Westfield Garden State Plaza is a two-story shopping mall located in Paramus, New Jersey, owned and managed by the Westfield Corporation, and located at the intersection of Route 4 and Route 17 near the Garden State Parkway, about 15 miles west of Manhattan. With 2,118,718 sq ft (196,835.3 m2) of leasable space, and housing over 300 stores, it is the largest mall in New Jersey, the third-largest mall in the New York metropolitan area, and one of the highest-revenue producing malls in the United States. Its department store anchors are Lord & Taylor, Macy's, Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom. It was the first large scale shopping mall in New Jersey.
The mall had sales of $500 per square foot in 2013, about $320 above the national average; Garden State Plaza is one of the most profitable malls in the country. In a study of malls in the United States performed on behalf of CNBC, Westfield Garden State Plaza ranked ninth in the nation, based on sales of $950 per square foot.
Video Westfield Garden State Plaza
History
Garden State Plaza was built in 1957 by the Muscarelle Construction Company for owner/developer R.H. Macy & Co. as an open-air shopping "plaza".
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. Later in the 1980s, a lower level was added by converting a former basement truck tunnel into retail space. 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.
In 1987, Gimbel's parent company, BATUS, which had been selling off its Gimbel's stores, sold its Garden State Plaza location to Associated Dry Goods. Associated reopened the store as the new headquarters for its Hahne's department stores. Hahne's had previously been headquartered at its flagship store in downtown Newark, which the company wanted to close. Two years later, a Nobody Beats the Wiz store was added to the mall site; it later became a Best Buy store that closed in 2018.
On September 7, 1990, Nordstrom opened its first New Jersey location, building a $37 million, 272,000 sq ft (25,300 m2)., three-level store on the former Hahne's site. In 1996, Lord & Taylor opened a store in the mall; its seventh in the state at the time.
In 1996, Garden State Plaza marked the completion of a $200 million expansion and major remodeling project that added over 700,000 sq ft (65,000 m2) of retail space and two four level parking structures, Parking Garage A, and Parking Garage B. The downstairs food court was connected to the lower level from the previous expansion. J. C. Penney grew by 62,000 to 150,000 sq ft (5,800 to 13,900 m2), and two new anchors were added, a 150,000 sq ft (14,000 m2) Neiman Marcus on three levels and a 135,000 sq ft (12,500 m2) Lord & Taylor on two levels, both targeted at the upscale fashion-conscious shopper. A Venetian Carousel was also added at that time of the expansion and remodeling and was located in front of Macy's. The carousel closed in 2016 and was removed so that the mall could use that space for The Bergen Performing Arts Center to give performances and shows. There was also a Bergen PAC ticket center located nearby as well. The performance area was short lived and was replaced by a video game theater before converting into a lounge area in 2017. By 2018, the Macy's area of the mall was labeled as "The Restaurant District" because three new restaurants moved in with Ruby Tuesday and Shake Shack. These three restaurants are Bar Louie, Mighty Quinn's BBQ, and Tomato & Company Pizza.
Westfield acquired the mall in 1986 from Macy's in a deal that also included New Jersey's Brunswick Square 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 163,000-square-foot (15,100 m2) "entertainment lifestyle precinct" at the mall that included a 16-screen AMC movie theater and 10 specialty retail stores, along with a 158,000-square-foot (14,700 m2) parking lot below the new wing, known as "Parking Garage C". The petition was turned down, and the mall celebrated its 50th Anniversary with the new expansion and stores opened on May 25, 2007. Other than the AMC, some of the stores and restaurants that are in the expanded wing are Grand Lux Cafe, Jamba Juice, a Sprint store, and Vans.
In 2013, the mall rebuilt Parking Garage B, expanding it to five levels and 1,800 parking spaces. Adjacent were built a new guest services office and a valet lounge. A year later, the mall added a 55,000 square foot wing at a cost of $160 million known as the "Fashion District" that has 22 stores and restaurants. Tenants in the Fashion District include Microsoft Store, Michael Kors, LUSH, Armani Exchange, Au Bon Pain, and Urban Outfitters.
In January 2018, Best Buy announced that they would be closing their two-level store at Garden State Plaza and would be relocating to a single-floor building to be constructed at The Outlets at Bergen Town Center nearby. The store officially moved on April 14, 2018. J. C. Penney closed on March 10, 2018. Both stores are expected to be redeveloped by Westfield in the future, though as of July 2018, no such development has been announced. In July of 2018 Uniqlo announced that they will be relocating from Westfield Garden State Plaza to Paramus Park.
Maps Westfield Garden State Plaza
Blue laws
Due to state blue laws and more restrictive limitations in place in Paramus, Garden State Plaza is almost completely closed on Sundays, except for some of the restaurants and the movie theater, all of which have special Sunday entrances. 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 Garden State Plaza opened out of fear that the mall would cause high levels of congestion in the borough. During the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, Governor of New Jersey Chris Christie issued an executive order that suspended the state's blue laws, allowing stores to be open on Sunday, November 4, 2012, for the benefit of those severely affected by the hurricane. A week later, after a public outcry that included the mayor of Paramus announcing that the borough would continue to enforce its own restrictions, the state's blue laws were put back into effect.
Public transportation
Westfield Garden State Plaza serves as a local transportation hub. The mall is served by NJ Transit bus lines routes 163, 171, 175, 707, 709, 756, 758 and 770.
Incidents
On November 4, 2013, 20-year-old Richard Shoop fired multiple shots in the mall. Customers and employees were evacuated immediately from the mall premises shortly after the shots were fired and the mall was on lockdown for hours. The mall remained closed the following day. No one was injured or killed. The day after the shooting at 3:20 AM, Shoop committed suicide.
Popular culture
- Westfield Garden State Plaza is the setting for Tricia Sullivan's science fiction novel Maul (2002). The novel takes its title from the way that the word "mall" is pronounced with the New Jersey accent. In the novel, three teenage girls start a shoot out with a local gang.
- Several episodes of The Sopranos, the HBO mob drama were filmed at the mall, which was called the "Paramus Mall,"
- The 2005 Sesame Street direct-to-video special All Star Alphabet, featuring Stephen Colbert and Nicole Sullivan, was filmed on location at the mall.
See also
- Shopping malls in New Jersey
- Westfield Group
References
External links
- Westfield Garden State Plaza
- Westfield Garden State Plaza, International Council of Shopping Centers
- Aerial View
- Garden State Plaza Reshaped Landscape, Retail Traffic Magazine, May 1, 1999
Source of article : Wikipedia
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