Here’s the scoop: American Dream Mall in East Rutherford, New Jersey—a mega-mall packed with theme parks, ski slopes, restaurants, and fashion boutiques—may be living up to its name, but it’s definitely not living up to its promises. The mall, once adamant about honoring Bergen County’s ancient blue laws that prohibit selling nonessential goods on Sundays, recently threw tradition—and possibly ethics—to the wind by opening many of its clothing and furniture stores on that hallowed day. A lawsuit by nearby Paramus officials argues this isn’t just a technical violation—it’s a full-blown betrayal of an on-the-record vow to comply.
The blue laws here aren’t some quaint relic—they’re demanding, century-old edicts that still keep most retail snoozing on Sundays, ostensibly giving residents a reprieve from perpetual mall-induced traffic chaos. And while the mall may argue it’s immune because it sits on state-owned land, Paramus officials say that’s a flimsy loophole. Especially considering the mall explicitly promised otherwise when it opened in 2019.
This isn’t small-time naughtiness—a full dozen malls in neighboring Paramus play by strict Sunday shutdown rules, which leaves American Dream looking like the exception that tried to become the rule. The lawsuit even seeks fines for every day the mall’s retailers stayed open, which officials characterize as a blatant case of unfair advantage.
Meanwhile, jaws have dropped at just how flagrantly the mall seems to thumb its nose at the rules. It’s one thing for sports fans to buy a jersey at MetLife Stadium on a Sunday, but quite another when a retail complex decides to ignore the very laws it promised to honor. Local officials have even reached out to the state Attorney General’s office seeking clarification—but so far, silence.
For Sunday shoppers, this is paradise—a legal loophole enabling retail therapy, indoor skiing, and surf rides all in one trip. For those who hold to tradition, it’s an affront—and not a particularly charming one.
So here’s the takeaway: American Dream Mall may be your go-to destination for adrenaline-infused retail, but first it broke a promise, then it broke blue laws, and now it’s trying not to break under a lawsuit. If this saga shows us anything, it’s that nostalgia might be in—they still close on Sunday—but hypocrisy is apparently alive and well.
