Bergen Town Center

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Have you been to the new Bergen Town Center on Route 4? It looks like a gaudy mess of stucco and gentrification while it sits atop the grave of one of the last bastions of un-kitschy New Jersey oddity. For those of us who either missed out on the multiple-decade-long tenure of the Bergen Mall or just didn’t care, let me tell you why this new super center (which goes under the modest moniker of Town Center as though to spit in our faces) is an unwanted eyesore in my book.

For one thing, look at the other malls in the area. You’ve got the Riverside Square, which is too classy to even breathe in, and the Garden State, which, quite frankly, is more impersonal than a birthday card. The Bergen Mall, which I have always assumed to be the archetype for the Dirt Mall in the movie Mallrats, offered us a refuge from all that. No screaming groups of prepubescent mongrels dangling off the walls amidst posters for god-knows-what happens to sell these days (this year, as I understand it, the buzzword is vampires). No kids would come there at all. Its lack of class and modest appearance gave the Bergen Mall a defined sense of clientele that wasn’t necessarily defined by income levels.

In addition, the mall was sitting on a goldmine of unadulterated absurdity in its subterranean sector. For one thing there is (was?) a Roman-Catholic church (St. Therese Carmelite) down there coupled with the Bergen Museum of Arts and Sciences. The museum, according to its website, is temporarily closed, but there is no word yet as to the future of St. Therese Carmelite. Were it to return though, it would find itself lodged beneath the new, all-kitsch-all-the-time Bergen Town Center and its big columned exterior.

What do you think of the Bergen Town Center in Paramus?

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Tagged as: century 21, hackensack, mall, paramus, route 4, Shopping, target, Whole Foods

ryandb

I actually like the new BTC. Whole Foods, Target, Gap Outlet (not really), Nike Outlet (actual deals) and Century 21 all located in a part of Bergen County that offers access to it without having to deal with Route 4 and Route 17 traffic. My only complaint is that there is no food court; if you want to eat there's a crappy pizza joint, bobby flays burger joint or you could eat at Whole Foods. If they added a Best Buy, I'd never have to shop anywhere else again.

On a side note, the Dirt Mall from Mallrats was based off of the US-1 Flea Market in New Brunswick; not it's a multi-plex theatre

Scott-TheBrewClub

I always thought 'gee just what the area needs, another mall'. I try to avoid all malls, and for me as a consumer there was nothing @ the Bergen mall worth visiting. I might have been there once in 10 years or living around here.

I've been to the new mall twice now, but its just been to see what beers Whole Foods has!

bergenation

I disagree, I think the mall is pretty good for what they offer. I like Century 21's prices and selection, but I hate their lack of letting me use my own bag?

I like Target, Whole Foods and the Rack, and I'm eager to try Bobby Flay's place

D.A. Chamberlain

In MY day..the 70's..(lol, now I really feel old) The Bergen Mall was the place to be. Everyone who just got their license could venture out there a few miles away from the backroads of Hackensack (after you checked out Hackensack Record shop in Main Street first!) , and get everything they needed. They had a CVS, an AWESOME Spencer's Gifts store that had rock posters, incense, awesome stuff. The basement also had these very cool Village like shops that you could get items you can only get in the Village now. The anchor store was Sterns, who always had the highest quality clothes, accessories, etc.. There was an Orbach's also on the other end where the Target now occupies. Wolfie's was the best place to go for Cheeseburgers. It was like somewhere you would go in the City. The food was great and you could sit at the counter and chat. You could walk across the street over the bridge over Route 4 to Korvettes, Caldor (or Kohl's now) Yes, the place has gone downhill dramatically with a hodgepodge mess of occupants. It looks odd from the outside like someone threw it together without thinking much. Not sure what they had in mind when they planned this one, but the ONLY reason to go is Whole Foods.
It could've been an alternative to the monsterous GSP, my choice. Paramus Park. It's small, easy to park, every thing you need..drive two miles north, it's on the right.

GSP has become a City in itself. It could be an all day affair shopping there. Since they decided it needed a 16 Plex Movie Theater (The one that used to be out in the Parking lot by Hannah Krauses, the "Century" I believe) was just fine..the only thing was it probably cost too much to modernize. It definitely was run down the last time I went in it. I just have no desire to spend an hour trying to park, do defensive football maneuvers trying to make it through the throngs of people, and just generally constantly get lost. It was a beautiful Mall at one time with open courtyard with tulips in the Spring. Bamberger's (think MACYS) was the Anchor Store. Gimbels was the other big store. When the mall opened up in the early 60's, my Mom's first job was at Kresge's..which was a five and dime comparable to maybe Walgreen's today. There was this HUGE Santa Claus out in the parking lot near that movie theater I talked about, he sat on a Parking Lot Light Post like he was coming out of a chimney. That was a huge annual holiday fixture out there. I miss those days.