Westfield Garden State Plaza
Encyclopedia
Westfield Garden State Plaza is an upscale shopping mall
in Paramus
, Bergen County
, New Jersey
, United States
, owned and managed by the Westfield Group and located at the intersection of Route 4 and Route 17 near the Garden State Parkway
. With 2132112 sq ft (198,079.7 m²) of leasable space, it is the largest mall in New Jersey, the third-largest mall in the New York City Metropolitan Area, and one of the highest revenue producing malls in the United States. Its department store anchors are J.C. Penney
, Lord & Taylor
, Macy's
, Neiman Marcus
and Nordstrom
, and it is across Route 4 from an IKEA
, Sports Authority
, Bed, Bath and Beyond, and a Christmas Tree Shops
. It was the first large scale shopping mall in New Jersey.
Westfield Garden State Plaza ranks among the largest shopping malls in the United States, having been ranked 14th largest in the United States. Westfield Garden State Plaza is the largest mall in the Westfield Group's global portfolio in terms of leasable area. This is significant given that Westfield Group is the largest retail property group globally.
The mall had sales of $578 per square foot in 2005, about 50% above the national average, according to the Directory of Major Malls. Westfield Garden State Plaza is one of the most profitable malls in the country.
as an open-air shopping "plaza". Its groundbreaking design differed from today's "Big Box" shopping areas in that, rather than having its tenants strung around the periphery of one large parking lot, the stores, except for those more suited for out-parcels (e.g. automotive repair and retail), were clustered on a shopping island, encircled by a moat of parking lots, much like today. Connecting the stores were open-air sidewalks, complete with benches, plantered trees and other vegetation. This model approximated a "downtown" pedestrian mall, at the same time serving as a precursor of the latter-day enclosed and air-conditioned shopping malls. Eventually it would siphon most of the retail business from nearby downtown Paterson
, whose Meyer Brothers and Quackenbush department stores (later Stern's-Quackenbush) would fall upon hard times and melt into history.
The original anchor was Bamberger's
(owned by R.H. Macy since 1929). Gimbels and J.C. Penney
were added in 1958. Total construction costs were $26 million in 1957 for the mall and its original group of 90 stores.
Garden State Plaza drew much business from nearby New York towns and cities, whose shoppers wandered across state lines to take advantage of New Jersey's lower sales taxes and its policy that exempted clothing purchases from sales tax. By 1961, it was the world's largest mall.
The mall was enclosed between 1981 and 1984 in response to competitive pressure from newer fully enclosed malls such as the Willowbrook Mall
in nearby Wayne
.
In the late 1980s, the mall added a new lower level by converting a former basement truck tunnel into regular retail. The existing J.C.Penney basement was given a new entrance on the lower level, but since the floors were at slightly different elevations, that entrance features the shortest escalator
in North America, at a height of six steps.
As part of this expansion, Nordstrom
opened its first New Jersey location on September 7, 1990, building a $37 million, 272000 sq ft (25,269.6 m²)., three-level store on the former Gimbel's site.
In 1996, Garden State Plaza marked the completion of a $200 million expansion and major remodeling project that added over 700000 sq ft (65,032.1 m²) of retail space and two four level parking structures with a bank of two elevators situated in a small lobby on the third and fourth levels. On the first and second levels, the elevators and parking structures connect directly to the mall. The downstairs food court was connected to the lower level from the previous expansion. J.C.Penney grew by 62000 sq ft (5,760 m²) to 150000 sq ft (13,935.5 m²), and two new anchors were added, a 150000 sq ft (13,935.5 m²) Neiman Marcus
on three levels and a 135000 sq ft (12,541.9 m²) Lord & Taylor
on two levels, both targeted at the upscale fashion-conscious shopper.
Westfield acquired the mall in 1986 from Macy's in a deal that also included New Jersey's Brunswick Mall and Quaker Bridge Mall
.
The Borough of Paramus petitioned the New Jersey Supreme Court
to review a decision by borough's Planning Board, asking it to review the plans to construct a 163000 square feet (15,143.2 m²) "entertainment lifestyle precinct" at the mall that includes a 16-screen AMC
movie theater and 10 specialty retail stores, along with a 158000 square feet (14,678.7 m²) parking lot below the new wing. The petition was turned down, and the mall celebrated its 50th Anniversary with the new expansion and stores opened on May 25, 2007.
s in effect in Bergen County and more restrictive limitations in place in Paramus, Westfield Garden State Plaza is completely closed on Sundays, except for some of the restaurants and the movie theater, all of which have special Sunday entrances. Westfield Garden State Plaza's parking lot is accessible, on Sundays, only from the Route 4 and Route 17 access points. Gates are down so that the access roads from the secondary streets are blocked. The Paramus Borough Code forbids the performance of any "worldly employment" on Sunday, with very limited exceptions. These laws were enacted shortly after Westfield Garden State Plaza opened out of fear that the mall would cause high levels of congestion
in the borough. While there have been several attempts to repeal these laws over the years, they have all failed.
, as the 162 and 163 to the Port Authority Bus Terminal
, the 171 and 175 to the George Washington Bridge Bus Station, the 770 to Paterson
and Hackensack
, the 709 to Bloomfield
, the 758 to Passaic
and Paramus Park
, and Bergen County Academy Express
-contracted local routes 751, 753, 755, and 756 stop there.
As the mall is closed on Sunday, except for certain restaurants and the movie theater, there is no Sunday service to the mall by bus.
Shopping mall
A shopping mall, shopping centre, shopping arcade, shopping precinct or simply mall is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area — a modern, indoor version...
in Paramus
Paramus, New Jersey
Paramus is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 26,342. A suburb of New York City, Paramus is located between 15–20 miles northwest of Midtown Manhattan and approximately west of Upper Manhattan.Paramus is one of...
, Bergen County
Bergen County, New Jersey
Bergen County is the most populous county of the state of New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, its population was 905,116. The county is part of the New York City Metropolitan Area. Its county seat is Hackensack...
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, owned and managed by the Westfield Group and located at the intersection of Route 4 and Route 17 near the Garden State Parkway
Garden State Parkway
The Garden State Parkway is a 172.4-mile limited-access toll parkway that stretches the length of New Jersey from the New York line at Montvale, New Jersey, to Cape May at New Jersey's southernmost tip. Its name refers to New Jersey's nickname, the "Garden State." Most New Jersey residents refer...
. With 2132112 sq ft (198,079.7 m²) of leasable space, it is the largest mall in New Jersey, the third-largest mall in the New York City Metropolitan Area, and one of the highest revenue producing malls in the United States. Its department store anchors are J.C. Penney
J.C. Penney
J. C. Penney Company, Inc. is a chain of American mid-range department stores based in Plano, Texas, a suburb north of Dallas. The company operates 1,107 department stores in all 50 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. JCPenney also operates catalog sales merchant offices nationwide in many...
, Lord & Taylor
Lord & Taylor
Lord & Taylor, colloquially known as L&T, or LT, based in New York City, is the oldest upscale, specialty-retail department store chain in the United States. Concentrated in the eastern U.S., the retailer operated independently for nearly a century prior to joining American Dry Goods...
, Macy's
Macy's
Macy's is a U.S. chain of mid-to-high range department stores. In addition to its flagship Herald Square location in New York City, the company operates over 800 stores in the United States...
, Neiman Marcus
Neiman Marcus
Neiman Marcus, formerly Neiman-Marcus, is a luxury specialty retail department store operated by the Neiman Marcus Group in the United States. The company is headquartered in the One Marcus Square building in Downtown Dallas, Texas, and competes with other department stores such as Saks Fifth...
and Nordstrom
Nordstrom
Nordstrom, Inc. is an upscale department store chain in the United States, founded by John W. Nordstrom and Carl F. Wallin. Initially a shoe retailer, the company today also sells clothing, accessories, handbags, jewelry, cosmetics, fragrances, and in some locations, home furnishings...
, and it is across Route 4 from an IKEA
IKEA
IKEA is a privately held, international home products company that designs and sells ready-to-assemble furniture such as beds and desks, appliances and home accessories. The company is the world's largest furniture retailer...
, Sports Authority
Sports Authority
The Sports Authority, Inc. is one of the largest sporting goods retailers in the United States. It is headquartered in Englewood, Colorado, and operates more than 460 stores in 45 U.S...
, Bed, Bath and Beyond, and a Christmas Tree Shops
Christmas Tree Shops
Christmas Tree Shops are a retail chain that started in Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts on Cape Cod in 1970 as a complex of three small stores; the Front Shop, the Back Shop, and the Barn Shop. The multiple store location, which was located on Route 6A, explains why the name is Christmas Tree Shops...
. It was the first large scale shopping mall in New Jersey.
Westfield Garden State Plaza ranks among the largest shopping malls in the United States, having been ranked 14th largest in the United States. Westfield Garden State Plaza is the largest mall in the Westfield Group's global portfolio in terms of leasable area. This is significant given that Westfield Group is the largest retail property group globally.
The mall had sales of $578 per square foot in 2005, about 50% above the national average, according to the Directory of Major Malls. Westfield Garden State Plaza is one of the most profitable malls in the country.
History
Garden State Plaza was built in 1957 by the Muscarelle Construction Company for owner/developer R.H. Macy & Co.Macy's
Macy's is a U.S. chain of mid-to-high range department stores. In addition to its flagship Herald Square location in New York City, the company operates over 800 stores in the United States...
as an open-air shopping "plaza". Its groundbreaking design differed from today's "Big Box" shopping areas in that, rather than having its tenants strung around the periphery of one large parking lot, the stores, except for those more suited for out-parcels (e.g. automotive repair and retail), were clustered on a shopping island, encircled by a moat of parking lots, much like today. Connecting the stores were open-air sidewalks, complete with benches, plantered trees and other vegetation. This model approximated a "downtown" pedestrian mall, at the same time serving as a precursor of the latter-day enclosed and air-conditioned shopping malls. Eventually it would siphon most of the retail business from nearby downtown Paterson
Paterson, New Jersey
Paterson is a city serving as the county seat of Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, its population was 146,199, rendering it New Jersey's third largest city and one of the largest cities in the New York City Metropolitan Area, despite a decrease of 3,023...
, whose Meyer Brothers and Quackenbush department stores (later Stern's-Quackenbush) would fall upon hard times and melt into history.
The original anchor was Bamberger's
Bamberger's
Bamberger's was a department store chain with locations primarily in New Jersey, but also Delaware, Maryland, New York, and Pennsylvania. The chain was headquartered in Newark, New Jersey.-History:Founded in 1893 by Louis Bamberger as L...
(owned by R.H. Macy since 1929). Gimbels and J.C. Penney
J.C. Penney
J. C. Penney Company, Inc. is a chain of American mid-range department stores based in Plano, Texas, a suburb north of Dallas. The company operates 1,107 department stores in all 50 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. JCPenney also operates catalog sales merchant offices nationwide in many...
were added in 1958. Total construction costs were $26 million in 1957 for the mall and its original group of 90 stores.
Garden State Plaza drew much business from nearby New York towns and cities, whose shoppers wandered across state lines to take advantage of New Jersey's lower sales taxes and its policy that exempted clothing purchases from sales tax. By 1961, it was the world's largest mall.
The mall was enclosed between 1981 and 1984 in response to competitive pressure from newer fully enclosed malls such as the Willowbrook Mall
Willowbrook Mall (Wayne, New Jersey)
Willowbrook Mall is a two-level, major shopping center located in Wayne, New Jersey, United States. It is near the intersection of U.S. Route 46, Route 23 and Interstate 80. The mall opened in 1969 and was expanded or renovated in 1970, 1988, and 2006...
in nearby Wayne
Wayne, New Jersey
Wayne is a Township in Passaic County, New Jersey, United States, located less than from midtown Manhattan. As of the United States 2000 Census, the township had a total population of 54,069....
.
In the late 1980s, the mall added a new lower level by converting a former basement truck tunnel into regular retail. The existing J.C.Penney basement was given a new entrance on the lower level, but since the floors were at slightly different elevations, that entrance features the shortest escalator
Escalator
An escalator is a moving staircase – a conveyor transport device for carrying people between floors of a building. The device consists of a motor-driven chain of individual, linked steps that move up or down on tracks, allowing the step treads to remain horizontal.Escalators are used around the...
in North America, at a height of six steps.
As part of this expansion, Nordstrom
Nordstrom
Nordstrom, Inc. is an upscale department store chain in the United States, founded by John W. Nordstrom and Carl F. Wallin. Initially a shoe retailer, the company today also sells clothing, accessories, handbags, jewelry, cosmetics, fragrances, and in some locations, home furnishings...
opened its first New Jersey location on September 7, 1990, building a $37 million, 272000 sq ft (25,269.6 m²)., three-level store on the former Gimbel's site.
In 1996, Garden State Plaza marked the completion of a $200 million expansion and major remodeling project that added over 700000 sq ft (65,032.1 m²) of retail space and two four level parking structures with a bank of two elevators situated in a small lobby on the third and fourth levels. On the first and second levels, the elevators and parking structures connect directly to the mall. The downstairs food court was connected to the lower level from the previous expansion. J.C.Penney grew by 62000 sq ft (5,760 m²) to 150000 sq ft (13,935.5 m²), and two new anchors were added, a 150000 sq ft (13,935.5 m²) Neiman Marcus
Neiman Marcus
Neiman Marcus, formerly Neiman-Marcus, is a luxury specialty retail department store operated by the Neiman Marcus Group in the United States. The company is headquartered in the One Marcus Square building in Downtown Dallas, Texas, and competes with other department stores such as Saks Fifth...
on three levels and a 135000 sq ft (12,541.9 m²) Lord & Taylor
Lord & Taylor
Lord & Taylor, colloquially known as L&T, or LT, based in New York City, is the oldest upscale, specialty-retail department store chain in the United States. Concentrated in the eastern U.S., the retailer operated independently for nearly a century prior to joining American Dry Goods...
on two levels, both targeted at the upscale fashion-conscious shopper.
Westfield acquired the mall in 1986 from Macy's in a deal that also included New Jersey's Brunswick Mall and Quaker Bridge Mall
Quaker Bridge Mall
Quaker Bridge Mall is a two-level, major shopping center located in Lawrence Township, New Jersey, on U.S. Route 1 near Interstate 295. The mall opened in 1975, and has over 120 retail establishments. Owned by Simon Property Group, the mall's anchor stores include J.C. Penney, Lord & Taylor,...
.
The Borough of Paramus petitioned the New Jersey Supreme Court
New Jersey Supreme Court
The New Jersey Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It has existed in three different forms under the three different state constitutions since the independence of the state in 1776...
to review a decision by borough's Planning Board, asking it to review the plans to construct a 163000 square feet (15,143.2 m²) "entertainment lifestyle precinct" at the mall that includes a 16-screen AMC
AMC Theatres
AMC Theatres , officially known as AMC Entertainment, Inc., is the second largest movie theater chain in North America with 5,325 screens, second only to Regal Entertainment Group, and one of the United States's four national cinema chains AMC Theatres (American Multi-Cinema), officially known as...
movie theater and 10 specialty retail stores, along with a 158000 square feet (14,678.7 m²) parking lot below the new wing. The petition was turned down, and the mall celebrated its 50th Anniversary with the new expansion and stores opened on May 25, 2007.
Blue laws
Due to highly restrictive blue lawBlue law
A blue law is a type of law, typically found in the United States and, formerly, in Canada, designed to enforce religious standards, particularly the observance of Sunday as a day of worship or rest, and a restriction on Sunday shopping...
s in effect in Bergen County and more restrictive limitations in place in Paramus, Westfield Garden State Plaza is completely closed on Sundays, except for some of the restaurants and the movie theater, all of which have special Sunday entrances. Westfield Garden State Plaza's parking lot is accessible, on Sundays, only from the Route 4 and Route 17 access points. Gates are down so that the access roads from the secondary streets are blocked. The Paramus Borough Code forbids the performance of any "worldly employment" on Sunday, with very limited exceptions. These laws were enacted shortly after Westfield Garden State Plaza opened out of fear that the mall would cause high levels of congestion
Congestion
Congestion generally means excessive crowding.Congestion may refer to:* congestion in heart failure, a term to describe low cardiac output seen in heart failure.* Nasal congestion, the blockage of nasal passages due to swollen membranes...
in the borough. While there have been several attempts to repeal these laws over the years, they have all failed.
Public transportation
Westfield Garden State Plaza is also a major bus transfer point for New Jersey TransitNew Jersey Transit
The New Jersey Transit Corporation is a statewide public transportation system serving the United States state of New Jersey, and New York, Orange, and Rockland counties in New York State...
, as the 162 and 163 to the Port Authority Bus Terminal
Port Authority Bus Terminal
The Port Authority Bus Terminal is the main gateway for interstate buses into Manhattan in New York City...
, the 171 and 175 to the George Washington Bridge Bus Station, the 770 to Paterson
Paterson, New Jersey
Paterson is a city serving as the county seat of Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, its population was 146,199, rendering it New Jersey's third largest city and one of the largest cities in the New York City Metropolitan Area, despite a decrease of 3,023...
and Hackensack
Hackensack, New Jersey
Hackensack is a city in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States and the county seat of Bergen County. Although informally called Hackensack, it was officially named New Barbadoes Township until 1921. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was 43,010....
, the 709 to Bloomfield
Bloomfield, New Jersey
Bloomfield is a township in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township population was 47,315. It surrounds the Bloomfield Green Historic District.-History:...
, the 758 to Passaic
Passaic, New Jersey
Passaic is a city in Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city had a total population of 69,781, maintaining its status as the 15th largest municipality in New Jersey with an increase of 1,920 residents from the 2000 Census population of 67,861...
and Paramus Park
Paramus Park
Paramus Park is a shopping center located on From Road in Paramus, New Jersey, United States, sandwiched between Route 17 and the Garden State Parkway, a little more than two miles north of Route 4. The mall is owned by General Growth Properties and offers a Gross leasable area of...
, and Bergen County Academy Express
Academy Bus
Academy Bus Lines is a bus company in New Jersey providing local bus service in northern New Jersey, line run service to/from New York City from points in central New Jersey, and contract and charter service in the northeastern United States from Boston to Northern Virginia.-Under contract to NJ...
-contracted local routes 751, 753, 755, and 756 stop there.
As the mall is closed on Sunday, except for certain restaurants and the movie theater, there is no Sunday service to the mall by bus.
External links
- Westfield Garden State Plaza
- Westfield Garden State Plaza, International Council of Shopping CentersInternational Council of Shopping CentersFounded in 1957, the International Council of Shopping Centers is the global trade association of the shopping center industry. Its 60,000 members in the U.S., Canada and more than 80 other countries include shopping center owners, developers, managers, marketing specialists, investors, lenders,...
- Aerial View
- Garden State Plaza Reshaped Landscape, Retail Traffic Magazine, May 1, 1999