Bridgewater Commons

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Southern side of the Bridgewater Commons
Southern side of the Bridgewater Commons

Bridgewater Commons is a fully-enclosed mall located in Bridgewater Township, New Jersey. The mall is located at the intersection of U.S. Route 22 and U.S. Route 202/U.S. Route 206, and backs onto Interstate 287. The mall opened in 1988 and has a gross leasable area of 900,000 sq ft (84,000 m²).[1] Bridgewater Commons is owned by General Growth Properties.

A new mall expansion has been made known as the Village. It contains over 15 stores and a variety of food and clothing.

Mall anchors are Bloomingdale's, Lord & Taylor and Macy's. The mall also contains a wide variety of upscale stores, such as Brooks Brothers.

The mall hours are Monday-Thursday: 10:00am-9:30pm, Friday: 10:00am-10:00pm, Saturday: 10:00am-10:00pm and Sunday: 11:00am-7:00pm. However, individual store hours may vary.

Contents

[edit] Dining and entertainment

  • The Food Court

Only Sarku Japan: 908-253-0020 and Sbarro: 908-707-9644 are currently open.

Bridgewater Commons has initiated a much anticipated redevelopment project to create an exciting new dining and retail destination.

Look for new dining and retail options coming in late fall 2008.

and in The Village-

[edit] Stores

The mall has a variety of stores covering three floors. The stores fall into categories such as accessories, bath and beauty, cards and gifts, children's apparel, housewares and home, jewelry, men's apparel, musics, books, and entertainment, shoes, specialty, sports and fitness, technology and electronics, toys and hobbies, and women's apparel. In the early years of the mall, they marketed on the fact that they have three floors and leased space in the mall by theming the floors. The bottom floor was known as the "Commons Collection" and had the more exclusive/upscale stores. The middle floor was known as the "Promenade" and was themed to have stores that sold family related items and gifts. The top floor was known as "The Campus Level" and contained shops that were marketed toward the younger, 15-21 set. The food court called "Picnic on the Green" was also located on this floor. Neon signs displayed the floor names on the Campus level and have since been removed during the construction. Signs and lighting displaying the names "Promenade" and Commons Collection still exist but are not as prominent as they once were.

[edit] Coming Soon

[edit] History

Bridgewater Commons opened in February 1989 with anchor stores Macy's, Hahnes and Sterns. Hahne's by 1991, would change to Lord and Taylor and in 2002, Sterns to Bloomingdales. The mall complex pursued a major expansion in 1991 to add two eight-story office buildings to the complex, which would include 578,000 sq ft (53,700 m²). of office space and a 300-room hotel. The effort was initiated as part of a longstanding urban renewal project.[2] By 2000, with a 347-room Marriott Hotel already under the construction, the mall's developers pushed ahead to develop the office towers planned for the complex.[3]

In 1993, Bridgewater Commons jumped on the bandwagon, becoming one of the first malls in the state to ban smoking, joining 300 of 1800 malls nationwide that prohibited smoking on mall grounds.[4]

The mall has become a major focus in Bridgewater and an attraction throughout the area, bringing new residents to the township and shoppers to the mall which "dominates the retail industry in Somerset County."[5]

Bridgewater Commons underwent its first major renovation in 2004-05, replacing the flooring on the 2nd and 3rd levels, repainting the ceiling and floor lights, adding lighting, adding elevators (the glass elevator in center court would later be removed in 2007) and removing the 3 story escalator. Since September, 2006 the mall has added a whole new section, called the Bridgewater Village. The village, located right across from the Bridgewater Marriott hotel, is rooted by such stores as Crate and Barrel. It also contains Maggiano's Little Italian Restaurant and a Chipotle Mexican Grill.

[edit] References

  1. ^ International Council of Shopping Centers: Bridgewater Commons, accessed October 3, 2006
  2. ^ "Hoping to Defy the Odds in Bridgewater; Developers Bet On Office Center, Citing Location", The New York Times, February 17, 1991. p. R8
  3. ^ "In the Region/ New Jersey; Bridgewater Commons Is Entering the Home Stretch Offices and hotel will complete the master plan for the mall.", The New York Times, May 21, 2000. p. RE9
  4. ^ "2 Big Malls Ban Smoking", The New York Times, October 8, 1993. p. B6
  5. ^ "If You're Thinking of Living In/Bridgewater, N.J.; Where the Downtown Is a Shopping Mall Residents are drawn by good schools, low taxes, housing variety.", The New York Times, December 29, 2002. p. J5

[edit] External links