Livingston Mall? More Like Deadingston Mall, Am I Right? Let's Explore this Wonderfully Dead Mall!
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- Опубліковано 7 жов 2024
- Join me as I take a look at the Livingston Mall in Livingston, New Jersey. Is it a dead mall, a dying mall or is it doing just fine? It looks like a dead mall to me! Let me know what you think about this mall in the comments!
This video was filmed in February 2024 at about 12:45pm on a Wednesday.
If you liked this video, please give me a thumbs up, leave a comment and subscribe to my channel! Thanks!
Sources of information and historical photographs:
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This is so sad. This was my teenage stomping grounds. There used to be a Roy Rogers, arcade, Suncoadt video, and Electronics boutique, and I used to hit them all.
I’m impressed with the amount of research you did for this video. Kudos!
I literally just said almost the exact same thing. I've worked in multiple stores, did valet, and even got locked up for underage drinking🤣It doesn't help that the 31 bus doesn't go up there anymore.😢
Me too, grew up in Livingston. That Roy Rogers was awesome, best roast beef and “Time Out”…the arcade. Man i would get sooo excited as a kid when my older brother would volunteer to take me there to play video games. Good times
I worked at the Suncoast up until a few years before it closed and became Quails.
I moved to Ohio in 2007; I am so glad I didn't have to see this happen, in person
Roy Rogers was definitely the best of the fast food places. Now even the turnpike ones are gone though.
@@DoggoWillink there is still the one in Brick Nj on the highway but they dont serve roast beef or have the salad bar, only fried chicken 👎🏼
The Livingston Mall may have officially died in 2020, but it was a long slow death starting in the early 2000s. Being so close to the Mall at Short Hills with such an affluent community, the Livingston Mall just couldn't compete.
Short Hills Mall is now enduring a crime wave spilling over from NY, sooo....
Livingston Mall was the mall for the people
They wanna turn the mall into a ton of cheap condos, but the town and its residents keeps blocking it (and rightfully so) as Livingston High School isn't built with the amount of kids these condos would bring in and it would bring taxes up for everyone in the town, and it's already a "rich only" town.
why would any normal person go to short hills? i drove past it every day to work and only stopped in once
@@SavingSoulsMinistries Used to have good stores, now its all buggi
I loved this mall so much. Growing up in the 80s and 90s I have so many memories going to the mall. I remember the small pizzeria that was by Sears, Alwalk(I think that was the name) Music, Sam Goody, Electronic Boutique (where I spent most of my time), getting multiple suits from Lord & Taylors, my brother having one of his first automotive jobs at the Sears, spending way too much time at the Burger King and the years and years and years of Christmas shopping memories. I miss the simpler times.
Now I have to go to the Turnpike for some Roy Rogers 🤦🏾♂️😂
I agree. Great memories. But malls are kind of better now with better food. Nice malls definitely do exist but a lot more rare and harder to find
Much better times
I loved the pizza there!
I remember that little pizzeria as my wife and I would always stop for a bite to eat while shopping. When they announced they were closing, I aske the owner why. I never forgot his answer. He said “Newark”. I asked if they were moving to Newark. He said “no, Newark is coming here”.
My father owned the Italian touch restaurant next to sears for 20 years. Remembering during Xmas we had to park in the parking lot and take a shuttle to the entrance. A slice and a coke $1.00 . Sold 400 pies one Saturday during the holidays. By the slice!
You folks had some of the best pizza I've ever eaten!
Do you have any pictures or footage of the restaurant, still?
I used to love going in there after looking around in Alwilk records. And yes the pizza was unbelievable
Italian Touch was a frequent must in my youth. I still remember the flavor of the thin crust three (I think) cheese pizza. Always got two slices. My mom and I enjoyed many cheesesteaks as well. A great memory.
I was a waitress at Italian Touch while I was in college. I remember your father quite well. One of his famous sayings as he rushed around clearing the booths for the in coming customers was, "Come on, Bobby needs a new pair of shoes!" Oftentimes, people were still eating😂. And I remember you, Richy, as being very kind and even tempered. I remember the cooks in the back working hard and arguing, and sometimes we would hear dishes crashing during those arguments, lol. Good times.....
Loved Italian Touch Pizza! The memories of hanging out as a teen.
in 1972, my mother went into labor with me at the Livingston Mall. I visited there many times with my Grandmother many times in the 70s. I always loved going there
Crazy. I grew up in Livingston and went to the mall during my childhood. It's always been seen as lesser Short Hills Mall, but now it's just sad.
Well, always isn't true because at one time, Short Hills Mall wasn't much to talk about. It was a much smaller mall at one point and time without al the upscale stores it has now. The same way with Woodbridge and Menlo Park.
@@BTman58 I'm just saying growing up in the 00's.
We preferred Livingston to Short Hills. I always felt like a beggar at Short Hills. This was the 80s. Speaking of Short Hills, does anyone remember the restaurant that sold 'clear' soda. Even cola was clear!
I passed by the Livingston Mall yesterday, and I was going to stop in to see what had become of the place. Based on this video, and the lack of cars in the lots...this once great mall is on life support. Biggest memories were the Nathans and Herman's World of Sporting Goods.
I worked at Livingston Mall in 1976/77 my favorite store was Sam Goodies, I also remember buying concert tickets at a stall. I worked across from the piano store
That was a fantastic Sam Goodies. I still have some LPs I bought there in the early 80s.
I remember the piano store, I worked at proving ground and chess king at that time😂, wasn't the piano store next to a hardware store near sears?
jesus i live near this mall i had no idea its that old
@@parkds Sam Goodies! I still have many a 45 I bought there!
Hey Tom! Sorry to hear the dead mall views are down. While you have definitely posted way more dead malls than I have and have many more viewers… I have also experienced the same trend. My older dead mall vids pulled way more views than my newer dead malls vids.
This is why I just post what interests me and I let whatever happens just happen.
I definitely receive your notifications when you post but I think the genre is soooo saturated at this point. Anthony from aces adventures was saying the same a few days ago.
Either way, your videos are great and you have a very good skill for voiceovers and a friendly tone.
🎉🎉🎉
I miss Bambergers. My sisters would take me to the Morristown location. I loved Hahne's department store cause at Christmas they had a desk and stationery where you could write a letter to Santa and put it in their mailbox. There was a restaurant my sisters and I went to every Saturday but I can't remember the name of it. I still liked Willowbrook Mall better.
I used to work at this mall from 2019-2021 at Skechers and even when I first arrived pre-pandemic it was on the decline. After the shutdown and eventual reopening it steadily got worse and worse until I left. I recently learned that my store closed in January of 2024, presumably after their lease expired, and I'm honestly not surprised of the current state of the mall but it's still sad to see a place that I once enjoyed working at and going to become what it has become. Whatever they do with it in the future I hope they finally do this area justice.
It is a nice looking mall.
The mall was always the place to be when I worked there from 87-93. It's sad to see now.
Ugh I used to love Livingston mall. I would go here with my family on Sundays after church as a child
I live in one of the next-door towns, Short Hills. I still love the Livingston Mall. When I was a little kid in the early to mid 2000's (I was born in 2000), I used to get my hair cut in the mall as well as play in the play-place. There was a KB Toys and after that a mini Toy's R Us in the same place where Quails is (2:37) Hidden Treasures is an absolutely EPIC store. All of the workers are really nice and I know all of them. As well as Coach P's and the VHS store, although they sell collectables and not VHS tapes which is pretty funny. At 19:30 , that used to be an FYE which I found pretty devastating when it closed. It was the only close one to me and now it's a 30+ minute drive to go to another one.
My parents and I also got our vaccinations in the old Sears. We shopped there all the time, as well as in Lord & Taylor. We actually still stop in at least once a month to check out the collectables stores as well as Barnes & Noble and Macy's. There used to be a Sbarro and a Nathans/Arthur Treachers in the food court. Across from the B&N there used to be an Applebees too. Auntie Annes and Cinnabon still rock! Even in the state that the mall is in, I still love it and I love going there. I really hope it lasts for a long time to come but it sadly doesn't seem like it.
Damn you rich lol
Hidden Treasures rules.
I remember the Livingston Mall from its heyday in the late 1970's and 1980's. Epstein's was a local department store with branches in Morristown and Somerville. Hahne's was acquired by Lord & Taylor. Bamberger's was owned by Macy's and the name was changed to Macy's in about 1986. The mall included GAP (when it was "The Gap"), Wilson's House of Suede, Carlin's (a local men's store), a Singer Sewing Center, Crosstown Traffic (a unisex salon), Kleinsleep (mattress store), Kid's Place, a number of shoe stores. Livingston Mall never had a food court and was about five miles from The Mall at Short Hills, a very upscale mall that attracts shoppers from Manhattan on weekends because New Jersey does not tax clothing and shoes.
Spencer Gifts and Hong Kong on the upper level. Also the bagel bakery out front!
The food court is shown at 14:55. It was added in 2007.
Yes, I was never there for the food court. Honestly food just wasn't as omnipresent a thing back in the 80s when we were all thin! The bagel place was good though.
Adjacent stores Sam Goody and Herman's.
Yes, the concept of a "food court" didn't exist when I was hanging out at the Livingston Mall (mid- to late-80s, early 90s). I do remember a pretzel place, but can't remember the name. They had a coloring contest one year, and I won a free pretzel. My older brother didn't win one, so I enjoyed that free pretzel more than you can know.
How very depressing. I worked at this mall from 1978 to 1980 at the B. Dalton booksellers. I'm surprised to know it has been open this long.
After they got rid of the Roy Rogers there was no point in going to that mall!
I worked at Spencer Gifts during that same time.. used to stand in that ticket line quite a bit to get tickets. Very sad
Wow who would have ever thought. Especially in a well-to-do community like Livingston NJ
Amazon came along
@@ViperMike-c2r
The decline started well before Amazon.
Totally sad how technology has destroyed popular American culture !
@@johnCjr4671 yes its sad now
There are thriving malls in NJ that have been around for 20 plus years, it looks like mall management is dropping the ball. No AC, no power, it smells really odd in here, probably high rent
I loved this mall. Grew up nearby. My first job was at the Sears. They had Ed's Tropical Fish, where you could see real sharks, a great game room, a gigantic Nathans, Sam Goody records, Herman's World of Sporting Goods, which became Modell's, and on and on.
The Short Hills Mall is great, but if your kid needed a pair of pants on a moment's notice, you could get in there, buy something and go home in less time than it takes to get a parking space at the Short Hills Mall.
Ed's Tropical Fish! I got my first hamsters from there! Snowball and Muffin. Back before we knew hamsters couldn't live together! lol
In its heyday, the Livingston Mall was the place to be. I still go there to shop at Bath Body Works, which always seems pretty busy, probably one of the only busy stores left. If you want to see a thriving mall, go down the street a few miles to Short Hills. Around Christmas, you can't even park.
Great video! I'm guessing that all the upscale stores are happy at the nearby Short Hills Mall (originally Taubman, now owned by Simon). The Route 10 corridor in Livingston and East Hanover has several power/lifestyle centers and strip malls where people by their every day clothing, appliances, and hard goods. It's another case of the middle-most retailer getting squeezed out. Willowbrook Mall and Rockaway Townsquare Mall have been shifting toward restaurants and entertainment, but Rockaway needs more tenants for sure.
I’m surprised that this mall hadn’t closed sooner. It’s been struggling for years.
Still open
This is my local mall and reminds me so much of high school! My friends and I would go so much, and we still make an effort to go every now and then as we enjoy some of the stores there that are still open. It’s been a shame to watch this mall slowly close down as the years pass, but I’ll always have fond memories of what it once was. In the meantime, it’s still around for now! 😊
I used to buy my shoes in the early 70's in two different stores, Chandler's and the other one was Bakers. Back in the day, loved this mall! Still live in the area. Enjoyed viewing n reading others comments. Brought back lots of memories!!
Such malls looks like as the relics of ancient times of ancient empire
like when we still had civility and social gatherings
I was there yesterday because I was in the area and every once and while I like to check up on this mall and see how it's doing. The majority of the stores were closed because the mall's AC wasn't working and the weather was in the 90's so it was hot and stuffy throughout the mall. The Hot Topic was still open and it was very hot in there. I was shocked that the employees were even working in that heat with just a single fan. They understandably closed early not too much later. The Macy's was open and had better air conditioning though it was pretty empty for a Macy's of all places.
This isn't the first time that the AC has had problems. My mom went there last year in the summer and the AC wasn't working then either and most of the stores were also closed. Additionally, all the escalators were out of order the elevator was also still out of order. I feel like who or whatever owns this mall is just letting it die at this point. Every time I go, it just seems to get worse. I'll admit, it is fascinating to see the decline and at least the Barnes and Noble is still fun to look around in.
Great video btw I subbed
The heyday was definitely in the 80's for this mall. I remember as a kid it had far better stores (at least I thought) than short hills. Once short hills mall expanded... I feel that's when the short hills mall really took off. I remember the Roy Roger's at Livingston as well as the big fountains with colored lights as well as those big metal whale-like sculptures at Livingston. I haven't been there in a few years, but it looks so barren now. The collectible stores look like they're worth a visit. Thanks for the video!
Great video on a local mall 20 minutes from my house. This was THE mall to go to when I was in high school. I did a video on those mall a couple months ago. It was so weird walking around in there after not being in there for so many years. The white marble anchor on your left was a Lord and Taylor. We were literally there a couple weeks ago doing my daily walk after my back surgery, and it looks more dead by the week. The only escalator that was working was in the Macy's and it was only the down escalator. I hope you went to go visit the upscale and very busy Short Hills mall. Big money stores in a big money town. Thanks again!!
I opened a Zales Jewelers here in 1998 and it was the least productive store in my region of 18 locations from day one and remained an undesirable store for the seven years it remained in my region. Low sales, internal & external theft, and very dark in every aspect. I'm surprised the place still exists
That was the spot in the 70's & 80's until we started venturing out to the mall in Wayne. IIRC Nathan's hot dogs was in the wing where Barnes & Noble is & GNC was across from it. The AT&T store was home phones & was over by Sears & there was an optometrist next to it. There was an arcade in the second wing where you were talking about the blacked out signs. Most of the active part of the mall was between Sears & the first escalator...Benneton, Banana Republic, Foot Locker, Aeropostal...most of the rest was 'flyover' stores until you got to Macy's. I think Spencer's was upstairs near Sears, seem to recall there being a Frederick's of Hollywood. Sears was definitely a mainstay...I remember the early years of ordering from the catalog & my parents driving up from Orange to pick up the order when it came in. That's where most of my school clothes came from up until high school or so. Toughskins jeans & twill pant & jacket sets. Whoooo...lotsa memories flooding back. Last time I was there was around 2008 or so (moved out of state in 1992).
Man, that Nathan's was great, and big. I remember the wallpaper with black and white images of old Coney Island. The pretzel place, Hot Sam's, was across the hall next to the Aquarium/fish store. There was a great pizza place just outside Sears in the main corridor called Italian Touch.This was decades before they gutted the second floor for a food court. And, across from it on the other side was KayBee Toys. I remember all the old stores...Children's Place with the giant TV slide, the instrument store, the local bakery that used to be there, Baskin Robbins, the record store. There was also a full Burger King down a side hall on the second floor, I think. Across from that was a restaurant called Rosie O'Grady's. There was also a restaurant IN Macy's in the back by the elevators. It was kind of grand for the 70s. I was there about ten years ago and found the restaurant's bones are still there. The space was being used as storage, but the dining room looked exactly as it had once upon a time. It was a good mall back when.
Wayne mall is subdeviding as well. Remember well the triple-0 ranch before the mall was built. well that's progress. " Nothing is forever".
I worked at Herman's World of Sport in 1993ish. Alwilk's music always had band record signings. Nathan's, Sam Goody. My dad worked a 2nd job at Carlin's at the bottom of the escalator on the Sears side. Benetton was there, the arcade...
Do you remember the elevator? I worked there in the late 80s and don't remember an elevator.
In the 80s-90s, Livingston Mall always suffered a *little* for two, somewhat opposite reasons: being the closest mall to Newark and its struggling suburbs (at least until Jersey Gardens opened), and for being surrounded by towns where people are either genuinely rich or heavily invested in pretending they are. New Jersey in general and Essex County in particular are extremely segregated, and Livingston's diverse customer base gave it an undeserved stigma that never really went away, even as the first-wave white-flighters behind it died off or moved farther out. If it were a bigger mall (Willowbrook), or in a more strategic location (Quakerbridge), or had anything to make it stand out, that might not have mattered, but it did. When malls in Livingston's position do survive, it is because they are able to pull off a deliberate upscale shift on top of being well positiomed for expansion. (Columbia Mall in MD is a great example of that.) With Short Hills so close by, that wasn't an option. I'm honestly surprised Livingston took this long to die off, but sad that it did all the same.
Like Chris Rock said, 'There are two kinds of malls: The mall where the white people go. The mall where the white people used to go.'
This is truth. Idk about now but back when I worked here the buses came from Newark but those same busses didn't go to short hills.
@@mark33545 The 70 bus line has stopped at both malls for at least 40 years.
In Union County, id go to Woodbridge or Menlo mostly but loved when I could go to short hills. Livingston was further so didn't get there much
@@davidpignatore6532 you didnt miss much, i worked at willowbrook, rockaway, livingston and pallisades in NY and livingston was the worst by far. i hated it, i never spent any time there when not working unlike the other malls on the list. this was like early 00s though.
I loved that mall!
I was there about 2 years ago and it was empty then!
So sad.....
Growing up in Livingston, my mother took us to the Mall all the time. We loved it, just a great place to walk around, shop and meet friends. Honestly, I don't get why they're dying out the way they are, unless the rents are just way too high. Where I used to live in Bethlehem Twp, Pa, there is a good-sized, strip mall that has two great anchor stores and a lot of good, quality stores in between. The stores are always very busy, begging the question why the demise of indoor malls if an outdoor strip mall can do so well?
Which 'strip mall' are you referring to? Lehigh Valley is my 'mall' and it is thriving. Whitehall Mall, not so much.
@@nancyjgross3798 The Bethlehem Square Mall off of 191. Every time I go back to visit, the parking lot has a ton of cars there.
I was 16 in '87 when I landed my first job at Sbarro's(across from Nathan's). Met alot of girls and copped alot of Polo,Guess and Nautica from the boosters on the #70 bus...fun times
This is so sad. I can't believe they can't repurpose the mall into a vocational school, medical center annex, senior center, or something that the community could use. I was probably one of the first visitors back in 1972 because malls were the place to be back then!
As you said, Hahne's was one of the anchor stores, and Bamberger's preceded Macy's. Sears was the 3rd major store. When Hahne's closed, Lord and Taylor replaced it. I believe M Epstein was a Short Hills Mall store (not Livingston Mall). There was a time when I knew the names of all of the mall stores, but as time marched on, so did the store names.
I always looked forward to having lunch at a restaurant called "Lorries". I think this is how it's spelled. Anyone else remember this restaurant?
Oh man… Livingston mall… I grew up on the boarder of Livingston at west orange NJ up the hill. In 2006 is when I moved to WO and first went Livingston mall shortly after. It was one of the most popular malls till I’d say around 2015/2016 and then it started to die heavily. You’d get students, family, friend from all over go here.
There used to be tons of places such as Victoria secret, express, Macys, sears, aerpastel, GameStop, Verizon, hallmark, pink, yankee candle, a chocolate factory (they’d make chocolate from scratch), they had great options at the food park, had a Spencer’s and Hot topic next to each other, and so much more. The reason why I say macys is because it has done down hill.
The collectible store never existed till recently.
The only OGs left there is Macys, Cinnabon, Barns and noble, and bath and body works, foot locker but that’s about all I can remember. Maybe Zales.
Once a piano is in its place, it is in its place for years. Each time a piano is moved it must get tuned and that is something that can take hours and the cost lot ton. So, those pianos are for show.
I worked there at Herman's sporting goods around 73 - 74. The place was busy all the time. Short Hills Mall with all the real high end stores is only 2 miles away. That's what probably killed this place.
I was hoping you'd get around to this mall. I grew up in East Hanover, the neighboring town and I spent the better part of almost forty years going to the Livingston Mall. As a child in the late 1970s, that's where I'd get my Atari games and Star Wars toys, my picture taken with Santa, go Christmas shopping, get my back to school clothes or have lunch at Roy Roger's. As a teen in the '80s, that's where I'd go to the crappy arcade, buy records at Sam Goody's or magazines at B. Dalton. It was never the cool mall. It didn't have a Food Court or a movie theater, but back then it was close and convenient and really the only place to go. The only place to waste away a boring Sunday afternoon. Of course, as I got older and started driving, I went there less and less. By the late '90s, early '00 I probably only went there a handful of times. I have fond memories of this mall, though. I literally grew up there. It's sad to see it go.
I grew up in East Hanover also. I was at this mall all of the time. I probably grew up with you lol
@@lisalepore3198 probably across the street
@@lisalepore3198ditto!
@@TheNameisPlissken1981 lol!!! I just clicked on the name. Hope you’re doing well! 🙂
I remember Roy Rogers ! I worked @ Everything Yogurt 🍦 and Lord @Taylor and Sears
I loved going to this mall. When I drive by now my heart breaks.
WoW the playland use to be the Kay Bee Toys I managed, around the Cabbage patch craze, we took in 40,000 a day black friday and C'mas time. Next to Sears, Italian touch pizza, Alwilk records. When walking in a mobbed Bagel shoppe and a pet store, This was around 1985. This was the palce to go! Maggies Pub upstairs.
Ineed, I shopped at the Kay Bee and bought my first mechanic tool set at the SEARS, remember the Record store?
@@Matucks Yes Alwilks,Alice Cooper came into the store, with an entourage of two girls wearing a full sterling silver snake around their arms, he wouldn't sign an autograph for me. Think it was Alwilks or Sam Goody. Great times!
@@francoismichal5697 I think it was Sam Goody because I can remember the sign being neon. The world we knew is long gone. Imagine the store was so vibrant Alice Cooper visited. I was just watching another video where Eatontown Mall is pretty much at the same faith. I really enjoyed growing up in NJ in the 80s and 90s.
Omg... basically grew up at the mall with my cousins, my mother Colleen was a manager at the Italian Touch. I forgot about Maggie's
@@roseialeggio8066 Loved the Italian Touch! They were a lot of fun to watch over there! lol Those were the fun days and the bagel Shoppe Sisters, always talking about Vancouver BC. The lines in the morning was serious! And the pet shoppe.
I think the last time I was ever in this mall was 20 years ago. Even then the early signs of its fading out were showing.
You should visit 'Paramus Park' Mall in Paramus, NJ. For sure it is a dead mall with very few stores left.
By the way, with Garden State Plaza Mall, the separate former Best Buy and bank buildings are being torn down to add to parking that will be later lost in other development of apartments and various businesses on the mall property.
The JC Penney store in Wayne has moved from the former West Belt Mall site to the former Lord & Taylor anchor store site in the nearby Willowbrook Mall. Before Lord & Taylor, it was (originally) Orbach's, then Steinbeck's a regional Dept. store, then Lord & Taylor and then some discount clearance store.
Man is crazy I grew up going to this place I had my teenage years where we hung out at the mall ! This was early 2000s I would have never thought this would be the malls future
I grew up here in the 80s and I agree! My first job was at the toy store!
Thanks for this great video. I've lived 10 minutes away for 10 years and I've never set foot in the mall because it looks so depressing from the outside. I'm surprised they still have an H&M!
Been there many times, also worked in the Macys for 2 yrs. I remember KB toys, The Gap, Sam Goody, Foot Locker, Electronics Boutique, Burger King as a walk-in place not a food court kiosk.
The food court had a Roy Rogers upstairs and i went with my mom all the time!
It was in place of that “Lids” hat store and across from that was Steve & Barry’s I believe.
I was waiting for someone to mention the Roy Rodgers! It was a rainy weekend treat to go to Livingston mall and eat at Roy Rodgers! So sad to see how that mall has degraded. I moved away from the area in 2007. So don't get over there when I come up to visit. Its sad! We used to go Christmas shopping there in the 80's and 90's The KB toys was the best.
I used to destroy their biscuits
This hurts my GenX, mall rat heart. So many memories, starting with getting my back to school sneakers at stride rite across from Ed's aquarium store. As a teen I took NJT #73, hung out with friends, and worked at Kinney's shoes 1986-89. Took my own kiddos there, too. Thanks for the memories.
I also took the #73 from west orange to get there. i miss that place. used to go there all the time when i was a kid/teen. i live in NY now but i still pass by every so often. i watched a guy steal a ton of game boxes from EB games across from Sam Goody once. security was chasing him out the door and through the parking lot. the guy working at EB games (electronic boutique) told them they were just empty display boxes so it wasn't really a big deal. they used to have the games in the desk behind the counter. they also had their own shrink wrap machine to wrap the box once when you bought it.
I loved Ed's Aquarium as a kid. I remember the store front was cut out in the shape of a fish. It was always so dark in there, and they had a snapping turtle in a pool. Very great memories!
You look familiar.
Grew up in West Orange. Remember Bambergers. Remember seeing the Apple Lisa in their computer department. Spent many, many evenings here from mid-80s to 93 or so. The arcade, the comic book store Hero's World. Sbarros and Roy Rogers. Spencers Gifts and Hong Kong Imports. Alwick Records and Sam Goody. B. Dalton.
Grew up in livingston from the early 70’s until the late 80’s. Worked in several stores in my teen years. Those that live in Livingston or surrounding areas (western Essex county) go to Short Hills Mall or Willowbrook Mall now.
The exteriors of the main anchors are all more or less original as you surmised. The interior of the mall is virtually unrecognizable to anyone who only remembers this place in it's original form. The original interior had a mid century modern look when it first opened. There were several fountains, the payphones were very cool circular stainless steel mushroom pods, and there were all sorts of interesting metal sculptures and tropical plants throughout the mall. The atrium elevators weren't there. My favorite store was a tropical fish store, I think it was called Ed's Aquarium. It was located near the entrance adjacent to Sears and had a great stone cave like facade that fascinated me when I was little.
Those metal whale tail sculptures are on display at a park in Livingston. I think it may be called, Rikers art park. It’s a pretty weird place too.
I remember all that stuff also! I used to love that aquarium store also, with the cool cave. I had to go in there every time I went to the mall. We are probably around the same age because I remember everything you mentioned. About to hit 59. I don't know which is sadder. The mall or my age!
@@larissatom6910
Yes, Riker Hill Art Park...off Beaufort Ave.
I haven't been inside the Livingston Mall since probably 1995 but this is still hard to believe. It was the place to be as a middle schooler and high schooler from 1982-1988. Sam Goody, Hot Sam, Nathan's, Hermann's, Wicks and Sticks, Jeans Country, Quails, Kaybee Toys, that Burger King, the fish place, Spencer's, Hong Kong gifts and on and on. I rented my tuxes for proms, shopped every Christmas. It was always packed with a huge energy level, with tons of teenage drama.
Things change though, and the online economy has killed malls like this. You need the high end presence of a place like the Mall at Short Hills to make it. Now it's all just memories.
I wish I had been alive to see a mall in the 80s. I was a baby in the 90s so I don't even remember what a mall was like then. Seeing them now is depressing.
I used to take the public bus to this mall when I was in high school to visit their awesome arcade in the 90s. It was still thriving back then. Most malls in NJ don't die out because of the condensed population there so I am shocked this one has.
This is a very attractive mall. Unfortunately, the number of mall retailers continues to decrease as more and more companies go under making it extremely difficult to fill these very large malls unless they get creative. They, of course, can go in the other direction and fill spaces with local stores which are most often the kind that actually detract from the attractiveness of the malls.
In this case there's actually a really nice high end mall down the road Short Hills Mall, that does very well and is busy. In NNJ we have 3-4 very large malls that are well supported
Kohan is the death of a mall...sucks the remaining life out then sells the property to an Amazon or similar....
Ya gotta wonder how these places cover their rent every month.
They don’t probably squatting
That was my mall back in the 70s and 80s. Still go there today but it isn't the same.
We lived in Livingston when the Mall was proposed and built circa early 1960. The residents of Livingston were very much against a mall in our town, but the powers that be pushed it through. It was a nice shopping area with some fairly high end stores. Probably the building of Short Hills Mall, with easy access to Rt. 24, took a lot of traffic away from Livingston Mall. This is so sad to watch.
I recall when it was only a huge field with a flock of sheep, owned by Mr. Blanchard from Short Hills, grazing on it.
word from locals, AC hasn't worked in weeks and there were multiple heat waves
The mall owners usually don’t allow stores to close until the end of the day. Went to pick up eyeglasses at 10 AM. The pretzel guy looked sad, Chinese food was empty, Cinnabon, Starbucks and Dunkin’ were busy, Pizza was empty, but all had their doors open.
Thanks for documenting this one. I used to go there as a kid and I still remember that ugly silver sculpture. I haven't seen the mall in so many years it looks entirely unrecognizable to me. It is deffinately dead! Deadingston Mall is right lol! I'm going to head over there some time soon to see it myself. I don't have high hopes for it's lifespan.
This is the current status of most Malls it seems today. Hamilton Mall in Mays Landing, NJ seems to be in the same state of decline. The last time I went there to return something to American Eagle (now no longer there) that my wife bought online I walked the Mall and there were approximately 35 Empty Store Fronts. Such a shame from what these Malls used to be like. You mentioned Monmouth Mall (I grew up going to that Mall when it was an open space and then when they enclosed the space to a three tier Mall) and now they are in the process of destroying the expansion part to make it an Open Mall once again. I believe the Internet has ruined the Mall as well as a ton of brick and mortar stores plus, as you call it, "the thing" put stores in their grave. The Mall used to be an experience in going which we will never see again and what has been ruined by the so-called advances of society.
I worked at Livingston Mall way back in the early 80's- 85 to 87 at Sears. My neighbor across the street helped build the Mall. He was a mason and he told me he spent 15 months laying brick for the mall.
I started working at Sears in 1978 and then in 1980 worked mall security, what a great job that was, lots of excitement and fun as well. Met some beautiful girls and got to eat free at Nathan's.
Barnes n Nobles probably draws the highest income out of any store in that mall. Every single time I've gone to that Macy's, somebody is actively stealing something out of there. A manager was in front of our family before when it happened and said over $1m in merchandise is stolen from that store alone every year.
Too many people from Newark.
@workingrich8464 finally someone points out one of the reasons this mall is in death spiral.
This mall was dead in the 90s I grew up near it and we would drive 20 minutes to the Willowbrook mall in Wayne
When I drive by, there are, maybe 100 cars in the parking lot. The Short Hills Mark, about 2 miles away, is almost always with a full parking lot.
I could see this mall becoming townhouses or condominiums. The parking lot is HUGE.
I can’t recall the last time I went into the Livingston Mall. I think it was in 2016 before L&T closed. I grabbed lunch with a friend in the food court who was working at the mall. Burger King was still open.
I hung out a lot here in the 2000s as a teenager because this mall was the easiest to get to, but it was struggling even then. Short Hills and Willowbrook were more popular.
In the food court, there used to be an amazing italian place there at 14:54. They closed last year unfortunately. And believe me when I say that devastated me. And it was only there for about a year. They had the most amazing made to order food. Fresh, and fast. I used to order delicious ham & cheese calzones from there. And the portions they gave you were HUGE. The calzone was so big, and they would give you a drinking cup full of sauce. I would eat half for lunch, and save the other half for dinner, it was that big. And it was only $8. Any other place would charge $20-$25 for a calzone that large. I would get spaghetti and meatballs, and it was enough to feed 5 people. The meatballs were huge. They were the size of tennis balls. For only $7. They had this delicious eggplant parm, and they would give 9-10 eggplant pieces each time. For only $8. Now sadly, I think the true reason they gave you so much food, wasn't because they were incredibly generous. But because they were struggling, and had to use the food or throw it away. Seeing as how they're closed, that's most likely the reason. And despite the amazing price and high quality food, there was never a line there. Which I'm not complaining about. But for a place like that, there should be no less than 5 people on line at any given time.
I think the wing with the T-Mobile used to have a Nathans Hot Dog and an Everything Yogurt. Worked at EY when I was in High School. Right outside the Sears, lower level, was my first job at Kay Bee Toy Store. When did they install the elevator? Wasn't there 'in my day'. We didn't have a Food Court either. There was a Roy Rogers up there though. I'm pretty sure there was a Kohr's Brothers too. Late 80s, early 90s there wasn't carpeting either. Models was a Hermans. There was a 3rd floor of Sears. Photo studio and kids clothes were up there if I remember correctly. Also worked at the Pet Store that was by the mall entrance next to the lower entrance of Sears. Got my pet bird there. She was with me for over 23 years. I practically grew up at this mall. Worked at 3 different locations in the mall. Thank you so much for the 'walk down memory lane'. I made comments as I watched the video so I hope you can follow it.
Tom, we enjoy your videos. These mall tours are fascinating! Did your dentist appreciate the the Skittles encounter? Ouch!
I was the manager of the FYE that use to be on the second floor. They originally opened my store, because they thought it would be the same as Short Hills. Obviously Corp did NOT do the research. We signed a 5 year, Was a disaster.
When did they originally open the store there? I always saw the issue of Livingston Mall was just terrible location. It definitely hurt once e-commerce blew up, and when Jersey Gardens siphoned a lot of business from the Newark area.
I worked at Hahnes at the location. I left in 85. I think it closed in 87 or 88 before it became Lord and Taylor
Used to be a sports memorabilia store upstairs by the escalator. LOVED that spot as a kid in early to mid 90’s . Spencers was the store to go to in my teens
I'm surprised no one has mentioned the "whale tail" sculpture! I couldn't count how many times I was in that mall when I was younger. KB Toys, the arcade (was it called Space Port?), Roy Rodgers, etc. Not to mention doing all of our back to school shopping there.
The Whale's Tails were so cool. I believe they still exist in South Mountain reservation
The arcade was "Time Out" where I dominated the dragon's Lair machine
We lived in Livingston for 39 years until we downsized to Roseland just 4 miles away. We were literally around the corner from the mall on Hillside Ave. We spent countless hours shopping there through the years. Christmas was my favorite time to shop. Picking out perfume and cosmetics for my wife at Lord & Taylor, clothes at Macy’s and Sears. Now I only visit to go to the collectibles store, which is awesome. I thought about renting space there, but I fear it will close soon as the entire mall is doomed. Your video was both memory-invoking and depressing at the same time. I heard they haven’t even bothered to fix the air conditioning this summer. Everything ends sometime, but this is a sad ending. It is truly the Dyingston Mall.
Heartbreaking. I used to love Ed's Tropical Aquarium where you would enter through a fish cut in the front. Even Uncle Floyd made a parody of it.
I worked in the mall at Spencer Gifts from 1981-1984 in different positions. I LOVED THAT MALL
Wasn't Spencer's the head shop with the UV lights and glowing posters? I worked at the Exxon station on the corner there. We were constantly at the mall jump starting cars or towing them out for repairs. It was always busy there.
@@scrappy7571You might be thinking of the Hong Kong (head) shop.
EB Games rules!! I worked there when we had two stores in the same mall. We helped bring MtG to the store and even ran a tournament. Something the chain now called Gamestop should continue doing. Good times in them days. Miss after hours game night too!
My boyfriend in the early 90s worked in their Wearhouse where I went to college in West Chester, PA!
The mall has deteriorated a lot in the last year; many more stores have closed. I also enjoy how many of the remaining stores are not chains but strange one-offs.
The other thing about this mall is how large the parking lot is. Even 20 years ago it would fill up especially around the holidays; now it's so empty the utility company uses it to store cables, trucks and equipment. I know some of the discussions around redevelopment involve converting some of the empty parking lot space to housing, office space, or other retail.
Also worth noting the Sears was used as a COVID vaccination center in 2021 for around 6 months. Nice open space so they could provide distancing as people got their vaccines.
When I was in college (1989 or so), there was an Alwilk Records (local chain) store where the FYE used to be. I saw Alice Cooper doing an in-store event there.
We still go to LensCrafters here but there's little else for us here. Even the food court has little appeal. There also used to be a Roy Rogers at least but it's gone. Even the Macys which is probably the most viable store here is not particularly good.
It was a great mall when it opened in the mid 70s , when they made the food court it took away a lot of store areas and push out a lot of restaurants and fast food places, it's a shame how corporations destroy all these malls ..
Crazy how dead it is compared to Willowbrook Mall which isn't that far from it.
That’s true,and Willowbrook had a bit of a slow time. Let’s not forget that Short Hills mall is not that far from Livingston either
Simon really made all their malls look exactly the same, looks so much like the Rockaway Mall which is putting up a fight but is on its way to dead mall status.
Rockaway is barely holding on it's funny that the outside stores around the perimeter are doing better than the mall itself
I have gone to this since it opened. It used to be the go-to mall! It was always crowded, plus it was the only mall around at the time. It used to have water fountains ⛲️ all along the main corridor, but they got rid of them a very long time ago. It had a lot of theft problems, I won't say why, but you can figure that out. Haven't been there in over a decade because I no longer live in that area. It still sadens me, though.
very sad to see Livingston Mall.... I used to live in Livingston with my family for 20 years. And My sister worked at Sears there in around 1975. I have been there many times!!! I miss Livingston Mall my heart breaks.......
I graduated high school in the mid-70's, and this was the place to go hang out!
I live in NJ and I can say I've been to this mall like once or twice. It's sad what lazy people have done to malls. Stop buying from Amazon!!!!
I'm surprised you don't have like 50k or 100k
I worked at Gap kids in Livingston Mall when I was 18 yrs old (my first job). Occasionally, I use to grab a lunch at Roy Roger’s on the 2nd floor. I see a lot has changed in 23 yrs.
This mall is now owned by a hospital which will begin to tear things down in 2025. If you drive through the parking lot be careful of the pot holes. Unfortunately this mall was too far from large routes which would allow more people from other counties to travel to. Barnes and Nobles is the only store that I would visit and they seem to maintain stock pretty well and avoid the food court.
Back in the mid 80s and 90s, this Mall used to be our hangout spot on Saturdays..... Short Hills Mall was always known as the rich people Mall growing up .... we could catch the 70 bus to Livingston Mall and hangout for hours ...... the good old days
One guess most of those stores are out of business.. hood critters. Car jacking, robberies, massive thefts in groups, vehicles constantly broken into.
What? This mall never had those problem. And plus why would they do that when just 15 mins away are rich people parking they’re Porsches and Range Rovers to go shop at the Gucci store at Short Hills?
That salon used to be “Professional Hair” and my hair cut there from the 70’s until the 2000’s when they moved to a location in the center of town.
I spent many hours looking through their books as a kid while my mom got her hair cut there 😂
I think Crosstown Traffic was across the corridor back in the late 70s.
I had my hair cut at Profesional by a guy named Jimmy. Always did a great job.
I migrated over to Crosstown and the "stylist" I settled on still cuts my hair to this day.
I actually have pictures of this complete mall under construction in the late 1960s. The mall was opened in 1972, however, Bamburgers and a few other stores first opened in the late 1960s. I just walked through this mall several months ago. The mall is going to stay open as of now.
This used to be🎉 my favorite mall when i was a kid back in the 90s
It’s deteriorated even more with the elevators and escalators in the mall not working and the air conditioning breaking and not being repaired for weeks. The upper level is stifling with roaches everywhere and stores refusing to open in those conditions. The pianos are left out.
Depressingly sad. Miss Lord. &!Taylor & many anchor stores.
I go waaayyy back to the mid 70's. The stores I remember other than Sears, Bambergers, and Haynes, there was Kay Bee Toy and Hobby, Sam Goodies Record Shop and Music Center, Herman's Sporting Goods, a Tropical Fish Store, Pet Pouri, Spencers, and my favorite store of all time: Heros World. The eateries were Burger King, Roy Roger's, and a large Nathan's that sold everything. Sooo many memories. I miss my childhood
So sad to see my first mall ever like this. It has been in decline well before 2020. My parents used to take me and my siblings here on the weekends every few weeks via bus in the 90s. It was a long ride from Orange and the bus used to stop all the way out by the street instead of pulling into the mall parking lot in those days. I have so many fond memories here from the Roy Rogers, to my father getting his tires rotated at Sears and buying kitchen appliances, to taking the bus down from Drew while in college to get cheap clothes at H&M. I remember when they added the food court, when Barnes & Noble opened, and how I joked that one day I would be able to go back to Lord & Taylor and afford something. I remember my middle school band performing and high school choir singing during the Holidays in the middle rotunda near the elevator. So many memories. 😢