Garden State Plaza Mall in the Sixties
Paramus, New Jersey - circa 1960s
Garden State Plaza, from back in the early days when it was still an open-air shopping mall. Some stores visible in the photo are: Gimbels, Lorrys, and, though in shadow and hard to see, Arcadian Gardens (to the right), which was a restaurant, I believe.
Garden State Plaza is now an enclosed Westfield-owned shopping mall. But once, a long time ago, it looked cool like this.
Mall history: 1957 - present
Developer: R.H. Macy & Co.
Current website: here
Current aerial view
Info from Wikipedia
Previous entries: 1, 2
Labels: 1960s, Garden State Plaza, New Jersey, Paramus
posted by Keith @ 4/10/2007
94 Comments:
What's the store on the left hand side of this picture and what is it today.
Kool picture; although I've been there plenty of times I can't figure out where this would be now. And Arcadian Gardens was actually a nursery/garden supply/craft store.
Didn't SNL do a mini-film about this mall in the early 80's? Joe Piscapo played a video game junkie who spent all day at the arcade at the Paramus Mall? Maybe it was a different mall....
There are four major malls (and a bunch of mini ones) in Paramus. Garden State Plaza is the biggest, but when someone says The Paramus Mall, they can also be talking about Paramus Park, The Fashion Center or The Bergen Mall. I've actually had people call Riverside Square (in Hackensack, next door) the Paramus Mall.
Those planters are crazy! It's a veritable lesson in plate tectonics...
In any form, Garden State Plaza is a classic. After it was enclosed in 1980, the mall had terra cota flooring, really high ceilings/skylights and fountains. The terra cotta lasted in the old section until 1997 when they updated it to have the marble like the rest of the mall, as well as the arched ceilings. I do miss the fountains though, even the new fountain by Neiman Marcus which has since been transformed into a planter. Another interesting observation about GS Plaza, the old section of the mall always seems more crowded than the new section.
Bergen County is also the only area in NJ to have blue laws and despite being closed Sunday, the Garden State Plaza branches of the majority of the 300 stores in the mall are some of the most successful in their respective chains.
Today, it is the largest mall in New Jersey and will be even larger with its new expansion...in the expansion, an 18 screen movie theater with a parking deck below, Grand Lux Cafe and new Borders. Since they are going with the entertainment route in that new wing, I would love to see a Dave and Busters open in the old Borders, but it probably won't happen because D&B's is close by in Palisades.
Downloaded and blew up the pic on my computer. That store at the left is none other than J.C. Penney Co. with their gold logotype they used up until early 1965.
While not enclosed, I like the look of this mall. If only today's contemporary big box centers did this...facing the 'big boxes' inwards like in this pic.
This is a great scene. I would have loved to have gone to Garden State Plaza back in the day. Heck, I'd enjoy a trip now :-)
I believe the next store down from Lorry's was Wolfie's, a luncheonette. Also, there was an enclosed promenade underneath with restrooms, a rare coin and stamp dealer and, if I'm not mistaken, a bank.
Other stores that were in the mall were Herman's World of Sporting Goods, Schiller's Bookstore, and Mern's (a men's clothing store).
What a great picture. Brought back things I haven't thought about in years.
J.C. Penney is the only original tenant of the mall. Bambergers was converted to macys in the late 80's. Gimbels was demolished and converted into a Nordstrom in the early 90's.
Intersting things about that JCPenney: it was expanded about 10 years ago and is the only 3 level JCPenney in NJ, JCPenney is now totally surrounded by the mall, as a result of the 1990s expansion, deliveries in the store are made via a ramp near the Neiman Marcus parking deck on the top floor of the store.
Was anyone there to see Jerry Ford give a campaign speech in 1976? The mall still looked almost exactly like it does in this picture then. Ford got up and said "I saw a sing that says 'Jersey Love Jerry,' well let me tell you, Jerry Loves Jersey." It was pretty exciting. I'm a Democrat who voted against him, but I cheered along with everyone else.
Oh my gosh that's one of my favorite malls! It looks so different. Would this be the entrance where the McDonald's and Ruby Tuesdays is located now?
The Lorrys in the picture was one of the sponsers of Paramus Junior Baseball League for years. The major league team was Lorrys and the AAA team with the same uniform was Corey's Maintance.
In response to the question of the location in the current mall, add the roof and the bottom floor and you are looking at the "old wing" between Macys and JCPenney...looking toward Nordstrom/Gimbels, the current stores on the 2nd floor are Apple and Banana Republic on the right and Armani Exchange on the left.
FYI, Arcadian Gardens was not a restaurant, but it was actually a garden store! You know, flowers, pots, soil, etc.
Actually Macy's (NY) and Bambergers (NJ, Pa. & MD)were in effect one and the same. The names were finally unified in 1986. Additionally, the mall was originally built by RH MACY & Co. with the original store being (you guessed it) Bambergers. JC penny came later.
Yes and no on the previous post. While the Penny's did open after the Bam's, that was just a factor in how the mall was constructed. Penny's was part of the mall from the planning stage and the "addition" that included the Penny's was in the original plan. It was just finished a little later.
Macy's bought Bamburgers much earlier in the century. The original Bam's was in Newark NJ.
Little known fact - the Garden State Plaza and nearby Bergen Mall, which were both completed in 1957, were orginally conceived as a single mall, joint project. But negotiations didn't work out, and the two malls ended up being built down the road from each other.
Does anyone remember the giant Santa they would install on one of the parking light pedestals. And then the "real" amll santa would arrive via helicopter.
does anyone remember the bowl-o-mat bowling alley in the basement. The entrance was on the gimbel's (now nordstrom's) side and would be located underneath the current mall entrance next to Joe's American Cafe.
This brings back great memories. As kids we would take the bus to the mall and spend all day hanging out there. The was a great music store there that sold records and guitars. I want to think it was the original Sam Ash but I'm not sure. There was also a baseball card dealer (Sports Corner??) who got a lot of our hard earned paper route money. Thanks for the picture, great flashback.
This photo brings back many memories. As a teenaged mallgoer, I ate lunch at Lorry's with my friends. Lousy service (they didn't like us teenagers) but good food. I remember that a grillman was always visible in one window, flames shooting up, condensation on the glass.
"Survey"-givers used to stand under that overhang in the middle of the photo. I gave it a shot once and looked at ads while they tracked my eye movements. Some survey. I think I was paid $5.
The Sam that the June 14 commenter remembers must be Sam Goody. There was (is?) a Sam Ash somewhere nearby (Route 4 or Route 17) but not in the mall.
Thanks for bringing back memories.
Hi. We were talking about the mall today and I found this site. Thank you all for the memmories. Out side of one of the stores was a metal trough ( I think outside of Lorrys) and the sign said " doggy bar". And I remember the smells of Horne and Harndeart ( I think it's spelled wrong) and the huge Oriental store. DK
omg i remember my mom shopping at an arcadian gardens in eatontown at monmouth mall... imagine, malls had garden supply/nursery stores back then!
I know I'm really dating myself, but I was able to pay for my college education working nights and weekends at Gimbels in the late 60's and early 70's!!!
Saturday lunch break @ Lorry's was a treat.
My best HS bud worked the luncheon counter at the 5 & 10 on the other side of Bamberger's...it think it was Woolworth's!!
Oh my...thanks for the memories!
This DOES bring back memories. I loved shopping with my Mom at Arcadian Gardens. And not many people have mentioned the Oriental Shop, which later moved to Route 4 and is now on Rt. 17 near Paramus Park.
And to answer an earlier post, I think Wolfie's was in the Bergen Mall, not Garden State Plaza....
To the person who wanted to know the name of the record store, it was Sam Goody's. I still have all the 45rpm "records" that I bought from them!
I remember the Santa Claus and always thought he looked odd because he only had one leg. (The other one was in the chimney). Was this at the Garden State Plaza, or on top of Alexander's on RT. 4? I remember I did not like shopping at the Garden State Plaza during winter, too cold outside. Weren't there individual shops scattered throughout the mall that had access only from the outdoors? This is what I remember, but could be wrong. I was only 14 when it was enclosed and my memory may not be exact. Paramus has changed so much...progress.
I am pretty sure that there used to be a Finast supermarket in the mall around the mid-1960's. A Herman's World of Sporting Goods later moved into that site, I think. I also seem to remember a small barber shop that was underground in the concourse, near where the survey place was.
There was also a Spencer Gifts and a Kreskies (sp.) which was like a Woolworths complete with a lunch counter. My dad used to take me clothing shopping at Lobel's. My friends and I used to take the bus there from Fair Lawn and walk through the drainage tunnel that ran between the north end of the mall parking lot, under rt 4 and across to Alexander's.
I also worked at the GSP, during High School, at a store called Foxmoor..which was a girls store..I could not wait to get my drivers liscense to work there..
who can tell me for sure if a Horna Hardart restaurant was in the original Garden State Plaza, I say it was.
Does anyone remember the name of a chinese restaurant that was there in the 70's. My friend ate their first chinese meal at that restaurant.
Wasn't Horn and Hrdart only in the city? Cannot remember any on the Jersey side
The chinese restaurant was Jasmine Gardens.....My Mom always told me that was my first outing as a baby.....for Father's Day 1964....I was born June 1
man so many good memories are packed in that photo. My mother took us to the mall every Wednesday. Many hours spent in Gimbels.
A few more stores no one mentioned:
Cornells (kids clothes on the side of Bams), The red barn (mens clothes), Madameselle (womens dresses near Gimbels), Wallachs (SP), Singer store near Sam Goody's and The Oriental shop (in the back of Bams).
Does anyone remember the puppet shows, ponch and judy? Christmas time was the best there
Thanks for the great memories.
There was a horn an hardarts (excuse the spelling) i thought in the bergen mall. the memories kinda blur because of close proximity and both being outdoor malls. Anybody remember the Sinclair dinasaur exhibit?
The store on the left is JC Penny's which is still at the same location in the current mall. Gone, however, is the upstairs portion (where the JC Penny and Company sign is shown in the photo). This used to be a technical training school.
Other stores included Sam Goodie's, Child World, Chandler's shoe store, Mack Drugs which in the photo was located toward the Gimbel's on the left, Schiller's book store, which was the last store on the left before reaching Gimbel's and past Mack Drugs. I purchased my first Dungeons and Dragons game at Schiller's Book Store. And Arcadian Gardens was a plant store similar to Metropolitan Plant Exchange. There was also a Rustler's Steak House which was located where the current Legal Seafood is located.
In response to a previous post, Wolfie's was located in the Bergen Mall. It was located just before Ohrbach's across from the Magnavox Store.
In the mid-60s when the GSP was still open-plan, the supermarket wasn't a Finast but a Food Fair. Herman's World of Sporting Goods eventually took over the space and today it's Old Navy. The section of Macy's closest to Rt. 17 South used to be a large 2-level Bond (men's) Clothing store. The Limited now occupies most of what used to be Arcadian Gardens which, in succession, had a covered outdoor section, selling outdoor plants and shrubs, some landscaping materials and X-mass trees, that would close for the rest of the winter, then a large hot and humid greenhouse section and then the pottery, candles and crafts section. Bambergers, now Macy's, used to have a separate Annex that sold silver/flatware. There also once used to be a religious bookstore in the Plaza. Many of the planters were huge round wide-diameter barrel-like brown-cedar shake covered structures about 4 ft. high planted with trees and ground ivy and some of the low brick ones were water-filled with floating water lilies. The 4 absolutely huge main air-conditioning plant units were clearly visible towering atop the JC Penney building and, in summer when a breeze was blowing, a stray minidrop or 2 of condensation water coming off them might hit your skin as you were walking from one store to another. The outdoor walkways were mainly named after trees: Magnolia Lane - the main drag connecting Bamberger's and Gimbel's, Dogwood Lane, Cherry Lane, Something-or-other Terrace, etc. The high wooden Christmas "mini-Santas-as Bell-Ringers" musical arch in front of Gimbel's was also a holiday classic as were the tiny year-round outdoor pretzel and hot dog stands at the opposite ends of Magnolia Lane. It was a great mall even then and it has left many hundreds of thousands of people with very fond memories of just how good it used to be in those days !!
my first job in high school was working in the tennis section of herman's sporting goods. in those days there were few racquets and you only needed to know whether a wood racquet was stiff or flexible. herman's was the equivalent to sports authority today. it was a great mall and i have fond memories of shopping there with my family.
Does anybody remember the name of the restaurant near Gimbels that served the popovers?
I seem to remember the restaurant as the Paul Revere Inn, or something like that?
I remember going to the Plaza when it was still an outdoor mall in the 60's & 70's. My grandfather was a baker at Lorry's restaurant that is in this picture. The only downside of the mall being an outdoor one was that when it was winter time, it was so darn cold walking the mall that we would have to walk into one of the stores just to warm up.
The other cool thing about the mall that I miss is the giant Santa Claus coming out of the chimney that was set up in the front parking lot every Christmas.
The name of the restaurant that served the popovers was the Cambridge Inn. They were a customer of my father's linen supply company, so we spent many a special occasion there.
Does anyone remember that Gimbels chime or bell? What was that?
Yes, there was definitely a Horn and Hardart restaurant at the Garden State Plaza. Unlike the ones in NYC, it was not an automat but a regular restaurant with waitresses and waiters. It was a great place to eat! It was located close to the bus stop.
I also remember Neisner's (5 and 10) and the Atlantic Bookstore.
Hi, I finally found a picture of the huge SANTA on the chimney in the front parking lot. Does anyone remember the huge snowman that someone would be inside andspak to the passersby and the huge tree of bells that rang tunes throughout the holiday season? Thank you, George GJPUCCIO@AOL.COM
My absolute favorite memory of the Plaza was the outdoor exhibit with the reindeer. I would go around to all the exhibits making sure that all the reindeer were accounted for, except Rudolph who, as we know, was a fictional reindeer. I think they only had it a couple of years. Also, loved eating at Friendly's, next to Schiller's.
Thanks to all for binging back long ago thoughts....I loved the bells display ringing at Christmas. I do remember a Christmas display with small houses and animated figures of Santa, elves and such. I so enjoyed the Reindeer along with the talking snowman.
I had a thing for those planters that were so beautiful in the spring full of amazing colorful flowers.
I used to hop from planter to planter that ran down the paths, jumping off one, and back up the next one running the length and do it over and over. I was around six years old so I found them so exciting.
Also going to the Catalog dept. of J.C.Penny which if I remember was located in a lower section of the store at the time, maybe even where pick ups took place for larger items.
I was born in '62 and did spend alot of time growing up in those malls. To this day I shop there, but with my teenagers. At times I tell them of a memory I have of the open mall it once was.
As a teen myself we used to hang at the drive in movies that was to the rear of the mall. We hung in very large groups there playing music from our cars, from Frampton to Van Halen, talking to pretty girls, and enjoying the youthful freedom we were just coming to experience.
It was a beautiful time of my life, thanks for binging me back for a moment.
Does anyone remember the name of the country western style bar/restaurant in the mall in the 80's?
Rustler steak house or something like that. Used to be a Ginos burger place too.
I used to work at both Schiller's Books and Herman's Sporting Goods. The Herman's gang would go out afterward to Casa Maria, the great mexican restaurant and bar adjacent.
I worked at Horn and Hardarts, SS Kresge decades before it became K Mart, and Mack Drug before CVS bought it. I loved to enter Bambergers through the entrance where they sold perfume; smelled like heaven. Bought records at Sam Goody, clothes at Cornell's, books at as Schillers, fish at the pet store. Across route 4 you could see the painting on the front of Alexanders. Let's not forget the Fashion Center with the carpeted promenade.
What a great picture. I grew up within walking distance of the mall and had my first part time job at the dinette within Kresge's (a predecessor of K-Mart, I think). AS a college student, I worked at Schiller's Books while the mall was being enclosed. There also used to be a bowling alley in the mall!
Does anyone remember lions being in the window of the mens store on the corner?
Friendly was next to Schiller's and around the corner ESS a carpet store..
I think you are talking About the old Bergen Mall. Remember the amusement park by the Bergen Mall?
There was also an appliance store called Friendly Frost. In the photo, it would have been on the far left, just before Gimbels. I still have components of the stereo system I bought there in the late 70's!
Wasn't the Plaza School somewhere near the JCPenney?
I believe (tho correct me if I'm wrong) the Sam Goody in the outdoor Plaza was the first SG store. It was an amazing place: Records, tapes, biggest selection of 45's outside of Manhattan. Also a great electronics area (receivers, turntables, tape decks, etc.) + a great instruments/sheet music section ( I still have a guitar I bought there). Does anyone have a photo of that original outdoor Sam Goody store?
The'Doggy Bar" was outside of the WALLACH'S mens clothing store.
George
This may seem like an odd question and I hate to ruin peoples memories, but did anyone or know of anyone that may have been sexually assaulted at the GSP in the mid 60's to mid 70's? The area would probably have been where dance recitals, maybe plays would have been help. trying to recreate as event that changed my life forever. Thanks for any thoughts. This is not a hoax of any kind. Thank you.
oherlihymichael@yahoo.com.
I remember. Very young. Under 10
The boxy bldg. on the left side of the photo is J. C. Penney, which is still there today, although it went through many changes. The Gimbel's store (straight ahead) is now Nordstrom's. On the other end of the photo (where the photographer was standing) used to be Bamberger's but is now Macy's.
It was a Sam Goody's. I worked there in 1980 to 1982. The store was large and down the center of the store, the floor was uneven like as in a ramp!
Help me to remember please! Having argument with friend. She says I'm wrong. I am 60 and remember going to GSP with my mother and brother. My mother used to take us in a restaurant that had hot apple pie with hot vanilla sauce. My brother and I both say it was Horn and Hardart. My friend says we are both wrong because Horn and Hardart was only in NYC. Does anyone else remember the hot apple pie and vanilla sauce at Horn and Hardart at GSP? Thank you for your input!
Thanks for the picture of Lorrys. If I remember correctly, it was a long time ago, they had the BEST pickles in stainless containers on the tables. Going to Lorrys was a special treat for us kids!
I was there. I was facing the bowling alley entrannce while standing on the curb at the bend between Cambridge Inn Restaurant and Gimbels. When the motorcade pulled up and Pres Ford walked by, i reached up and put out my hand..he shook my hand and i said good luck. He responded saying thanks. President Ford continued to walk up to podium to speak which was set up outside Gimbels main entrance that faced Bambergers at the far end of the mall. The Herald News snapped the picture of me shaking his hand.
Signed Alan Collins (was 21 at the time)
There were 2 five & dimes in the garden state plaza back in the 60's. Kreskees and Neisners. Both stores had 2 huge luncheonettes. Kreskees food counter was known for waffle icream sandwiches. They awesome.
A nice desert after eating hot pretzels sold by pretzel vendors while outside walking in the mall.
Signed ..Alan Collins
Cambridge Inn..one side facing route 4 and other side of restaurant facing route 17 by corner near Gimbels
I remember as a kid i would look forward to the annual aquarium & exotic fish show held in the annex auditorium (underground tunnel access from outside stairs by arcadian gardens or bambergers basement)
The JC Penney store is closed as of about March 2018, ending a 60 year run from its 1958 opening. Speculation was that the JCP store was closed more because the GSP wanted to redevelop the space than that it was a weak JCP location. (The Plaza is also buying out the free standing Best Buy that is located in the parking lot.)
Thanks to all the posters here for the great memories of the GSP, which was a short walk from my house. The Chinese restaurant id'd as the Jasmine Gardens was also my first Chinese restaurant experience. I bought books at Schillers (I still have the book and I still use the speed math tips in it) and tropical fish at Arcadian Gardens, which was a garden shop and to me a lush tropical jungle. I got a wonderful wool sweater, the likes of which I have never seen again, thick and warm, at some sort of a Scandinavian ski or sport shop in the Plaza.
I don't remember a barber shop at the GSP but there was one downstairs at the Bergen Mall, along with a Catholic chapel and a somewhat crazy antique mall / flea market. The barber shop moved to Maywood, NJ where it still exists. One of the Barbers from the BM was cutting my hair as of a year ago before he sold the shop and retired. I still get my hair cut there.
When The Garden State Plaza first opened in 1957, there was a Grand Union Supermarket in the
Mall near where JC Penney is (or was ) now. I very well remember Lorry's Coffee Shop. Good
food reasonably priced and their Deluxe Hamburger or Cheeseburger platter was exceptional.
Also remember Bond's Men's Clothing store. Although I no longer live in New Jersey, this Mall
and the Bergen Mall (with JJ Newbery's) was the place to be as teenagers.
This was all before Willow Brook Mall in Wayne was built. Great Memories!!
Bamberger's and Gimbel's had puppet shows in the front windows at Christmas, the giant animatronic Frosty in the courtyard, and the archway of bells with elves "tapping" out carols with the live reindeer underneath ... Christmas Wonderland!
Arcadian Gardens and farm.owned the entire site before mall was built. Used to go there when very young when.my family moved nearby. 1954 or so. Side road into Plaza still called Arcadian Way.
Was a Shop Rite there. Moved from smaller strip mall on Rochelle Avenue near the Swiss Chalet. May have changed.names but was Shop Rite. Knew relatives working there.
Behind Bambergers was Sam Goodys, Lofts Candy and a knitting/needlework shop. In front of Bambergers, to the right (walking away from Bambergers, was the Scandenavian shop. I remember it was the only place where you could buy wooden soled clogs. Down one of the lanes, to the right was a fashionable women's store: Franklin Simon. Next to Schillers Books, was a store that sold posters, lava lamps and seed beads (popular in the early '70s to string and make necklaces). It wasn't a Spencers, and had more decorative items.
Hi - Does anyone remember the Mexican restaurant that is currently Houlihan's on Rt.4? It was before Jose Tejas had burned down and then they put the Houlihan's there. Casa Maria was at the Plaza but there was another one we used to go to for Taco Tuesday.
Grocery store on the side facing Rt 17 was initially Safeway. I got Salada plastic baseball coins there in 1960 and 1961. In the opposite corner of the Plaza was Grand Union. Got Triple-S blue stamps there.
Bowl-O-Mat under the Plaza had 36 lanes!
Paramus Drive-in Theater bordered the west side parking lot. Chock-Full-O-Nuts had a dining location fairly close by. I won a 10-speed Columbia bike there in 1968.
Do you know the name of the Chinese restaurant near SS Kresge?
When Garden State Plaza first opened in Spring 1957, there was a Grand Union Supermarket in there that was later taken over and made into a JC Penny Store. Also, Lorry's Coffee shop
was incredible. Especially there Hamburger and Cheeseburger Deluxe platters. Remember fondly the big Santa each Christmas out by Bond's Clothing Store. Great Memories from a former resident of New Jersey now resident of Colorado.
Posted 4/24/2022
Thank you for reminding me of the Cambridge Inn and the delicious popovers. I miss those days in so many ways. Simpler life!
The supermarket was grand union about where the extension to the theaters are
Horn & Hardart was at GSP facing Rt 17 and Century Theatre
It closed in December 1970 most of the space became an enlarged Sam Goodies and a Gino’s
I worked for Sam Goodies during that time
The Cambridge Inn
Sam Goodies expanded the Store at GSP in 1971 they had stores in NYC and Brooklyn by 74 -75 they opened many new stores but Paramus was the big one
A great store I worked there from Fall 1970 until I graduated from college June 74
I would like to know when Arcadian Gardens closed.
definitely!
Anyone remember the names of restaurants in garden state plaza back in 1976
Yes it was in the friont
As a teenager, I worked at Bamberger's, Herman's World of Sporting Goods, an outside pretzel stand, and at Alexander's Department Store on the other side of Route 4.
Arcadian Gardens was a plant / gardening / gardening supplies store. Great memories walking through there with my parents, as my mother looked for house plants and other gardening paraphernalia. Loved GSP when it was an open mall - especially at Xmas.
There was a tunnel between te plaza and Alexander’s? I just read on another Facebook post that a guy said there was a tunnel between the two and I had never heard of that before. He made it sound like an actual pedestrian tunnel but it so this is actually just a drainage tunnel that you’re walking through did other people know about it? That sounds kind of creepy
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