So I went out to do some holiday shopping today and chose to make a stop at the Livingston Mall today out of curiosity of its condition. I was last here about a year ago where it was rundown but still had a fair amount of hobby shops and you’re other typical mall outlet stores, though very much not the same as it was about a decade ago when I went here regularly as a kid. My visit today was essentially like walking inside a coffin. I felt it was near dead last year and now it pretty much is dead. Of the many hobby shops they had, only one remained next to the Macy’s that’s still open. All of the typical mall outlets were gone except for Lids and this other store selling all their clothes for $5 a piece. Macy’s and Barnes & Noble are the only stores left that are in somewhat good condition. The Barnes & Noble was actually nice to walk around in and seemed like any other one I’ve been to while the Macy’s seemed up to date but pretty empty in terms of customers. Outside of that, it’s essentially all gone on the inside. The lights were turning on and off above, the food court had no food, and most retail spaces were locked up and barren. Even the Lids I went to closed right after I left at around 4:30 despite their hours being until 7 (the nice gentlemen working there said it was due to safety concerns). Overall, the Livingston Mall is basically an open coffin waiting to be shut. It’s basically been dying for the past decade, with COVID giving it a giant stab to the stomach and its been bleeding out since. It’s sad cause I loved the more “blue collar“ and youthful vibe to it compared to the insanely expensive Mall at Short Hills down the road (which is still as busy as ever). Hopefully something happens here soon to revitalize the area. It’s probably hard cause the Barnes & Noble likely functions fine and the Macy’s clearly has some use for the company outside of being a storefront (I think this location is used as extra storage). Just wanted to share my experience here today as it’s just sad seeing these places once full of life and commerce be completely devoid of life.
Pic 5: I love how they blocked out the Simon branding
Dang, I’m fairly certain this is the mall I went on a date with my ex while visiting North Jersey in 2021. We went to a mall with a Barnes and Noble. It was thriving then but it was also around the holidays. Weird memory
🎶 Livingston Mall in Essex County, a two-level heaven of shopping! 🎶
Might as well knock everything down but the Barnes and Noble.
if macys closes with the mall i highly doubt barnes and noble will stay. i only see em staying if macys is still there after the mall is demolished
Macy's is slated to close there, could come when the next closures are announced (possibly next month).
I thought it was supposed to close when the first list of closures were announced, but to my surprise it remained opened. How do you know it’s going to close soon?
There is no credible information that its closing. It’s all the fanboys who claim they have insider info.
Employees and people with insider knowledge on r/MacysStores . The one at Hamilton Mall in Mays Landing will also be closing too.
Which will then leave just the Barnes & Noble, and there's no way that kind of store can support a mall all by itself. This might be Livingston's last holiday season, sadly. :(
Wait IS THE POPEYES AND ASIAN eaterie at the food court open?! Please don’t tell me they both left
Nothing was open in the food court so I’d assume it’s all gone
Even pop eyes? I think master wok is gone
It still says open on Popeye's website for now: https://www.popeyes.com/restaurants/restaurant_84045
😭😭😭
They have weird hours, but it’s the only thing open basically
I’m doing this one for my next series of souvenir tees. There’s some truly amazing corporate delusion there still.
Pls do
Can you elaborate on the corporate delusion? Genuinely curious.
The ad copy, basically! I love digging into archives and finding outdated flyers and taglines for these dead and dying malls. I’ll come back to this q when I’m at my desk at work ;) I have examples (you can also look at my post history to see the art I’ve made.)
They should at least convert it into an oper air complex mall, like they are doing with Monmouth Mall. Just to keep Barnes and Noble and Macy’s open (though I doubt Macy’s will want to carry on, especially with the Short Hills locations just nearby).
my take: demolish the whole mall besides barnes & noble and macys and turn it into a outdoor single story outlet mall with a new AMC that will be relocating from the old east hanover mall location. i wondered why this mall died because it looks so nice but then I remember there’s a way better mall like about 10 minutes away (short hills)
I noticed that a few stores in Livingston Mall were converted into outlets before they closed. The problem with turning it into outlets is that the Mills at Jersey Gardens dominates in that business.
THAT WAS MY VISION FOR A LONG TIME^
Like an open air market or an outlet mall would be a better match for something between the high end Short Hills and the nicer and middle class Rockaway and Willowbrook.
I haven't seen those rentable carts for the kids in a long time. But I don't go to malls often these days!
Edit: I also can't imagine the quality of those clothes if they are able to sell them at $5. 😲
It’s not true that the food court is empty. Popeye’s opens everyday as does the Chinese place.