The better stores are beginning to leave Palisades. I maybe comparing apples to oranges here, I noticed as soon as Burlington coat factory opened places like Legal Sea Foods & other stores at that price point closed. Also As a result the demographics in the mall changed from upper middle income people who drove from Westchester & points east of the Tappan Zee Bridge to a more local middle class population.
Those upper income shoppers transissioned to Stamford, White Plains or Garden state plaza/ Paramus Park/ Shops @ Riverside.
Once Xanadu openeds the Palisades will need to transform it self because they wont survive in that nitch that worked a decade ago.
I can guarantee If Restoration Hardware & Cheesecake Factory close, this mall would be dead quickly because there’s nothing that seperates it self from other local malls Beyond BJ’s & Home Depot.
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mallguy Reply:
November 9th, 2009 at 9:07 pm
@SEAN,
Palisades will definitely need a cosmetic renovation. The factory look is tiring and the carpeting on the 1st floor conflicts with the rest of the decor. All the Paramus malls had cosmetic renovations or expansions and as a result, it has contributed to attracting more stores and getting more people to the mall.
I agree, Palisades could be struggling after Xanadu opens and they would be wise to prepare for it.
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anonymousnj
June 25th, 2009 at 7:03 am
As long as there’s a Garden State Plaza in the world, there’s no way Paramus economy will severely slip. I’m not surprised when some site noted that if all the other malls died off, GSP would be the last one standing (sadly). And that’s the mall, I try to avoid at all times. =.= At least, on Friday and Saturday.
It’s harder to find parking in GSP than Palisades on a Saturday, even though, Palisades is the bigger mall. You get sales tax on clothing in Palisades. NJ has no clothing sales tax.
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Rob
August 20th, 2009 at 6:32 pm
Another thing. This was the first food court that I had ever seen. Pic-nic in the park was the name (I don’t think that they still use this name though). McDonalds opened in the mid eighties after the departure of Farrells. I can remember a few of the original restaurants.. Uncle Milt’s deli. Chick-Fil-A. Baskin Robbins. Sgarlato’s pizza. Magic Pan. Farrell’s. I think that Swiss colony might have had a store there as well..
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mallguy Reply:
November 22nd, 2009 at 3:00 pm
@Rob,
Farrell’s was a great restaurant and they have been making a comeback on the west coast.
Paramus Park had an excellent food court and their food court led to Garden State Plaza’s lower level food court getting built. I still miss the waterfall to this day!
I haven’t been to PP in a while and I assume the expansion project has been put on hold?
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