Garden State Plaza

Garden State Plaza (officially Westfield Garden State Plaza) is a shopping mall located in Paramus, in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Owned and managed by Paris-based real estate management company Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, the mall is situated at the intersection of Route 4 and Route 17 near the Garden State Parkway, about west of the New York City borough 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,Anzidei, Melanie. "Westfield Garden State Plaza's transformation a sign of changing times in retail", The Record, May 6, 2019. Accessed November 13, 2023. "Westfield Garden State Plaza is no stranger to innovation. In 1957, it opened as the first suburban mall in New Jersey.... Garden State Plaza was born as a one-level open air center in 1957, operated by R.H. Macy. The center’s original anchor stores were Bamberger's, Gimbel's, and J.C. Penney, surrounded by 90 smaller specialty shops.""Garden State Shopping Center Due to Open May 1 in Paramus; It Will Be Largest in Jersey --Bergen Mall Being Built Less Than a Mile Away", 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 300 stores and of leasable space,Westfield Garden State Plaza , Westfield Group. Accessed June 6, 2008.Westfield Garden State Plaza , International Council of Shopping Centers. Accessed June 6, 2008. ranked in 2022 as the 16th-largest shopping mall in the United StatesRehman, Habib Ur. "25 Largest Shopping Malls in the United States", Yahoo!, December 7, 2022. Accessed November 9, 2023. "16. Westfield Garden State Plaza Retail Space: 2.16 million Square Feet Westfield Garden State Plaza is a shopping center in Paramus, New Jersey." and qualifying it as a super-regional mall according to the standards of the International Council of Shopping Centers.U.S. Shopping-Center Classification and Typical Characteristics, International Council of Shopping Centers. Accessed July 31, 2023.

The mall had sales of $775 per square foot in 2013, almost 75% above the national average.Na, Myles. "Garden State Plaza addition to include Tory Burch, Microsoft stores", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, December 4, 2013. Accessed November 9, 2023. "Several international retailers plan to open their first U.S. stores at Garden State Plaza. The mall boasts sales of more than $775 per square foot, compared to the national average of $455, according to Retail Property Insights." In a study of malls in the United States performed on behalf of CNBC, published in 2018, Garden State Plaza ranked ninth in the nation, based on sales of $950 per square foot.Remo, Jessica. "This N.J. mall is 1 of most lucrative in country, study says", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, January 31, 2018. Accessed March 7, 2018. "The study (done for CNBC by analysts Boenning & Scattergood) says Garden State Plaza ranks ninth in the country for revenue-producing malls and put it among the top 10 malls in the U.S. with 'A' ratings and little to no vacancies. The mall has a total asset value of $2.71 billion, which equates to $950 in sales per square foot, according to the research." Most of the mall, especially retail outlets, is closed on Sunday in accordance with state and local blue laws. Since April 2023, minors under the age of 18 are required to have an adult over 21 supervise them on Friday and Saturday nights.

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

As of September 2026, the mall's anchors are Macy's, Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, and AMC Theatres.Furnas, Dawn. "Westfield Garden State Plaza in Paramus to undergo ‘transformation’", NJBiz, August 23, 2022. Accessed November 13, 2023. "As part of the project, Garden State Plaza — a 2.1 million-square-foot destination anchored by Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Macy’s and AMC Theatres — will be reimagined, with the surface parking areas to the west of the shopping center converted into the luxury apartments, plazas, parks, gardens, health and wellness amenities, commercial office space, as well as a transit center – alongside new outdoor shops, restaurants and community event spaces.""Fitch Affirms RBS Commercial Funding Inc. 2013-GSP", Fitch Ratings, April 26, 2021. Accessed November 9, 2023. "High Quality Asset in Primary Market: Garden State Plaza is a 2.2 million-sf super-regional mall located in Paramus, NJ. The three anchors, Macy's, Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom, as well as the major tenant AMC Loews theatre, own their own spaces and are only subject to ground leases."

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."Garden State Shopping Center Due to Open May 1 in Paramus; It Will Be Largest in Jersey --Bergen Mall Being Built Less Than a Mile Away", The New York Times, March 20, 1957. Accessed February 28, 2021. "Less than a mile from the plaza, the Allied Stores Corporation is building Bergen Mall, another major shopping center. Anchored by a Stern's department store, this center is expected to open around the beginning of September.... Macy's and Allied first became interested in the Bergen County area in the Nineteen Forties. Until August 1953, both had considered constructing one center as a joint venture on the Garden State site."

R.H. Macy announced the creation of Garden State Plaza in May 1954, establishing a subsidiary that would own and operate the mall."Macy Forms Subsidiary; Garden State Plaza Corp. Will Run New Jersey Center", The New York Times, May 5, 1954. Accessed February 28, 2021. "Garden State Plaza Corporation has been incorporated to operate and assume the ownership of the shopping center that will be located at the junction of Routes 4 and 17 in Bergen County, N. J., it was announced yesterday. It will be a subsidiary of R. H. Macy Co., Inc." 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."Penney Joins Center; Will Occupy 3-Story Building in Garden State Plaza", The New York Times, June 16, 1955. Accessed February 28, 2021. "The J. C. Penney Company will have an 83,000-square-foot store in the Garden State Plaza shopping center under construction at Paramus, N. J." Constructed by the Muscarelle Construction Company for owner/developer R.H. Macy & Co. as an open-air shopping "plaza",Karsian, Dillon. "Garden State Plaza Reshaped Landscape", National Real Estate Investor, May 1, 1999. Accessed February 10, 2021. "Having undergone periodic renovations and expansions since its spring 1957 debut as an open-air center, the property today stands in the superregional class." 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 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. The mall was anchored by a 3-story Bamberger's department store, along with 17 other 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."Ribbon-Cutting Plan Set For Tomorrow", The Record, April 30, 1957. Accessed March 1, 2021, via Newspapers.com. "Instead of the usual satin ribbon used on such occasions, the Garden State Plaza has designed a symbolic ribbon composed of 1,000 dimes to spell out the Garden State Plaza name. Eight-year-old polio victim Barbara Brannon of 193 Alberta Drive, Saddle Brook, New Jersey will be the official ribbon cutter, assisted by Paramus mayor Fred C. Galda. The dimes will go to the Bergen County Chapter of the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis. This ceremony was conceived, in co-operation with the state offices of the Foundation, to focus attention on the current drive to get everyone in New Jersey inoculated with polio vaccine before the summer."

Nineteen additional stores opened by that fall. Fifth Avenue women's clothing store Russeks opened a store in September 1957."Russeks Plans Paramus Store," The New York Times."RUSSEKS' BRANCH SET," The New York Times."BRANCH IN PARAMUS OPENED BY RUSSEKS," The New York Times. Stage II of the mall opened in 1958, including JCPenney, Mack Drug, a Safeway grocery store, and Neisner's variety store. In September 1958, long-time Macy's rival Gimbel's acquired a building site in the mall for a 3-story anchor store, which was completed in 1960."Gimbels Buys In Macy's; Rents Land for Store in Rival's Paramus Plot", The New York Times, September 5, 1958. Accessed February 28, 2021. "Gimbels rented land from a Macy subsidiary, the Garden State Plaza Corporation, in the Garden State Plaza Shopping Center, Paramus, N. J., to build a 240,000-square-foot, three-level store. A unit of L. Bamberger & Co., a Macy division, is one of the many stores already operating there." It was called "the largest shopping center in the world."

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.