Rockaway Townsquare Mall

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Rockaway Townsquare Mall
Facts and statistics
Location Rockaway Township, New Jersey, USA
Opening date September 1977
Management Simon Property Group
Owner Simon Property Group
No. of stores and services 180+
No. of anchor tenants 4
Total retail floor area 1,250,000 ft²
Parking Lighted Lot
No. of floors 2
Website Rockaway Townsquare Mall

The Rockaway Townsquare Mall (commonly called Rockaway Mall) is located at Interstate 80 and Mount Hope Avenue in Rockaway Township, New Jersey. The mall is anchored by four department stores (JCPenney, Lord & Taylor, Macy's and Sears) and more than 180 specialty stores such as Aeropostale, Abercrombie & Fitch, Toys "R" Us, Sharper Image, GAP, and a food court located near Sears. The mall is currently owned by the Simon Property Group and has a gross leasable area of 1,250,000 ft²,[1] placing it in the top ten among the largest shopping malls in New Jersey.

Contents

[edit] Anchors

[edit] Mall History

The mall first opened on Labor Day Weekend of 1977. Notable stores that have since closed include: Hahne's which was in the location currently occupied by Lord & Taylor, Kids "R" Us which is now occupied by Office Depot, K•B Toys. AMC Theaters had screens 1-6 in the location currently occupied by FYE inside the mall and screens 7-12 in the location currently occupied by Best Buy in the strip mall on the perimeter road (closed after the theater inside the mall). At the time when the theaters were open, it was the first multiplex in America.[2]

[edit] Expansion

The mall has undergone several expansions since it opened. These include a strip mall in the southeast corner of the property currently anchored by Best Buy , ACME, Rite Aid, and Office Depot. An elevator was added to center court in the 1990s. A Hilton Garden Inn was opened next to an office building that is currently occupied by BASF. A row of three stores (Michaels, Linens-N-Things, and Borders) was opened next to that. The west end of the property, called Rockaway Plaza, is now occupied by Target, Dick's Sporting Goods, Pier 1 Imports, PetSmart and a new 16 screen AMC Theatres (not connected to the original 12 screens), which will have one of its screens converted for digital IMAX projection by July 2008.[citation needed] The Shops at Rockaway Mall, a strip mall developed by Transmark Company, also opened in the corner near Route 80 and features citi, Dunkin' Donuts (it should noted that one used to exist in the mall next to the food court), Fatburger, Cold Stone Creamery, Quizno's, La Salsa and Supercuts along with a separate Olive Garden.[3] Future plans include an Old Navy, but none has been built since the 2005 proposal. Recently, a Maui Wowi opened where the former Haagen Daz was located in the food court. Around the mall, the HDTVs located throughout the lobby of the mall now show updated news stories and events at the mall.

[edit] Renovations

As of late 2007, the mall has began renovations to both its interior and exterior. The renovations include redesigned exterior entrances, updated flooring, and a remodeled food court. The restoration should be complete by summer 2008.

[edit] Transportation

The mall is served by several bus routes:

Route Western Endpoint Eastern Endpoint Operator
5 Operates Monday and Wednesday only Hackettstown Terminal PABCO Transit
7 Operates Tuesday and Friday only Milton Randolph PABCO
10 Terminal Morristown PABCO (NJ Transit)
46 (off-peak hours only) Terminal Port Authority Bus Terminal Lakeland Bus Lines
80B Budd Lake PABT Lakeland
80H Howard Boulevard PABT/Midtown Manhattan/Wall Street Lakeland
80N Newton PABT Lakeland
80S Sparta PABT Lakeland
Operates one trip inbound
and one trip outbound only		 Long Valley, Netcong Midtown Villani Bus

Taxis are plentiful and charge $5 to $8 for a one-way ride to the New Jersey Transit Dover Rail Station on the Morristown Line and the Montclair-Boonton Line.

[edit] Rail Proposals

The mall has been included in many rail proposals to relieve traffic on Interstate 80. However, traffic has become increasingly worse and backups are common as far as Netcong. If a rail station had been built when the mall was constructed, it probably would have sat unused until 1982 when the Comet II passenger cars arrived as any electrification would have been to the current that was going to be used on the Morris & Essex Lines and wasn't placed in service along with the Arrow III MUs until 1984.

The Comet I cars were equipped with low-doors and since most trains might have been sent via the Morristown Line providing for management concerns about diesel noise and exhaust from the U34CH locomotives near the mall.

[edit] References

  1. ^ International Council of Shopping Centers: Rockaway Townsquare Mall, accessed September 21, 2006
  2. ^ AT THE MOVIES; How Resnais made a success with science. - New York Times
  3. ^ Rockaway mall plans expansions, additions: Loews 16-screen movie theater, Olive Garden among new businesses, Daily Record, January 23, 2005

[edit] External links