Willowbrook Mall In Wayne, NJ, Has Changed More Than Most People Think

Willowbrook Mall opens beside Route 46 in 1969

Willowbrook Mall opened on September 24, 1969, at 1400 Willowbrook Mall in Wayne, NJ. Developed by The Rouse Company, it rose at the meeting point of Routes 23 and 46 and Interstate 80.

Construction began in the mid-1960s when Bamberger's broke ground for a new store in 1966.

By September 1968, Ohrbach's was underway on a two-level, 100,000-square-foot location that would join Sears and Bamberger's as the core anchors.

The design created a climate-controlled shopping environment with department stores at each end and a central mall spine.

Early leases attracted national and regional chains, marking Passaic County's first enclosed regional shopping center and transforming retail access in the area.

A second wing arrives, and Stern's joins, 1970s

The first major change at Willowbrook Mall came quickly. On August 12, 1970, less than a year after the grand opening, a second phase was unveiled.

The project added 47 specialty stores across two levels and introduced Stern's as the newest anchor.

Shoppers moving through the enlarged complex now passed four department stores, with Stern's joining Sears, Bamberger's, and Ohrbach's to form a lineup that drew traffic from across northern New Jersey.

Big-name apparel retailers filled the newly built spaces, alongside household products, services, and fashion.

The layout of the expansion was built to slow shoppers down, easing them from the old concourse into the new.

At the center of the draw was Stern's, a multi-level department store whose wide range of merchandise made Willowbrook a natural stop for families week after week.

When Stern's opened, Willowbrook Mall briefly held the title of the largest enclosed shopping mall in the world, overtaking Garden State Plaza in size.

Entertainment also emerged during the decade. A cinema opened within the complex, screening first-run films and making the property a place to spend an entire evening.

At the same time, NJ Transit began routing buses directly into the site.

The new transit link made the mall accessible to commuters, embedding Willowbrook into the rhythm of daily travel.

Rebrands and replacements reset anchors, 1986–1997

The balance of department stores that had defined Willowbrook's early years began to change in the mid-1980s.

In the fall of 1986, Bamberger's switched to the Macy's name, part of a sweeping rebrand across New Jersey.

The store stayed in place but carried a different banner, instantly familiar to shoppers across the country.

Only a few months later, in early 1987, the two-level Ohrbach's was converted to Steinbach.

The new nameplate appeared on the outside walls, and merchandise shifted inside to reflect the chain's focus.

Yet, Steinbach stores struggled in the years that followed, and by the mid-1990s, the Willowbrook location had closed.

Developers looked to fill the vacant space with a retailer that would add strength to the mix.

Lord & Taylor was tapped for the box, and crews began expanding and remodeling the former Steinbach shell.

In the summer of 1997, the new Lord & Taylor opened its doors, adding an upscale department store to the mall alongside Macy's, Sears, and Stern's as the decade came to a close.

Stern's exits and Bloomingdale's opens, 2001–2002

Stern's had been part of Willowbrook Mall since the 1970 expansion, a department store that occupied two levels.

In 2001, that presence came to an end when Federated Department Stores decided to close the chain.

The familiar nameplate was taken down, and for the first time in decades, one of Willowbrook's anchors stood empty.

However, the replacement was announced quickly.

Federated planned to use the space for Bloomingdale's, a banner that already carried weight in the New York area. The transformation was extensive.

Contractors gutted the old Stern's interiors, installing new lighting, fresh flooring, and redesigned sales areas tailored to Bloomingdale's layout.

Exterior work gave the building a modern face, signaling that a very different store was on the way.

On April 11, 2002, Bloomingdale's opened its doors to shoppers in Willowbrook. With this addition, the mall entered the new decade.

A national luxury brand set down roots, and with it, the mall's reputation shifted across the region.

To align with its new anchor, the common spaces were refreshed, their brighter finishes carrying from the central walkways into the wider stretch of shops.

Renovation, new entertainment, and a theater, 2015–2019

By 2015, the mall was more than forty years old and showing its age. In June of that year, a $23 million renovation was announced to give Willowbrook a new look.

Over the next two years, contractors rebuilt the food court with open seating, replaced dated flooring, and installed modern ceilings and brighter entrances.

While these changes unfolded, a different kind of tenant arrived.

On February 14, 2018, Dave & Buster's opened on the upper level, filling a cavernous box with arcade games, dining, and private event rooms.

It brought an entertainment option that encouraged visitors to stay well past the usual shopping hours.

The following year, construction shifted to the site of the old Sears Auto Center.

Demolition cleared the way for a new movie theater, and on November 21, 2019, Cinemark Willowbrook Mall and XD opened with reclining seats and digital projection.

Just months earlier, Sears had announced that its department store would close after a fifty–year run.

By the end of 2019, Willowbrook's future leaned less on traditional anchors and more on experiences that kept people inside even as stores were disappearing.

Pandemic shakeup and a wholesale arrival, 2020–2022

In 2020, Willowbrook Mall lost another longtime name.

Lord & Taylor, which had opened in the former Steinbach space back in 1997, closed as the chain liquidated across the country.

One of the mall's prominent anchors sat dark, its entrances locked and display windows cleared.

A year later, the vacant store was put back into use.

In June 2021, Shopper's Find opened inside the box, filling the wide floorplates with racks of discounted clothing and home goods.

The concept was billed as temporary, and it never developed into a permanent anchor. By late November 2022, the store shut down, ending a short run of barely more than a year.

While one space went dark again, another brought new life to the property. On November 18, 2022, BJ's Wholesale Club opened at the former Sears in Willowbrook Mall.

Unlike the department stores it displaced, the new club anchor came with car bays and a gas station.

Its arrival marked a shift in how anchors worked at Willowbrook, adding a bulk warehouse operator to a mall once built entirely around fashion retail.

New anchor and energy storage pilot, 2024

In 2024, Willowbrook Mall gained a new department store anchor as JCPenney left its home at Wayne Towne Center and moved into the former Lord & Taylor box.

The store held a soft opening in mid-March, followed by a grand opening on April 5, 2024.

The relocation restored a full-line anchor to a space that had sat empty after multiple changes, giving the property a familiar national chain once again.

Other tenants joined the lineup that year. On June 29, 2024, Warby Parker opened a storefront with retail space and an in-house optometry service.

The eyewear brand added a new specialty to the mall's tenant mix, extending services beyond fashion and dining.

Willowbrook also became the test site for an unusual project.

On February 26, 2024, the mall was identified as the first in the United States to pilot Tesla's Megapack energy storage system.

The large batteries enabled the property to store electricity from its rooftop solar array, marking a shift toward infrastructure upgrades alongside new retail.

Financing, incident response, and fresh soft goods, 2025

By 2025, attention turned from new stores to financial stability. In February, Brookfield Properties secured a $360 million refinancing package for Willowbrook Mall.

The single-asset loan carried a fixed five-year term, providing the owner with long-term financing to support operations and improvements at the 1.5 million-square-foot mall.

That summer, the property faced a short disruption. On June 29, 2025, a small outlet fire near the food court forced an evacuation.

Shoppers were moved outside for about an hour while electricians repaired the wiring that caused the incident.

The mall reopened quickly, with the food court back in service the next day.

Alo Yoga held its grand opening weekend from August 22 to 24, 2025, introducing a new activewear brand with special events and promotions.

JD Sports opened its new store at Willowbrook Mall in September 2025, adding another national retailer to the center's lineup.

The combination of refinancing, quick recovery from a fire, and steady leasing showed how the mall entered the middle of the decade with both challenges and renewed activity.