New Jersey’s gigantic American Dream mall is illegally open on Sundays, according to a lawsuit.
Paramus officials filed a lawsuit Monday against the owners of the East Rutherford shopping center for violating Bergen County’s “Blue Laws.”
Nearly every store in Bergen County is closed to shoppers on Sundays, while essential businesses such as supermarkets, gas stations, restaurants and pharmacies are allowed to operate. Every other county in the state ditched Sunday shopping bans after a 1959 law change.
The suit claims that the mall advertises that it’s open on Sundays, including messages on electronic billboards outside the mall and “All Stores Open Sundays” messaging on its website.
“Businesses… with the encouragement and support of the mall’s ownership… have violated the law hundreds if not thousands of times since January of this year,” the complaint says.
The mall, the second largest retail and entertainment complex in the nation, opened in 2019 but started operating on Sundays last year.
Paramus is also suing the county, the borough of East Rutherford, and the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, which owns and leases property to the mall.
“It is well established that Bergen County’s Blue Laws do not apply to property owned by the state — American Dream is on state property where retail sales have occurred on Sundays for decades. We look forward to our day in court,” a spokesperson for the mall said.
The lawsuit wants the court to declare the mall a public nuisance and asks it to impose fines for each offense.
American Dream has 120 retail stores.
