Retroguy 76's blog

 Moving on my next stop to do a post is one the huge Bridgewater Commons Mall. The only mall In Somerset County, NJ But its doing very well  History of the Bridgewater Commons Mall  In the mid 1980's, a mall was proposed for Bridgewater Township and was slated to open in 1988 which was the Commons. A Hahne's, Stern's and Macy's not sure if Bamberger's were in the plans because of Macy's retiring the brand in 1986, but these were the original anchors planned for the shopping center when it opened in February. In 1989, A anchor change happened as Newark based Hahne's was phased out by its parent company May Dept stores as Lord and Taylor would move in. The next anchor change wouldn't take place till 2001 when Stern's was retired by Macy's. In 2002, Bloomingdale's would open in the Stern's location. Lord & Taylor would shutter for good in 2020 after the chain announced it was going out of business. Bridgewater Commons also has a lifestyl...

 In modern 2025 when you are driving on the highway, you'll commonly see a Target or Walmart. In the last 30 years, both stores expanded big into NJ while stores like Caldor and Bradlees were running out of time and would shutter its operations leaving both Target and Walmart to expand everywhere.                            Bradlees was a chain that operated in the New England area back in the late 1950's and expanded up and down the eastern part of the US. The chain did a huge expansion in NJ after Two Guys went out of business in the early 1980's. The chain would suffer its woes in the late 1990's. They would go out of business in 2001.               Another New England area chain that opened in the 1950's by a married couple a huge success story of Carl and Dorothy Bennett's effort which was Caldor. The chain thrived through the decades even being a part of the May department...

 The Seaview Square Mall had a very short life. what ended this mall after a 20 plus year span. Did nearby Monmouth Mall kill the business or did the new Freehold Raceway Mall end the business at Seaview. I believe Freehold def played a factor with fresh new stores and anchors is what made this mall demise in such a short span. Seaview Square Mall opened in 1977 as the original anchors were Sears and Steinbach which moved over from its flagship in nearby Asbury Park also a Acme supermarket and General Cinemas 2 screen theatre was added near the malls entrance off rt 66. Stern's was added in 1979. The malls only anchor change was Steinbach closing in 1995 and replaced with a Value City in 1996. Stern's in the late 90's was turned into a 1/2 clearance center after Stern's took over the A&S at nearby Monmouth Mall. By the mid 1990's Seaview was a dead mall just a few stores left time was running out on this shopping center and was demolished at the end of 2000 with...