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Paramus Park

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Paramus Park is a shopping mall located in Paramus, New Jersey. It has two levels, over 100 stores and services, 2 anchor stores, and over 4,000 parking spaces.

The mall opened in 1974. It underwent renovations and expansion in 2001. It originally had a carousel, which opened in 1976, but was removed and sold in 2013. The mall is open from Monday-Saturday, but is closed on Sundays due to strict Bergen County blue laws, except for Club Pilates, Glitter & Glam Spa for Kids, and Stew Leonard's. 

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 mall, developed by The Rouse Company, opened on March 14, 1974, with a 300,000 sq ft (28,000 m2). Abraham & Straus (now a Macy's store) and Sears (which did not open until August) as anchors and space for 120 specialty stores. The Paramus High School Marching Band played at the grand opening. The mall's second-floor food court was a new 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 a 30-foot (9.1 m) terraced waterfall surrounded by vegetation and punctuated by a pair of escalators. A stairway and a glass elevator surrounded by terraced gardens rounded out the access points to the 2nd level food court until 2002 when it was demolished due to long lines, and replaced by two new elevators which were relocated. To this day, the food court is 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. The last carousel was installed during the 1990s. 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. The carousel was then moved to At Play indoor amusement park (formerly Fun Zone) in Farmingdale, New York shortly after, where it currently operates. The turkey statue was inspired by the name of the town from which the mall gets its name. Paramus comes from the Lenni Lenape Native American word meaning "land of the wild turkey" or "place of fertile soil".

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". The song was sampled in vaporwave artist .com's 2021 track "Ariel."

In 1980, Paramus Park was the site of a Mickey Mouse show featuring costumed characters performing to children.

Also in the 1980s, Paramus Park was featured on an episode of The Cosby Show.

In 1986, Paramus Park was the site of an innovative McDonald's restaurant in its food court, which featured a decor 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, which has since been replaced by a Charley's. Restrooms are now located in its former location. In 1988, the Disney Store opened, one of the thirteen first.

Former Sears-1559937010

Former Sears

In 2001, the mall was renovated and expanded with the addition of an Old Navy store and Foot Locker complex (which included a Lady Foot Locker and Kids Foot Locker store that were connected to the Foot Locker store) along an elongated East Center Court Entrance. Center court was radically changed in that the waterfall, the gardens, escalators, stairway, elevator, and elevated gardens were removed in favor of a more open space. Two elevators were installed between Cinnabon and Auntie Anne's, a new smaller fountain was constructed, new escalators were constructed and vegetation/trees added, as well as the addition of new seating areas. Throughout the rest of the mall, flooring was changed, lighting was improved, seating areas were added and ceilings and walls were repainted. The Turkey statue was moved from the Macy's midcourt to the upper level food court and the seating area was transformed into a children's play area. The crescent waterfall in front of Macy's was kept, but the seating area surrounding it was removed in favor of a massage kiosk. Among the few stores that have remained from when the mall opened are Sears and Chick-Fil-A, but Sears closed in early 2018.

During the late-2000s recession, 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.

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.

In May 2013, following a unanimous vote from the local zoning board, plans began to construct a 13-screen movie theater on 88,000 square feet (8,200 m2) of space to be added the west side of the mall, attached to the food court. This would have been a Regal Cinemas movie theater. The plans were dormant until late 2017 when the proposal started to pick up again.

In October 2017, a 12-screen movie theater was announced as part of renovations that will replace the Sears store with a Stew Leonard's location. However, the movie theater plans were dropped, considering the fact that Stew Leonard's took up much more room than expected. The Stew Leonard's store opened on September 18, 2019. 

The Sears Auto Store closed in late December 2017 and was supposed to be converted into a Sears Appliance Store. Instead, it became an Atlantic Health System Pavillion. The Hallmark store in the Sears wing closed in January 2018 to make way for a new store. Sears closed on February 3, 2018.

In 2018, Uniqlo announced that it would open at the mall after moving from Westfield Garden State Plaza. The Uniqlo store officially opened on March 1, 2019. 

Paramus Park Turkey Statue, 2015

Paramus Park Turkey Statue

Anchors and Tenants[]

Former Tenants[]

Dining[]

Restaurants/Eateries[]

Food Court[]

Entertainment[]

  • Bungee Zone Trampolines (located near the Club Pilates and Panera)
  • Golden Horse Carousel (1976-2013), moved to At Play Indoor Amusement Park in Farmingdale, New York.
  • Happy Rides (located in the Stew Leonard's wing)
  • Kiddie Rides
  • Play Area (located in the food court, upper level)
  • Spin Zone Bumper Cars (located near Macy's)

See also[]

External Links[]

Paramus Park Official Website

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