Willowbrook Mall (Wayne, New Jersey)
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| Willowbrook Mall | |
| Facts and statistics | |
|---|---|
| Location | Wayne, New Jersey |
| Opening date | 1969-70 |
| Management | General Growth Properties |
| No. of stores and services | Over 200 |
| No. of anchor tenants | 4 |
| Total retail floor area | 1,500,000 ft² |
| No. of floors | 2 |
Willowbrook Mall is a two-level, major shopping center located in Wayne, New Jersey, 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. The mall has over 200 retail establishments and a gross leasable area (GLA) of 1,500,000 ft²,[1] placing it near the largest shopping malls in the United States, and making it the fourth largest of all Shopping malls in New Jersey (tied with Monmouth Mall).
Owned by General Growth Properties, the mall's main stores include Bloomingdale's, Lord & Taylor, Macy's and Sears. Its restaurants include California Pizza Kitchen, Cheesecake Factory, and Ruby Tuesday.
With blue laws in effect in Bergen County, and nearby shopping haven Paramus imposing even stricter Sunday-sales restrictions of its own, Willowbrook Mall has benefited from the spillover of shoppers on Sunday.[2]
Contents |
[edit] Main stores
Main stores are (listed in descending order by square footage):
- Macy's 369,000 sq.ft. (On 3 levels) (Opened 1970 as Bamberger's; Converted to Macy's 1986)
- Sears 279,000 sq.ft. (On 2 levels) opened 1968)
- Bloomingdale's 278,000 sq.ft. (On 3 levels) opened 1968 as Stern's; converted to Bloomingdale's 2002.
- Lord & Taylor 135,000 sq.ft (On 2 levels) opened 1968 as Orbach's; converted to Steinbach 1987; gutted and expanded for Lord and Taylor 1997.
- Old Navy (24,659 sq ft (2,291 m²))
- Gap/Gap Kids/Baby Gap (24,635 sq ft (2,289 m²))
- Express (13,866 sq ft (1,288 m²))
- New York & Company (12,232 sq ft (1,136 m²))
- The Cheesecake Factory (10,500 sq ft (980 m²))
- Abercrombie & Fitch (10,000 sq ft (1,000 m²))
[edit] Coming Soon
- Forever 21 (Forever XXI) {next to Hallmark}(10,556 sq ft (981 m²))
- Metropark
- Gloria Jean's {next to J. Crew, to the right, former Burger King spot}
- H&M (former 4 stores, upstairs, next to Bloomingdale's)
- Apple (former Eddie Bauer
[edit] Former anchors
- Bamberger's - opened in 1967, became Macy's 1986
- Stern's - opened in 1968, became Bloomingdale's 2002
- Ohrbach's - opened in 1968, became Steinbach 1987
- Steinbach - opened in 1987, became Lord and Taylor 1997
[edit] History
Construction of a 100,000 ft² Ohrbach's store in 1968, joined by a Sears, were the original anchors of what was designed as a two-level, 110 store, indoor shopping mall, encompassing 1,500,000 ft².[3]
The opening of Willowbrook Mall came at a time when many shoppers were avoiding trips to downtown areas to shop, over safety concerns. Early radio spots for the mall called it "the new downtown", and it featured anchors stores that were also located in nearby downtown Newark, or within the city limits itself. (Bamberger's, Ohrbachs, and Sears). The large branch of Bamberger's opened in the fall of 1967 (before the rest of the mall), and with Newark just having dealt with race rioting in the summer of 1967, many shoppers defected to the Willowbrook location. In addition, S. Klein, based in New York, and having a branch in Newark opened a large store as an outparcel next to (but not connected to) Willowbrook. A second mall known initially as West Belt Mall (now Wayne Town Center), was built around the S. Klein store, and contained a large JC Penney Store. The S. Klein store later became E. J. Korvette, and was then rebuilt as the first full-line Fortunoff store in New Jersey.
In the early 1970s, the mall was the site of Willowbrook Ministries, an effort by two ministers to reach out to shoppers. The ministry office, funded by several major Christian denominations, was open six days a week, every day except Sunday.[4] Increasingly, shoppers were seeking to fulfill all of their needs -- including their spiritual needs -- at the mall.[5] In that same period, book stores started their migration from Main Street to malls, and the Willowbrook Mall was at the forefront with an early Waldenbooks location.[6]
With more shoppers at malls, it was becoming increasingly difficult for advocacy groups to reach out to customers shopping at malls. In 1983, the Willowbrook Mall bowed to pressure from the Passaic County Nuclear Freeze Committee to distribute pamphlets and obtain petition signatures, subject to the malls rules and oversight.[7]
In 1993, Willowbrook Mall jbecame one of the first malls in New Jersey to join 300 of 1,800 malls nationwide that banned smoking on mall grounds.[8]
Sears is the only original anchor store from the mall's opening. Ohrbach's became Steinbach's in 1987 and then Lord and Taylor in 1997, Bamberger's became Macy's in 1986 and Stern's became Bloomingdale's in 2002.
[edit] Transportation
A park and ride facility, opened in 1974, provides New Jersey Transit bus service to and from the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Midtown Manhattan.[9]
Local bus service is provided by NJ Transit.
NJ Transit opened a rail and bus station directly across from the Willowbrook Mall in January 2008. The station is called the Wayne-Route 23 Transit Center, and provides services to points in Northern New Jersey and Manhattan.
[edit] Popular culture
- The Willowbrook Mall was the site of The Adventures of Pete & Pete special episode What We Did on Our Summer Vacation, where Ellen's photo booth was located in the parking lot of the mall.
- Willowbrook was the filming location for a 1978 Kinney Shoes commercial featuring Ken Berry.
- Willowbrook Mall can be seen in the HBO hit series The Sopranos.
- The Willowbrook Mall is where the characters of How I Met Your Mother go in the episode "Slap Bet" to go to a Sharper Image opening.
- Willowbrook Mall can be seen in the episode of Strangers with Candy titled "Blank Stare, Part I"
[edit] Security
Willowbrook security officers work in conjunction with the Wayne Police Department and Passaic County Sheriff Department.
[edit] References
- ^ International Council of Shopping Centers: Willowbrook Mall, accessed September 21, 2006
- ^ "On Sundays, Bergen Shoppers Rest; PARAMUS JOURNAL To keep Paramus Sundays peaceful, it is illegal to shop.", The New York Times, December 7, 1992. p. B6.
- ^ "Ohrbach's Builds in Jersey", The New York Times, September 27, 1968. p. 75.
- ^ "Shopping Center Served By Marketplace Ministry", The New York Times, February 20, 1972. p. 105.
- ^ "Busy Day in a Busy Mall; Busy Day in Busy Willowbrook Mall", The New York Times, April 2, 1972. p. 55.
- ^ "To Survive, Bookstores Move to Malls", The New York Times, September 10, 1972. p. 108.
- ^ "Mall Bows, Grants Bid To Group To Petition", The New York Times, October 9, 1983. p. NJ 24.
- ^ "2 Big Malls Ban Smoking", The New York Times, October 8, 1993. p. B6.
- ^ "Park-Ride Center to Open Monday at Willowbrook Mall", The New York Times, January 4, 1974. p. 64.
