Newport Centre Mall

Newport Centre Mall is a shopping mall in Jersey City, New Jersey that opened in 1987. One of eleven shopping malls in New Jersey managed by Simon Property Group, Inc., it is located at 30 Mall Drive West, and is bound by Luis Muñoz Marín Boulevard on the west, Mall Drive East on the east, 6th Street on the south, and Newport Parkway on the north. The mall has a gross leasable area of convert|1149147|sqft|m2|abbr=on. [ [http://www.icsc.org/apps/dmmdisp.php?dispid=NJ0247 Newport Centre Mall] , International Council of Shopping Centers. Accessed September 21, 2006.] The one-million plus square-foot super-regional mall is the first of its size in Hudson County. There are three floors to the mall complex, which houses a number of stores, including anchor stores JCPenney, Kohl's , Macy's and Sears. The top floor has a food court and an AMC Theatres. The mall is a part of the Newport Complex, which includes the Newport Tower, the third tallest building in Jersey City. Both it and the Hudson Mall are in an "Urban Enterprise Zone," reducing the state sales tax on purchases from 7% to 3.5% (with no sales tax on clothing).

Payment is required to park in the mall garage. The mall is easily reachable via the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail and PATH systems, and is terminus point for jitney buses that travel there from the Northern New Jersey towns of Guttenberg, North Bergen, West New York and Union City.

History

The mall was first in planning stages in 1984. The mall was originally going to have anchors Hahne's (current JCPenney), Stern's (was Macy*s, now Kohl's), and Sears. Once Hahne's started to hit rock bottom, JCPenney was planned instead. In 1989, Filene's Basement opened downstairs, as a mall expansion. In 2000, the Filene's Basement was converted into Pay/Half. In 2001, Stern's was bought out by Macy's, Inc. The Stern's was converted into a Macy*s store. The mall was originally planning on building the current Macy*s, instead of using the converted store. Rumors speculated that Bloomingdale's was going to take over the vacant spot that was left when the new Macy*s was open. The building was a small store called Fashion Liquidators for 3 months in 2005. Then in November 2005, the mall announced plans to add more upscale elements to the mall. It was announced that Kohl's would occupy the old Stern's/Macy's building. The mall also announced the openings of several new, upscale retailers. Kohl's opened in October 2006. In 2007, the mall celebrated its 20th Anniversary. Since then, the mall has been heavily renovated with new flooring, new paint, new lighting structures, new scenery, and new upscale stores Armani Exchange, a new Bath & Body Works, Bebe Sport, Brookstone, Carol's Daughter, Coach, Hollister, Swarovski, and Sephora, The mall also celebrated 20 years by having performances by Deborah Gibson and Cheyenne Kimball.

In Popular Culture

* The Newport Centre Mall is used for the exterior shots of the mall in the classic Seinfeld episode The Parking Garage and was the inspiration for the unnamed mall in this episode.

* The mall is shown in a COPS episode filmed in Jersey City, where a man is arrested in a BJ's Wholesale Club store which is close to the mall.

Coming Soon

*Abercrombie & Fitch is rumored to open in 2009.

Now Open

*Godiva Chocolatier has opened where Whitehall Jewelers was located. Whitehall has moved near Forever 21, upstairs.
*Armani Exchange has opened downstairs, near Sephora, and across from Zales.

Anchors

*JCPenney convert|180000|sqft|m2|abbr=on {Opened 1987}
*Kohl's convert|159642|sqft|m2|abbr=on {Opened 2006}
*Macy's convert|229889|sqft|m2|abbr=on {Opened 2002}
*Sears convert|192889|sqft|m2|abbr=on {Opened 1987}

Former Anchors

*Stern's later Macy*s from 2000-2002, then Fashion Liquidators for 3 months in 2005, now Kohl's.
*Filene's Basement later Pay/Half, closing in 2008
*Pay/Half closing in 2008
*Fashion Liquidators took up Stern's/Macy*s upper level, sold name brands, such as Fendi, at outlet prices

Other Major Stores

*American Eagle Outfitters convert|5620|sqft|m2|abbr=on
*Hollister Co. convert|6363|sqft|m2|abbr=on
*Victoria's Secret convert|10001|sqft|m2|abbr=on
*Charlotte Russe convert|6270|sqft|m2|abbr=on
*Express (includes Express Men) convert|9000|sqft|m2|abbr=on
*FYE convert|6829|sqft|m2|abbr=on
*Forever 21 convert|5215|sqft|m2|abbr=on
*The Gap Gap Men: convert|2901|sqft|m2|abbr=on Gap Women: convert|4487|sqft|m2|abbr=on Baby G
convert|1969|sqft|m2|abbr=on TOTAL: convert|9357|sqft|m2|abbr=on
*New York & Company convert|7010|sqft|m2|abbr=on

References

External links

* [http://www.simon.com/mall/default.aspx?ID=114 Newport Centre Mall official website]
* [http://www.icsc.org/apps/dmmdisp.php?dispid=NJ0247 Newport Centre Mall] , International Council of Shopping Centers