Garden State Plaza

Garden State Plaza (officially Westfield Garden State Plaza) is a shopping mall located in Paramus, New Jersey. It is owned and managed by Paris-based real estate management company Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, and located at the intersection of Route 4 and Route 17 near the Garden State Parkway, about west of Manhattan.Queally, James; Sherman, Ted; Grant, Jason (November 5, 2013)
"Garden State Plaza shooting suspect killed self in mall, authorities say"
NJ.com. Opened in 1957 as the first suburban shopping mall in New Jersey,
''The New York Times'', March 20, 1957. p. 49. Accessed February 27, 2021. "The Garden State Plaza Shopping Center, being built in Paramus, N.J., will open on May 1, it was announced yesterday. The center will be the largest in the state." it has of leasable space,
, Westfield Group. Accessed June 6, 2008 and housing over 300 stores, it is the second-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.

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, published in 2018, Westfield Garden State Plaza ranked ninth in the nation, based on sales of $950 per square foot. Most of the mall, especially retail outlets, is closed on Sunday in accordance with state and local blue laws.

In a borough in which half of the property tax revenue comes from retail properties, Garden State Plaza accounts for 10% of the property taxes collected in Paramus.

History

The site at the southwest corner of Route 4 and Route 17 that would become Garden State Plaza was next to a drive-in theater dating back to the 1930s.Pries, Allison
"Garden State Plaza is expanding. See how it went from a drive-in to N.J.'s biggest mall."
NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, July 5, 2019, updated September 24, 2019. Accessed February 28, 2021. Allied Stores and Macy's had discussed a shared project at the site that was abandoned in August 1953, after which Allied Stores pursued development of the Bergen Mall (since renamed as Bergen Town Center), that would be located a mile away on Route 4 and which was scheduled to open in September 1957 with Stern's as its anchor store.

R.H. Macy announced the creation of Garden State Plaza in May 1954, establishing a subsidiary that would own and operate the mall. JC Penney announced in June 1955 that the company would construct an standalone three-story building as part of the project, with the infrastructure to add a fourth floor, as needs grew. In September 1958, long-time Macy's rival Gimbel's announced that it was acquiring access to a building site in the mall for a facility that would include of retail space on three floors, with completion expected in 1960.

Garden State Plaza opened on May 1, 1957, as the first suburban mall in New Jersey, with plans to be "the largest in the state". On opening day, Garden State Plaza had 75,000 shoppers at a mall that was anchored by a Bamberger's store on three floors and included 60 retail stores and 5,500 parking spaces on a site that covered ."Big Shopping Area Opened In Jersey; 75,000 Visit Paramus Center --3-Story Bamberger Unit Is the Principal Store 17 Connections to Roads Price Range Like Newark's"
''The New York Times'', May 2, 1957. Accessed February 28, 2021. "More than 75,000 persons visited the Garden State Plaza Shopping Center at its official opening today.... Now there are nine large buildings housing sixty stores.... Bamberger's Paramus, as the new store will be known, is in a three-level structure occupying 340,000 square feet." The formal ribbon cutting ceremony included the mayor of Paramus Fred C. Galda and a local eight-year-old who cut a ribbon with one thousand dimes as a fundraiser for the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis (since renamed as the March of Dimes), part of an awareness campaign to encourage people to get the polio vaccine.

Its original three anchor stores were Bamberger's, Gimbels, and JCPenney, with the rest of the mall consisting of 90 smaller specialty shops. It was called "the largest shopping center in the world." Constructed by the Muscarelle Construction Company for owner/developer R.H. Macy & Co. as an open-air shopping "plaza", total construction costs for the mall were $26 million (equivalent to $ in ).Verdon, Joan
"Westfield Garden State Plaza, Paramus"
'' The Record'', July 27, 2008, backed up by the Internet Archive as of August 1, 2008. Accessed February 18, 2022. "The mall, which originally had 90 stores, cost $26 million to build in 1957."

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.

In 1975, the mall began a multi-phased, years-long project that would fully enclose the mall, converting exterior passageways into covered spaces. The project, budgeted at $20 million, would add of retail space, bringing the total to upon completion.

A $21 million construction project in 1981 converted access tunnels into a second level for the mall, added of retail space.

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.Garden State Plaza Reshaped Landscape
, ''Retail Traffic'', May 1, 1999 Later in the 1980s, a lower level was added by converting a former basement truck tunnel into retail space. The existing JCPenney 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, Gimbels' parent company, BATUS, which had been selling off its Gimbels' 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. In the mid-1990s, a Nobody Beats the Wiz store was added as an out-parcel to the mall site; it later became a Best Buy store that closed in 2018. The site was then occupied by a toy store called Toy City, owned by Party City.

On September 7, 1990, Nordstrom opened its first New Jersey location, building a $37 million, , three-level store on the former Hahne's site. In 1996, the luxury department store chain Lord & Taylor opened a store in the mall, which was 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 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 , and two new anchors were added, a Neiman Marcus on three levels and a 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 performances by the Bergen Performing Arts Center.

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 "entertainment lifestyle precinct" at the mall that included a 16-screen AMC movie theater and 10 specialty retail stores, along with a parking lot below the new wing, known as "Parking Garage C".Verdon, Joan
"These aren't your mother's shopping malls"
'' The Record'', February 11, 2007. Accessed February 13, 2021. "Westfield Garden State Plaza in Paramus, the region's largest mall, with more than 2 million square feet of stores, has decided that today's malls don't live by shopping alone. It is adding a 163,000-square-foot "entertainment lifestyle precinct." It will include a 16-screen movie theater with stadium seating, a restaurant and 10 specialty retailers, including 'experiential' stores where shoppers are encouraged to try out the merchandise before they buy." The petition was turned down, and the mall celebrated its 50th anniversary with the new expansion and stores opened on May 25, 2007.

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 wing at a cost of $160 million known as the "Fashion District" that has 22 stores and restaurants.

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.Verdon, Joan
"Best Buy relocation creates opening for new moves at Garden State Plaza"
'' The Record'', January 17, 2018. Accessed January 27, 2018. "The freestanding Best Buy store in the parking lot of Westfield Garden State Plaza in Paramus will be empty soon, and that will give New Jersey's largest mall an opportunity to make some new moves.Best Buy is preparing to relocate to the mall next door, The Outlets at Bergen Town Center, in a new building under construction in the east section of that mall, on Forest Avenue." The store officially moved on April 14, 2018. J. C. Penney closed on March 10, 2018.Attrino, Anthony G
"J.C. Penney quietly closing another N.J. store after 60 years at mall"
NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, January 26, 2017. Accessed January 27, 2018. "J.C. Penney, an anchor for 60 years at the Westfield Garden State Plaza in Paramus, will close on March 10, according to a recording on the store's phone line.... After its 1958 Paramus opening, the Westfield Garden State Plaza -- located on Route 17 near Route 4 -- expanded and grew around the retailer, NorthJersey.com reported. The store was remodeled in 2012 and 2013, according to the report." Both stores are expected to be redeveloped by Westfield in the future, though as of October 2018, no such development has been announced. In July 2018 North Jersey Media Group reported that Uniqlo will be relocating from Westfield Garden State Plaza to Paramus Park. The Paramus Park Uniqlo officially opened on March 1, 2019. Westfield Garden State Plaza announced plans to build a mixed development center in the old JCPenney space.

In July 2019, Tru Kids announced that one of two Toys "R" Us stores being opened by that company as part of that toy retailer's recovery from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2017 and its acquisition by Tru Kids, would be at Garden State Plaza. (The other would be opened at The Galleria