Bergen Town Center

Infobox shopping mall
shopping_mall_name = Bergen Town Center


caption =
location = Paramus, New Jersey
opening_date = November 14, 1957 (outdoor plaza)
September 16, 1973 (enclosed mall)
developer = Allied Stores
manager =
owner = Vornado Realty Trust
number_of_stores = 100
number_of_anchors = 1
floor_area = convert|917129|sqft|m2|abbr=on
floors = 1 (5 in Old Sterns/Macy's Bldg, Now occupied by Filene's Basement(1), and Century 21(2,3). The 4-5 floors are still vacant)
parking = 8,600 spaces
website = [http://www.bergentowncenter.com/ Mall website]

Bergen Town Center, known as the Bergen Mall until 2006, is located in Paramus and Maywood, New Jersey, United States, and opened in 1957 as an outdoor shopping center. [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=The Super Centers |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,861189,00.html |quote=The new centers, scheduled for opening by 1957, are designed to serve regions (i.e., customers within 40 minutes' driving time) rather than smaller suburban areas. The first to go into operation will be the $30 million Bergen Mall at Paramus, N.J., expected to be the biggest U.S. shopping center. Puckett estimates that there are 1,588,000 customers within the 40-minute radius. |publisher=Time (magazine) |date=Monday, January 24, 1955 |accessdate=2008-06-25 ] It is the oldest mall in New Jersey. [http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk1NiZmZ2JlbDdmN3ZxZWVFRXl5NzAyOTI5MCZ5cmlyeTdmNzE3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTM= Bergen Mall's makeover approved] , "The Record (Bergen County)", December 1, 2006] The mall offers a Gross leasable area (GLA) of convert|917129|sqft|m2|abbr=on. [ [http://www.icsc.org/apps/dmmdisp.php?dispid=NJ0360 International Council of Shopping Centers: Bergen Mall] , accessed November 6, 2006] The mall is located at the junction of Route 4 and Forest Avenue, and includes a separate shopping strip, south of Route 4 connected to the rest of the property via a pedestrian bridge. The mall has over the years included community spaces, including a theater, ice rink ["Ice Skating Is Nice Skating Indoors or Out", "The New York Times, January 21, 1977. p. 63] and bowling alley, and it is the current location of the Bergen County Museum. It was designed by John Graham of New York City. The mall is subject to Bergen County's Blue laws, which requires the mall to be closed on Sundays. [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Sunday-Closing Law Retained in New Jersey County |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE7D8143CF930A35752C1A965958260 |quote=Efforts to repeal the 34-year-old ban on Sunday retailing in Bergen County, one of the country's richest shopping areas, were turned back easily today. ... Even if the county laws had been repealed, stores in Paramus would have remained closed because the community enforces its own ordinances against Sunday shopping and has vowed not to lift them|publisher=New York Times |date=November 3, 1993 |accessdate=2008-06-25 ]

History

The mall was first planned in 1955 by Allied Stores to have 100 stores and 8,600 parking spaces in a 1.5 million ft² mall that would include a convert|300000|sqft|m2|abbr=on Stern's store and two other convert|150000|sqft|m2|abbr=on department stores as part of the initial design. Allied's chairman B. Earl Puckett announced the Bergen Mall as the largest of ten proposed centers, stating that there were 25 cities that could support such centers and that no more than 50 malls of this type would be built nationwide. ["10 Shopping Centers Scheduled For Allied Stores Within 3 Years; Chain's Chairman Gives Details of Biggest, 7 Miles From George Washington Span, Where Stern Will Open Branch by '57: Store Chain Plans 10 Retails Centers", "The New York Times", January 13, 1955. p. 37] The mall opened on November 14, 1957 with great fanfare, as Dave Garroway, host of "The Today Show" served as master of ceremonies. ["Shoppers Throng to Opening of Bergen Mall in Jersey", "The New York Times, November 15, 1957]

A convert|135000|sqft|m2|abbr=on Ohrbach's location was added, opening on August 17, 1967. ["E.J. Korvette and Ohrbach's Open New Stores; Ohrbach's Opens Paramus Store. Shoppers in Jersey Happy With Bergen Mall Addition.", "The New York Times", August 18, 1967. p. 20]

The mall was enclosed in 1973, ["Bergen Mall to Be Enclosed Next Year", "The New York Times", July 9, 1972. p. 62] ["Enclosure of Bergen Mall Is Progressing; A Change in Thinking Construction Began in '56", "The New York Times", June 10, 1973. p. 82] The newly-enclosed mall opened on September 15, 1973, part of a wave away from outdoor malls, a trend that the Garden State Plaza joined shortly thereafter. ["$1-Million Roofed Mall Opens in Bergen; Tax Case Is Pending", "The New York Times", September 16, 1973. p. 93] Despite some changes through the years, still looks largely the same today. The Orbach's location was converted to a Steinbach, which was repurposed as a Value City. Stern's was bought out by Federated Department Stores and the location was converted into a Macy's in 2002, but there were already 2 Macy's within convert|5|mi|km, therefore, it closed in March, 2005. In the early 90's the mall was repositioned as a value oriented center that included a Marshalls, Gap Outlet, Value City and a Saks 5th Avenue Off 5th outlet.

The Bergen Mall was the target of a lawsuit by nuclear-freeze advocates who challenged the malls restrictions on distribution of literature to shoppers. On October 12, 1984, Bergen County Superior Court judge Paul R. Huot ruled that the organization should be allowed to distribute literature anywhere and anytime in a shopping mall, noting that "the Bergen Mall has assumed the features and characteristics of the traditional town center for the citizens who reside in Paramus and surrounding Bergen County towns." ["Jersey judge orders leaflet distribution in mall at any time.", "The New York Times", October 21, 1984. p. A.49]

In 2003, the mall was sold to Vornado Realty Trust, and plans are to convert the mall to open air format, with high profile stores, and changes in the looks of the mall.

On August 10, 2006, Century 21 opened, one of the first of many changes that are planned for the mall. Century 21 took convert|67500|sqft|m2|abbr=on of the space formerly used by Macy's (which had previously been Stern's). Century 21 occupies the middle two floors of the four story building, and Filene's Basement occupies the ground floor. [ [http://www.send2press.com/newswire/2006-08-0804-002.shtml Century 21 Department Store Announces August 10th, 2006 Grand Opening of its Newest Designer Label Discount Megastore at Bergen Mall, Paramus, NJ] , press release dated August 4, 2006]

On November 30, 2006, the Paramus Planning Board approved a series of changes that would bring the mall up to convert|1500000|sqft|m2|abbr=on at a cost of $171 million. The revamped mall, to be called Bergen Town Center, is planned to include convert|872000|sqft|m2|abbr=on of renovated mall retail space and a convert|167000|sqft|m2|abbr=on freestanding big-box store across Forest Avenue in Maywood, which may be used for a Lowe's. A total of 4,339 parking spaces, including a five-story parking garage, will be provided.

New additions in 2008 include Target, Whole Foods (which has signed a lease for convert|77000|sqft|m2|abbr=on. [Demarrais , Kevin G. [http://www.accessmylibrary.com/premium/0286/0286-9480745.html "Organic grocer to open in Paramus."] , "The Record (Bergen County)", August 4, 2005. Accessed August 30, 2007. "The company, which claims to be the nation's largest natural and organic retailer, confirmed Wednesday that it has signed a lease for a convert|77000|sqft|m2|sing=on store at the Bergen Mall as part of its national expansion."] ), Filene's Basement (Opened October, 28, 2007), Lowe's, and Nordstrom Rack (Expected to open Spring, 2008). [Schoonmaker, Mary Ellen. [http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkyODkmZmdiZWw3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTcxNzY3MTcmeXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkxNA= "Called out of the basement to higher ground"] , "The Record (Bergen County)", August 2, 2007. Accessed August 30, 2007. "With Whole Foods, Lowe's, Filene's Basement and Target coming, the mall will be more sophisticated and more crowded."]

References

External links

* [http://www.bergentowncenter.com/ The Official Bergen Town Center web site]
* [http://www.icsc.org/apps/dmmdisp.php?dispid=NJ0360 Bergen Town Center] , International Council of Shopping Centers
* [http://www.myspace.com/bergen_mall The Mall on Myspace]