![]() All of that led to skepticism about the project’s future. Many questioned whether New Jersey, already overstored with retail, needed another mall and whether the affluent would drive to American Dream when they could also shop luxury at the Mall at Short Hills in New Jersey, or in Manhattan. We know being in such close proximity to one of the state’s most densely populated Asian communities is a major opportunity and are meeting that demand with stores and experiences that will resonate them,” Ghermezian said.Īmerican Dream’s “Main Street” wing for moderate-priced retail houses Zara, Uniqlo, H&M, Aritzia, Primark, and America’s only freestanding Toys ‘R’ Us, among other stores. “We have a large Asian clientele that live in Bergen County and New York City. Overall, “American Dream is roughly 85 percent fully leased and by the end of 2023, the center will be north of 95 percent fully leased.”Įlsewhere in the mall, H Mart, the Korean grocery chain, will open a 35,000-square-foot store that will include an Asian food hall in late February or early March. “He personally visited with his team and shared his amazement at what we created,” contended Ghermezian.Īdditionally, Canada Goose and Watches of Switzerland (which will include a Rolex shop-in-shop) will open stores in The Avenue in late summer or fall.Īccording to Ghermezian, the 300,000-square-foot luxury wing, which also houses a 100,000-square-foot Saks Fifth Avenue, an 8,000-square-foot Hermès, as well as Dolce & Gabbana, Mulberry, and Carpaccio, an Italian restaurant from Bal Harbour, Florida, is about 70 percent leased. But to keep the financial sharks at bay it needs to reel in more retail tenants and restaurants, and demonstrate that it can draw a steady stream of shoppers with money to spend.François-Henri Pinault, the chairman and CEO of Kering, visited American Dream in late 2021. When the sharks first arrived in the tank, Weddle said, the staff studied their eating habits and tracked when and how much they ate and learned how much food they needed to prevent them from taking a bite out of another inhabitant of the tank.Īmerican Dream has satisfied its creditors for now. ![]() How does Sea Life keep them from eating the other exhibits? “We keep them well fed,” explained Rich Weedle, curator of the aquarium. In the Sea Life aquarium at American Dream there is a 186,000 gallon ocean tank where nine sharks circle constantly, along with ocean fish who normally would be their prey. A number of restaurants are being advertised in the mall and on its website as “coming soon” or “opening Fall 2021,” but as of now, food-court-style quick meals are the only dining options.īack in March, the creditors who were described as circling American Dream, reportedly worked out a deal that gave them a 49% stake in the future profits of Triple Five’s other megamalls, The Mall of America, and West Edmonton Mall, which had been used as collateral for American Dream construction loans. ![]() The mall also has yet to open any of the full-service, upscale restaurants Triple Five promised would be part of the American Dream experience. But with international tourism unlikely to return to pre-pandemic levels any time soon, American Dream needs to give New York metro area residents reasons to make repeat visits, and to shop at its retail tenants.Ĭurrently only 130 stores are open at the center, far below the 400-plus stores in the original proposal. The aquarium and Legoland Discovery Center are opening at a time when masking and other Covid restrictions are being lifted in New Jersey and around the country, and as shoppers are returning to malls in encouraging numbers.Īmerican Dream’s developer, Triple Five, envisioned the mall, when in 2011 it first unveiled plans for a 3-million square-foot entertainment and retail complex, as a magnet for international tourists. New Jersey, cuts the ribbon at the grand opening ceremony, with American Dream Chief Operating Officer Nicole Mozeliak. ![]() general manager of the New Jersey Sea Life Aquarium and Legoland Discovery Center. ![]()
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