The mall also features a 14-screen Cinemark movie theater, which is located in the rear parking lot adjacent to BJ's auto center.
With blue laws in effect in neighboring Bergen County and even stricter restrictions in effect in Paramus, Willowbrook Mall has benefited from the spillover of shoppers on Sunday.[5] The mall and its surrounding access roads and parking areas are prone to flooding in rainstorms. The Passaic River flows near the mall and one of its tributaries, and the Pompton River, runs behind it.[6]
History
Construction of Willowbrook Mall began in 1966 with the groundbreaking of a Bamberger's store[7] and by 1968 included an Ohrbach's and a Sears.[8][9] The mall was originally planned as a 110-store indoor shopping mall, encompassing 1,500,000 square feet (140,000 m2).[10] It opened on September 24, 1969.[11] A second phase opened on August 12, 1970, consisting of 47 specialty stores on two floors, and a Stern's department store.[12] Upon its opening, Willowbrook Mall became the largest enclosed shopping mall in the world.[13]
In 1993, as part of an effort to attract non-smokers, the Willowbrook Mall became one of the first malls in New Jersey to ban smoking on mall grounds.[14][15] The Bamberger's store was rebranded as Macy's in September 1986 after its corporate parent decided to rebrand its entire northeastern United States operation under its namesake marque.[16][17] Ohrbach's was converted as part of the Steinbach chain, which went out of business in 1996.[18][19] The building was expanded for its new tenant Lord & Taylor, which opened in 1997.[20] Stern's closed its doors in 2001 after its parent company, Federated Department Stores, retired the brand; the store was converted to its sister brand, Bloomingdale's, which opened on April 11, 2002.[21][22]
In 2015, it was announced that the mall would undergo a two-year, $23 million renovation. The renovation entailed new ceilings in the Sears & Macy's wings, an overhaul of the food court, new flooring throughout the mall, additional seating, and a two-story streetscape theme for the Bloomingdale's wing.[23][24] In 2017, Sears opened an updated store format and subleased an unused space to Dave & Buster's, which opened on Valentine's Day 2018.[25] Seritage shuttered and razed the Sears Auto Center for a Cinemark movie theater, becoming the second movie theater within the mall area limits (after a 14-screen AMC Theatres, formerly Loews Theatres). On July 15, 2019, Sears announced that it would shutter as part of an ongoing decision to eliminate their traditional brick-and-mortar format.[26][27] In October 2020, it was announced that BJ's Wholesale Club would plan to open a warehouse store and gas station where the previous Sears outpost was with the gas station opening north of the mall's parking lot. The store opened in November 2022.[28]
In August 2018, Macy's added a Macy's Backstage outlet in a portion of its store.[29] A P.F Chang's opened in a small space within the Bloomingdale's store on January 22, 2019.[30]
In August 2020, Lord & Taylor announced that it would shutter its traditional brick and mortar format as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic.[31] Shopper's Find opened in Lord & Taylor's former anchor location in June 2021 and closed in early 2023.[32] JCPenney, which had been an anchor at neighboring Wayne Towne Center since that mall's opening, moved to Willowbrook in the spring of 2024 to take over a space previously occupied by Ohrbach's, Steinbach, and Lord & Taylor.
BJ's opened its Willowbrook outpost in late 2022 in a portion of the former Sears anchor, which had been downscaled and reconfigured before it was closed.[33][34]
^"2 Big Malls Ban Smoking", The New York Times, October 8, 1993. Accessed January 17, 2025. "Rules announced on Wednesday by Willowbrook Mall in Wayne and Paramus Park in Paramus, to take effect on Nov. 1, follow the policies this year at the Woodbridge Center, Cherry Hill and Bridgewater Commons shopping malls. Officials with the Rouse Company of Columbia, Md., which owns Willowbrook and Paramus Park, told The Record of Hackensack that they hoped the policy would encourage more nonsmokers to visit the centers."
^DiMeo, Jean. "Bamberger's is now Macy's; Chain wants national identity", Herald News, September 4, 1986. Accessed January 17, 2025, via Newspapers.com. "The R.H. Macy & Co. of New York announced Wednesday it's dropping the 93-year-old Bamberger's name from its profitable division and replacing it with Macy's effective Oct. 5.... The remaining 23 Bamberger's stores in New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, New York and Pennsylvania will sport the Macy's logo by Nov. 15, Friedman said at a press conference.... Bamberger's executives Wednesday would not say when the store in the Willowbrook Mall in Wayne also would carry the Macy's name."
^"Bam's becomes Macy's", The Star-Ledger, September 30, 1986. Accessed January 17, 2025, via Newspapers.com. "At the Willowbrook Mall in Wayne, it was out with the old and in with the new. Workers from Service Sign Erectors of New York begin dismantling the old Bamberger's sign (above), replacing It with the store's new name, Macy's (below)."
^"Malls expanding". The Star-Ledger. February 2, 1997. p. 270. Retrieved January 12, 2025.
^Combs, Heath E.; and Lillo, Andrea. "Stern's closing puts focus on Macy's, Bloomies", Home & Textile Today, February 12, 2001. Accessed September 3, 2017. "The Stern's locations in Willowbrook and Bridgewater, NJ, will be converted to Bloomingdale's stores."
^DeVencentis, Philip. "BJ's Wholesale Club announces opening date for new store at Willowbrook Mall", The recprd, November 14, 2022. Accessed January 25, 2025. "BJ's Wholesale Club will open a new warehouse store and tire center at Willowbrook Mall on Friday. The 105,031-square-foot club — the first BJ's location in the county — will be in the northwest wing of the mall. With its opening, the retail center will fill a vast cavity that was left empty by the closing of the Sears department store in September 2019."
^DeVencentis, Philip. "Shopper's Find department store closing permanently this week at Willowbrook Mall", The Record, November 29, 2022. Accessed August 28, 2023. "The Shopper’s Find department store will permanently close at Willowbrook Mall on Wednesday. The store, which opened in June 2021 to replace a Lord & Taylor department store, has been liquidating its merchandise since the beginning of last month."
