Paramus Park Mall: Is It a Dead Mall? Paramus, New Jersey.
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- Опубликовано: 8 сен 2024
- Join me as I take a look at the Paramus Park Mall in Paramus, New Jersey. While this mall was renovated in the early 2000's and it's very well maintained, there is something about it that still feels very 1970's/1980's to me!
What do you think of this mall? Let me know in the comments.
This video was filmed in May 2023 on a Thursday around 11:00am.
If you liked this video, please give me a thumbs up, leave a comment and subscribe to my channel! Thanks!
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#mall #newjersey #shoppingmall #shoppingmalls #retail #paramus #paramusnj #foodcourt
My uncle was the guy who cleaned out the waterfall in the 80's. He'd clean it out in his bare feet on Sunday mornings when the mall was closed thanks to NJ Blue laws. During the week in that same time period, after she retired, my grandmother and all her friends would go there and walk the floors window shopping, gossip, and get lunch like a bunch of teenagers would. She always took us there once a year to go school shopping until my brothers and I started high school. My younger brother was scared of the turkey for some reason I can't recall now. Wow, have things changed since I was there before the redo.
Going to Paramus Park on Saturdays to buy tapes and CD's was an adolescent ritual for me. Even though I'm not too fond of those years I still watch this recording with a lot of nostalgia.
Me to
I enjoy your videos very much I loved jersey malls . I remember this mall . In 1979 t vist this mall for the first time. I still go there time to time.
Thanks! I appreciate it!
I was a kid in the neighboring town when this mall was built in ‘73. I was last in it in Sept. of ‘22. Nice to see it’s getting a little more active since then, because it still looked nearly deserted then. The food court is still pretty sad, though. Most of the spaces are taken by more stores now. Far cry from the variety of food it used to have.
One correction, though. You state that the carousel was at the Sears end, but it was actually in the “elbow” bend halfway between there and the center, right outside Kay Bee Toys (now Build A Bear). And the metal turkey statue used to be down in the bend on the other side before getting moved up to the food court.
We’ve went to this mall a few times and it pretty much always busy.
Brings back a lot of memories for me - I spent several hours there on opening day (March 14, 1974), and was one of my favorite places to hang out. I also bought my wife's engagement ring there at the Marcus jewelers in 1976.
I went there one Saturday evening about a month ago, and frankly I was shocked. At its height in the 1980s, the place was packed every weekend. Wherever there was a bend in the corridor of the mall, there was always a logjam of people. And that waterfall really gave it character. Now it’s just a shadow of its former self. There are a lot of empty storefronts, especially in the food court, and the businesses that are open are empty; the most notable is a mini amusement park, complete with bumper cars. I guess they thought that that would attract a lot of people, but it hasn’t. And Stew Leonards hasn’t helped the place the way Sears did. When people shopped at Sears, they wanted to continue their shopping in the rest of the mall area. Since Stew Leonards sells food, as soon as customers make their purchase, they want to get straight to their cars and straight home. And of course people prefer to shop online and not deal with the crowds. I don’t know what they’ll do to bring life back to Paramus Park, but one thing is for sure; it’ll never be what it used to be.
This was childhood nostalgia for me. The carousel when I was a kid, the giant fountain and French fry themed walk by the old McDonalds
One interesting tid-bit I believe to be true, Paramus Park Mall pioneered the "food court". A designated area for dining, in this case occupying the full second floor. The mall ad campaign when it opened was "Have a picnic in the park, Paramus Park" in a sing-song style of course.
this was a state of the art mall when i was a kid. the fountain and elevator in the food court . there was an organ store and toy store right near it.
I rented my tux for prom in 2004 from that mall. That mall was always busy when I was there. I would buy games from game stop and grab dinner from up stairs food court to go. Good times.
What beautiful skylights
I agree. It's hard to believe that the skylights are nearly 50 years old.
This mall has changed a lot since the early 90's. I remember seeing the big fountain that's not there anymore. The food court seems to have a lot of vacancies for a mall that sees a lot of foot traffic.
2024 update:
1:01 Fruitwo Bubble is no more
1:37 The empty storefront next to Brighton is now Pro Image Sports
2:34 The store to the left is now Citi Modern Furniture
2:53 To the left of Pandora is now GV Engraving
3:38 LA7 moved elsewhere. The space is now Miss Bella
3:54 Qitopia is now Qi Balance Spa
5:35 Versona is now LA7. Socks to Be You inside the former Hollister closed then became Art Evi Furniture which also closed not too long later
6:02 Paramus Park Dental closed
8:28 Native Spirit and Express are gone
9:25 To the left is now Picture People. Deen’s Art & Framing has since closed
15:07 Hair You Go closed
15:21 Charleys is now closed. They relocated to Bergen Town Center
15:31 KBBQ Box to the left is now open
15:46 The empty spot next to Nathan’s is now Cuban Eddie’s
17:25 Care Plus is now closed
18:37 Kids Palce is now Go Playland
I’d say the mall is trending downward. Many chain stores left since 2020 and there are more local/mom & pop type shops. If Stew Leonard’s weren’t there, then I think the mall would be dying.
Core memory unlocked - I used to beg my parents for their change to throw into that wishing fountain by the food court escalators when we would visit. My mom would have no issue spending $$$ at sears or JCPenney (always on bedsheets and towels it seems like to me) but hated giving her precious change for me to just ‘throw away’ (she still gave the change each time anyway). 😂Awesome video and thanks for this 👍
Love all the natural light..........
Putting in a movie theater now would be a waste of money & space. They should've done it 10 or 15 years ago.
Send it to New York city
It was supposed to b 10 yrs ago I worked in mall
My family, from NY, used to frequent this mall because of the lenient LL bean return policy. Since they changed, we haven’t been there in years. Loved watching!
This was the mall my parents always dropped me off at to spend hours at every weekend as a kid. It's surprising to hear that it's making enough money. I've seen a lottt of tenants come and go in the last 3-5 years including the departure of most of their big name stores/restaurants that got replaced with these small businesses you saw a lot of. I've heard that the mall is paying tenants to stay. There are 2 other indoor malls in Paramus that are both much much busier, but not as pretty as Paramus Park. The Macy's is so dead that my friends and I once filmed a whole movie we made up in the store with not a single disruption. The only place that is ever busy now is the Stew Leonards and I don't think their customers really wander into the mall. I only go sometimes just to see how much it has inevitably deteriorated since my last visit. Its so sad to see your childhood mall die like this as I have so many fond memories there with friends and family of it being busy.
Kind of surprised- I thought it would be a much bigger mall. It does seem to be doing well although the food court seems to have quite a few empty stalls.
They’re starting to fill the food court with some more local vendors. Makes it more interesting than just having fast food options tbh.
The food court has something like three food joints, and no more. The book store that used to be there had been converted into some sort of kiddie play park. But still, the place is not crowded, and it’s kind of neglected. The men’s room in that area wasn’t working, and you had to use the family bathroom, which only accommodates one person at a time. Under normal circumstances, that would’ve caused a huge line, but since the place is so empty, it didn’t make a difference.
A portion of the 2nd level former Sears is occupied by offices for Stew Leonard’s.
A wonderful place its not so crowded👌👌👌
INTERESTING👍👍👍
Oh,Tom if you could have seen the food court ! Two anchors with table service, and such variety of kiosk, Chinese, Greek, pizza, USA Southern, Japanese, Pennsylvania dutch, McDonald's and/or Nathan's (I forgot if one replaced the other) and that sunken dining area overlooking the waterfall
And Chick-fil-A
I was there late last year for the first time since I was a kid (anyone else remember the Nathan's on the upper level?). Honestly, it seemed dead. Lost of empty storefronts, including the still-existing corpse of a Hickory Farms location, a center court being taken up by a bungie attraction, and most of the traffic seeming to come from what I remember as a Stew Leonard's now being an anchor. It did have a Uniqlo, though, and those are getting harder to come by, but it was overall pretty depressing.
Thanks for the visit of the mall I use live in that area back in 1960
But never went back to see the mall that shopping area has been thriving ever sense
wow-- nothing looks familiar at all-- WORKED at Farrells from 74-77 and what I noticed was they took out the Glass bubble ELEVATOR that would bring you right up to the entrance of Farrells on the food court/upper level... What I remember most of our iconic Food Court from the 70's was the AROMA of candy corn, funnel cakes... Thanks for stirring up some of the memories from early days
I miss the old Paramus Park from before the renovation. The original waterfall, color scheme, and stores were superior to the ones today.
It's also far less of a social gathering place and a lot less active these days, which is a shame. This used to be the place to go on the weekends or on a day off for everyone who lived in the area. It was certainly a major hang out spot in the mid 00's when I was in high school. Now it's just...there. It's holding on but it's really just a shell without a soul nowadays. I hope one day to see this place lively and fun again, but I don't see that happening anytime soon (especially with the insane cost of living in the area nowadays and the lower levels of disposable income).
Would hate to see it close though. Bergen county without Paramus Park mall would be pretty depressing.
Edit: also I believe my uncle helped plant some of those trees back in the day.
I miss the old Paramus Park, lots of memories there. I remember back in the late 90's when they displayed signs that they were going to be updating starting in the early 2000's.
Thanks for the info and the video, I was hoping someone would make a video about this mall (dead mall) I use to go to this mall with my friends all the time
Oddly, this mall was quite crowded even with young people on saturdays when HOLLISTER for younger people was still open. When it closed, the mall became dead! Maybe they should bring it back - it looked busier than the Hollister in Garden Stae Plaza!!
Though i've long since grown up and moved away, this was my childhood mall more than 15 years ago. For most of the video, I was actually thinking "wow, it's doing okay"... and then you got to the food court. That is just depressing. That food court was like a dream as a kid, SO many different delicious options. It's stunning how dead it is now.
Hmmm 😮😮😮
I prefer Garden State Plaza since it’s a much larger mall with more options for both dining and shopping.
I was watching your video and it's excellent! I just would like to correct one thing. The carousel was never located by where Stew Leonard's entrance is to the mall. It actually was located where you mentioned the kiddie rides look in that big area where they have that white fence setup and that apparatus when you cut for the security guy. The carousel was there for years. I believe you were right on the time line. Also that wild turkey in the food court is out of place. It was moved from downstairs. It use to be down where the small waterfall by Macy's you pointed out. They have people giving massages there now. Since this video an Update: 2024 a lot of stores are out now and most of the food court has lost it's renters. You might have to do an update video soon.
It's a great place to go if the Garden State Plaza is too crowded.
Was that the first Chick fil a to open in NJ in 1974? Me and he GF use to visit that mall a lot in 1974 brings memories back. No tax on clothing is keepin those malls alive with people coming to shop from NY
The oval in the center of the mall was a fountain fairly recently.
What do malls have against fountains? They keep removing them.
@@fleabittenadventures I'm thinking water conservation for the environment. Also the water bill might be high.
This mall is an oddity, it has some really great anchors, LL Bean, Macy's and Stew Leonards (supermarket) but SO many of the smaller interior stores are empty including the food court which is down to the Nathan's, Sarku, Chic Fil A and Pizza place. GSP is like a mile away and Palisades and Nanuet are like a 10 minute ride so they are a smaller mall in the midst of some giants in the area. IF they were smart, this could be the mall where non-chains could find a mall presence. How nice would it be to get in stores that are different than every other mall. Many chains are CLOSING locations in malls, maybe this mall can be the one in North NJ to open up to the mom and pop operators to get a mall presence.
Sarku is now Nori Japan. There’s also the Korean bento eatery KBBQ Box, Cuban Eddie’s, and Mr. Cupcakes in the food court.
@@rl8429 Last time I want a few weeks ago Mr Cupcakes had closed. Didn't see Cuban Eddies either.
@@kjdickson Cuban Eddie’s is right next to Nathan’s. They have reviews and photos on google from at least a week ago & their website is active (online ordering is open). Same thing with Mr. Cupcakes. I’ve also gone to the mall a few weeks ago and both places were open, although there’s sometimes the case where workers aren’t at the front.
Walking by Starbucks is making me drink my Starbucks drink
Do woodbridge or menlo
Some day. Those are a bit of a drive for me.
@@fleabittenadventures well I live 2 mins from both woodbridge is dying after losing sears and lord and taylor before the pandemic somewhat while menlo is thriving just a heads up
There must be a maintenance factor. I’ve seen the fountain by Macys getting cleaned and it’s time consuming. And then if a pump fails or something costly happens all of a sudden we now have a planter! It stinks
Thanks
Welcome!
I wish sears was still at this mall they can’t leave the Macys as the only department store there
Nobody would shop there. People with money to spend don’t want to deal with all the riff raff that you see in malls nowadays. For all the people you see walking around the Garden State Plaza, you never seem to see a lot of people in the actual stores.
They changed that fountain at the center into a garden because too many kids were either falling or jumping into it.
Reminds me of 1979
It really is dead most of the time. I mean it's nice it's quiet and all, but when we go like on a Thurs night, dead isn't the word. Maybe 10 people walking around, upstairs most of the restaurants are history..it's a shame because it's a lovely place.
Actually the carousel was not by Stew Leonards... it was right where those trampolines are now... in front of build a bear.... which use to be KB Toys.
Back in the 70s when I was a kid, the carousel used to be by CottonOn where the threading kiosk is at about the 5:49 mark of the video
It is a dead mall because most of the stuff they sell is cheesy. There is Thomas Kinkaid, and that stuff was $$$. Then there are clothing stores, but most are for teenage girls and boys. What they sell at the mall is crap. You can buy what you want online.
Look at what happened to Nanuet Mall and that was because of the Palisades. There are vacancies even there in the Palisades. Things have changed and covid was a factor. People want to go in get their stuff and go home. Nanuet Mall was redeveloped to be a shopping center and two anchors are gone. Macy's and Sears.
Were is the Paramus mall in New Jersey
It 's in New York city
This one has it's red flags for.a dead mall. The lack of any remodeling or appealing, modern stores. Many stores closed, empty. It shows all the signs of a failing mall.
Paramus Park was refurbished, forget when exactly ...
Yes, I think it wasn't too long ago because I found pictures online showing the fountains there fairly recently.
Not to many food options
Yes dead
Mall is dead
All Stores Please lower the price of all Military and Local for all brands of Park Products and Accessories and Production Cost Now That's too much $$ The Whole World Now Pray