Paramus Park is a
shopping mall
A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a North American term for a large indoor shopping center, usually anchored by department stores. The term "mall" originally meant a pedestrian promenade with shops along it (that is, the term was used to refe ...
located in
Paramus,
New Jersey
New Jersey is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York (state), New York; on the ea ...
, United States. It opened in 1974, is owned by
Brookfield Properties
Brookfield Properties is a North American subsidiary of commercial real estate company Brookfield Property Partners, which itself is a subsidiary of alternative asset management company Brookfield Asset Management. It is responsible for the pro ...
, and has a
gross leasable area
In architecture, construction, and real estate, floor area, floor space, or floorspace is the area (measured as square feet or square metres) taken up by a building or part of it. The ways of defining "floor area" depend on what factors of the buil ...
(GLA) of .
Description
Paramus Park is located on a plot of land between the northbound lanes of
Route 17 and the southbound lanes of the
Garden State Parkway
The Garden State Parkway (GSP) is a controlled-access toll road that stretches the north–south length of eastern New Jersey from the state's southernmost tip near Cape May to the New York state line at Montvale. Its name refers to New Jersey ...
, approximately from the interchanges of both highways with
Route 4
Route 4, or Highway 4, may refer to several highways in the following countries:
International
* AH4, Asian Highway 4
* European route E04
* European route E004
* Cairo – Cape Town Highway
Albania
* SH-4 road in Albania from Durres to Kakav ...
. It is accessible from the northbound Garden State Parkway at exit 163 and at exit 165 in both directions. An entrance to the southbound lanes is located in the mall's rear parking lot. Access off of NJ 17 is available on two access roads. The Sears Drive entrance is only available from the northbound lanes but southbound drivers are able to access A&S Drive via an exit and an overpass constructed specifically for the mall.
At and with about 100 stores, Paramus Park, compared to the larger
Garden State Plaza (which is three times its size), is a more regional, destination-oriented mall, with a higher-than-average sales per square foot, estimated by industry experts to be between $400 and $500 a square foot or more. In addition to attracting upscale shoppers and tenants, its smaller stores, lower congestion and location along the Garden State Parkway in an affluent area attracted shoppers responding to the
Great Recession
The Great Recession was a period of marked general decline, i.e. a recession, observed in national economies globally that occurred from late 2007 into 2009. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country (see map). At ...
of 2007-2009, according to a 2011
NorthJersey.com report.
[Verdon, Joan]
"Remodeled Paramus Park draws smaller prototype stores"
NorthJersey.com. , August 14, 2011. By 2016, estimates were that the mall had tenants for 97 percent of the stores and was bringing in $430 in sales per square foot.
The four major malls in the borough -- Garden State Plaza (opened in 1957),
Bergen Town Center (also 1957),
Fashion Center (opened in 1967) and Paramus Park -- account for a major portion of the $6 billion in annual retail sales generated in Paramus, more than any other
ZIP Code in the United States.
[Paramus 07652]
, GlobeSt. Retail, October 3, 2005 Paramus Park gets 6 million visitors annually to its 107 stores. Located in
Bergen County, the mall is subject both to the state
Blue law
Blue laws, also known as Sunday laws, Sunday trade laws and Sunday closing laws, are laws restricting or banning certain activities on specified days, usually Sundays in the western world. The laws were adopted originally for religious reasons, ...
s that apply to the entire county by referendum and the borough's stricter ordinance, which require them to be closed on Sundays.
History
Paramus Park was initially one of three enclosed malls in Paramus at the time of its construction. The
Fashion Center, which is located near Paramus Park along Route 17, was the first built specifically as a strictly-indoor facility and opened in 1967. The
Bergen Mall, located on Route 4 and built in 1958, became the second when the former outdoor mall was enclosed in 1973. (At the time
Garden State Plaza, built in 1957, was still an outdoor mall; it completed its conversion to an enclosed mall in 1984.) Paramus Park remains one of three indoor malls in Paramus; the Fashion Center and The Shoppes on IV, the latter constructed after Paramus Park was built, were converted into outdoor shopping plazas.
The genesis of the mall dates back to efforts by A&S in mid-1966 to identify a site for a location in Bergen County. From 1969 to 1971,
Federated Department Stores
Macy's, Inc. (originally Federated Department Stores, Inc.) is an American conglomerate holding company. Upon its establishment, Federated held ownership of the regional department store chains Abraham & Straus, Lazarus, Filene's, and Shilli ...
and
The Rouse Company, which had been selected to develop the mall, acquired land for the mall itself, as well as to create a bridge connecting the site to Route 17.
The mall opened on March 14, 1974, with a
Abraham & Straus
Abraham & Straus, commonly shortened to A&S, was a major New York City department store, based in Brooklyn. Founded in 1865, it became part of Federated Department Stores in 1929. Shortly after Federated's 1994 acquisition of R.H. Macy & Company ...
(since turned into a
Macy's
Macy's (originally R. H. Macy & Co.) is an American chain of high-end department stores founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. It became a division of the Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores in 1994, through which it is affiliated wi ...
store) and
Sears
Sears, Roebuck and Co. ( ), commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began ...
(which did not open until August) as anchors and space for 120 specialty stores.
[ The ]Paramus High School
Paramus High School is an American four-year comprehensive public high school, located in Paramus, in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States, serving students in ninth through twelfth grades as the lone secondary school of the Paramus Publ ...
Marching Band played at the grand opening. The mall's second-floor food court
A food court (in Asia-Pacific also called food hall or hawker centre) is generally an indoor plaza or common area within a facility that is contiguous with the counters of multiple food vendors and provides a common area for self-serve dinner. ...
was an innovation, and is now credited as the first successful shopping mall food court. A Fortunoff opened at the store in 1977.
The mall is shaped as a four-legged zigzag, with an anchor store at each end and the mezzanine-level food court encircling an atrium which featured of water flowing each minute over a terraced waterfall surrounded by vegetation and punctuated by a pair of escalators; claimed to be the nation's second largest, tens of thousands of coins were tossed into the artificial waterfall, with nearly $3,500 collected in the mall's first year. In its first 25 years, some 12 million coins had been collected from the waterfall, with an average of $400 per month donated from the proceeds to charitable organizations in the area.[
A stairway and a glass elevator surrounded by terraced gardens rounded out the access points to the second level food court until 1999 when it was demolished due to long lines, and replaced by two new elevators which were relocated.][Verdon, Joan]
"Paramus Park aims to make a new sort of splash"
''The Record
The Record may refer to:
Music
* ''The Record'' (album), a 1982 studio album by the hardcore-punk band Fear
* The Records, an English power pop band
* '' Their Greatest Hits: The Record'', a 2001 greatest-hits album by the pop-music group Bee Ge ...
'', July 11, 1999. Accessed November 30, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "Since opening day, some 12U million pennies have been thrown into the waterfall. The coins (the average monthly take is $400) are collected and donated to local charities.... Another feature slated for removal is the glass-enclosed elevator that toddlers and the under-10 set insist on riding in, even when there's a long line of stroller-bound shoppers waiting to use it." The food court has been very popular at the lunch hour with the area office workers. The garden-like design was prevalent throughout the rest of the mall. Trees lined the main promenade of the mall, along with park benches; all under large skylights. Two small courtyards were at the other leg intersections; one hosted a carousel and the other a lowered seating area with a bronze statue of a turkey, standing in height. The turkey statue was inspired by the name of the town from which the mall gets its name. ''Paramus'' comes from the Lenni Lenape
The Lenape (, , or Lenape , del, Lënapeyok) also called the Leni Lenape, Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. Their historical territory inclu ...
Native American word meaning "land of the wild turkey" or "place of fertile soil".[ The last carousel was installed during the 1990s.][Cheslow, Jerr]
"If You're Thinking of Living In/Paramus; In Shopping Mecca, Houses Sell Well Too"
''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', April 15, 2001. Accessed December 18, 2017. The carousel was installed by Peter and Tony Bowen of Bowen Accountants in 1976, when at the time the play area was considered dangerous and was the site of a number of child injuries. The carousel was removed in August 2013 so that the mall could use that space for other purposes.
Paramus Park is mentioned in the lyrics of the 1977 Dean Friedman song "Ariel". The two characters in the song were "standing by the waterfall at Paramus Park".
In 1986, Paramus Park was the site of an innovative McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food
Fast food is a type of mass-produced food designed for commercial resale, with a strong priority placed on speed of service. It is a commercial term, limited to food sold ...
restaurant in its food court
A food court (in Asia-Pacific also called food hall or hawker centre) is generally an indoor plaza or common area within a facility that is contiguous with the counters of multiple food vendors and provides a common area for self-serve dinner. ...
, which featured a décor with oak trim, pastel tiles and marble counters, in lieu of the traditional plastic interior in primary colors. The facility cost $650,000 to construct, 40% more than a typical McDonald's, and was designed to create more of the feel of an upscale restaurant. Closed in 2000, it was replaced by a walk-up. The McDonald's location closed in the 2010s and was replaced by a Burger King
Burger King (BK) is an American-based multinational chain of hamburger fast food restaurants. Headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida, the company was founded in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacksonville, Florida–based restaurant c ...
. Restrooms are now located in its former location. A Claire's
Claire's (formerly known as Claire's Boutiques, Claire's Boutique and Claire's Accessories) is an American retailer of accessories, jewelry, and toys primarily aimed toward tween and teen
girls. It was founded in 1961 and is based in Hoffman E ...
store was opened in 1988, and closed in 2006.
Hanson's 1997 video "Tulsa, Tokyo & the Middle of Nowhere", features the band traveling to Paramus Park on May 7, 1997, performing in the food court in front of over 6,000 screaming fans; the performance had been promoted by radio station WHTZ
WHTZ (100.3 FM) is a commercial top 40/CHR station licensed to Newark, New Jersey and broadcasting to the New York metropolitan area. Owned by iHeartMedia, WHTZ is the flagship station for ''Elvis Duran and the Morning Show''. The WHTZ studios ...
, which had anticipated a crowd numbering in the hundreds, not the thousands who showed up. The performance was Hanson's first public appearance after the release of " MMMBop".
In 2004, General Growth Properties acquired Rouse Co., which owned Paramus Park, as well as other malls in the state, including Willowbrook Mall in Wayne and Woodbridge Center in Woodbridge Township.
During the Great Recession
The Great Recession was a period of marked general decline, i.e. a recession, observed in national economies globally that occurred from late 2007 into 2009. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country (see map). At ...
of 2007-2009, the mall's smaller stores, historical lower congestion and location along the Garden State Parkway in an affluent area attracted upscale shoppers and tenants that had previously shifted away from smaller malls in lieu of the larger ones in the area, such as Westfield Garden State Plaza, according to a 2011 NorthJersey.com report.[
The mall received approval in 2008 for a new lifestyle center on the west side of the mall, which would have more of a "main street" feel for shoppers.
In 2011 the Foot Locker complex store was closed as L.L. Bean decided to begin leasing the space. The store opened in November 2011.]["Directory"]
Paramus Park Mall. Retrieved January 2, 2012
In May 2013, following a unanimous vote from the local zoning board, plans began to construct a 13-screen movie theater on of space to be added the west side of the mall, attached to the food court. This would have been a Regal Cinemas
Regal Cinemas (also Regal Entertainment Group) is an American movie theater chain headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee. A division of Cineworld, Regal operates the second-largest theater circuit in the United States, with over 7,200 screens ...
movie theater.
In October 2017, it was reported that the Sears
Sears, Roebuck and Co. ( ), commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began ...
department store that had served as an anchor store since the mall opened in 1974 would be replaced by a Stew Leonard's supermarket on the first floor and a 12-screen Regal Cinemas
Regal Cinemas (also Regal Entertainment Group) is an American movie theater chain headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee. A division of Cineworld, Regal operates the second-largest theater circuit in the United States, with over 7,200 screens ...
theater on the second floor. On December 7, mall representatives appeared at a public hearing to request approval by zoning officials to convert the aging Sears department store into a Stew Leonard's supermarket and movie theater. By 2019, NJ.com, the completed 80,000 square foot supermarket, the first one built by Stew Leonard's in New Jersey, had "transformed Paramus Park Mall into a different kind of destination" by providing a new option for grocery shoppers.
In 2018, Uniqlo announced that it would open at the mall after moving from Garden State Plaza.
References
External links
*
Paramus Park
International Council of Shopping Centers
{{Brookfield Properties Retail Group
Paramus, New Jersey
Brookfield Properties
Shopping malls in New Jersey
Shopping malls established in 1974
Buildings and structures in Bergen County, New Jersey
Tourist attractions in Bergen County, New Jersey
Shopping malls in the New York metropolitan area
1974 establishments in New Jersey