This is so sad. This was my teenage stomping grounds. There used to be a Roy Rogers, arcade, Suncoadt video, and Electronics boutique, and I used to hit them all. I’m impressed with the amount of research you did for this video. Kudos!

The Livingston Mall may have officially died in 2020, but it was a long slow death starting in the early 2000s. Being so close to the Mall at Short Hills with such an affluent community, the Livingston Mall just couldn't compete.

I loved this mall so much. Growing up in the 80s and 90s I have so many memories going to the mall. I remember the small pizzeria that was by Sears, Alwalk(I think that was the name) Music, Sam Goody, Electronic Boutique (where I spent most of my time), getting multiple suits from Lord & Taylors, my brother having one of his first automotive jobs at the Sears, spending way too much time at the Burger King and the years and years and years of Christmas shopping memories. I miss the simpler times.

My father owned the Italian touch restaurant next to sears for 20 years. Remembering during Xmas we had to park in the parking lot and take a shuttle to the entrance. A slice and a coke $1.00 . Sold 400 pies one Saturday during the holidays. By the slice!

in 1972, my mother went into labor with me at the Livingston Mall. I visited there many times with my Grandmother many times in the 70s. I always loved going there

Crazy. I grew up in Livingston and went to the mall during my childhood. It's always been seen as lesser Short Hills Mall, but now it's just sad.

I worked at Livingston Mall in 1976/77 my favorite store was Sam Goodies, I also remember buying concert tickets at a stall. I worked across from the piano store

I miss Bambergers. My sisters would take me to the Morristown location. I loved Hahne's department store cause at Christmas they had a desk and stationery where you could write a letter to Santa and put it in their mailbox. There was a restaurant my sisters and I went to every Saturday but I can't remember the name of it. I still liked Willowbrook Mall better.

I remember the Livingston Mall from its heyday in the late 1970's and 1980's. Epstein's was a local department store with branches in Morristown and Somerville. Hahne's was acquired by Lord & Taylor. Bamberger's was owned by Macy's and the name was changed to Macy's in about 1986. The mall included GAP (when it was "The Gap"), Wilson's House of Suede, Carlin's (a local men's store), a Singer Sewing Center, Crosstown Traffic (a unisex salon), Kleinsleep (mattress store), Kid's Place, a number of shoe stores. Livingston Mall never had a food court and was about five miles from The Mall at Short Hills, a very upscale mall that attracts shoppers from Manhattan on weekends because New Jersey does not tax clothing and shoes.

I loved this mall. Grew up nearby. My first job was at the Sears. They had Ed's Tropical Fish, where you could see real sharks, a great game room, a gigantic Nathans, Sam Goody records, Herman's World of Sporting Goods, which became Modell's, and on and on. The Short Hills Mall is great, but if your kid needed a pair of pants on a moment's notice, you could get in there, buy something and go home in less time than it takes to get a parking space at the Short Hills Mall.

Great video! I'm guessing that all the upscale stores are happy at the nearby Short Hills Mall (originally Taubman, now owned by Simon). The Route 10 corridor in Livingston and East Hanover has several power/lifestyle centers and strip malls where people by their every day clothing, appliances, and hard goods. It's another case of the middle-most retailer getting squeezed out. Willowbrook Mall and Rockaway Townsquare Mall have been shifting toward restaurants and entertainment, but Rockaway needs more tenants for sure.

I live in one of the next-door towns, Short Hills. I still love the Livingston Mall. When I was a little kid in the early to mid 2000's (I was born in 2000), I used to get my hair cut in the mall as well as play in the play-place. There was a KB Toys and after that a mini Toy's R Us in the same place where Quails is (2:37) Hidden Treasures is an absolutely EPIC store. All of the workers are really nice and I know all of them. As well as Coach P's and the VHS store, although they sell collectables and not VHS tapes which is pretty funny. At 19:30 , that used to be an FYE which I found pretty devastating when it closed. It was the only close one to me and now it's a 30+ minute drive to go to another one. My parents and I also got our vaccinations in the old Sears. We shopped there all the time, as well as in Lord & Taylor. We actually still stop in at least once a month to check out the collectables stores as well as Barnes & Noble and Macy's. There used to be a Sbarro and a Nathans/Arthur Treachers in the food court. Across from the B&N there used to be an Applebees too. Auntie Annes and Cinnabon still rock! Even in the state that the mall is in, I still love it and I love going there. I really hope it lasts for a long time to come but it sadly doesn't seem like it.

I worked at Herman's World of Sport in 1993ish. Alwilk's music always had band record signings. Nathan's, Sam Goody. My dad worked a 2nd job at Carlin's at the bottom of the escalator on the Sears side. Benetton was there, the arcade...

How very depressing. I worked at this mall from 1978 to 1980 at the B. Dalton booksellers. I'm surprised to know it has been open this long.

I used to work at this mall from 2019-2021 at Skechers and even when I first arrived pre-pandemic it was on the decline. After the shutdown and eventual reopening it steadily got worse and worse until I left. I recently learned that my store closed in January of 2024, presumably after their lease expired, and I'm honestly not surprised of the current state of the mall but it's still sad to see a place that I once enjoyed working at and going to become what it has become. Whatever they do with it in the future I hope they finally do this area justice.

I passed by the Livingston Mall yesterday, and I was going to stop in to see what had become of the place. Based on this video, and the lack of cars in the lots...this once great mall is on life support. Biggest memories were the Nathans and Herman's World of Sporting Goods.

Wow who would have ever thought. Especially in a well-to-do community like Livingston NJ

I think the last time I was ever in this mall was 20 years ago. Even then the early signs of its fading out were showing. You should visit 'Paramus Park' Mall in Paramus, NJ. For sure it is a dead mall with very few stores left. By the way, with Garden State Plaza Mall, the separate former Best Buy and bank buildings are being torn down to add to parking that will be later lost in other development of apartments and various businesses on the mall property. The JC Penney store in Wayne has moved from the former West Belt Mall site to the former Lord & Taylor anchor store site in the nearby Willowbrook Mall. Before Lord & Taylor, it was (originally) Orbach's, then Steinbeck's a regional Dept. store, then Lord & Taylor and then some discount clearance store.

That was the spot in the 70's & 80's until we started venturing out to the mall in Wayne. IIRC Nathan's hot dogs was in the wing where Barnes & Noble is & GNC was across from it. The AT&T store was home phones & was over by Sears & there was an optometrist next to it. There was an arcade in the second wing where you were talking about the blacked out signs. Most of the active part of the mall was between Sears & the first escalator...Benneton, Banana Republic, Foot Locker, Aeropostal...most of the rest was 'flyover' stores until you got to Macy's. I think Spencer's was upstairs near Sears, seem to recall there being a Frederick's of Hollywood. Sears was definitely a mainstay...I remember the early years of ordering from the catalog & my parents driving up from Orange to pick up the order when it came in. That's where most of my school clothes came from up until high school or so. Toughskins jeans & twill pant & jacket sets. Whoooo...lotsa memories flooding back. Last time I was there was around 2008 or so (moved out of state in 1992).

In the 80s-90s, Livingston Mall always suffered a *little* for two, somewhat opposite reasons: being the closest mall to Newark and its struggling suburbs (at least until Jersey Gardens opened), and for being surrounded by towns where people are either genuinely rich or heavily invested in pretending they are. New Jersey in general and Essex County in particular are extremely segregated, and Livingston's diverse customer base gave it an undeserved stigma that never really went away, even as the first-wave white-flighters behind it died off or moved farther out. If it were a bigger mall (Willowbrook), or in a more strategic location (Quakerbridge), or had anything to make it stand out, that might not have mattered, but it did. When malls in Livingston's position do survive, it is because they are able to pull off a deliberate upscale shift on top of being well positiomed for expansion. (Columbia Mall in MD is a great example of that.) With Short Hills so close by, that wasn't an option. I'm honestly surprised Livingston took this long to die off, but sad that it did all the same.

I was there yesterday because I was in the area and every once and while I like to check up on this mall and see how it's doing. The majority of the stores were closed because the mall's AC wasn't working and the weather was in the 90's so it was hot and stuffy throughout the mall. The Hot Topic was still open and it was very hot in there. I was shocked that the employees were even working in that heat with just a single fan. They understandably closed early not too much later. The Macy's was open and had better air conditioning though it was pretty empty for a Macy's of all places. This isn't the first time that the AC has had problems. My mom went there last year in the summer and the AC wasn't working then either and most of the stores were also closed. Additionally, all the escalators were out of order the elevator was also still out of order. I feel like who or whatever owns this mall is just letting it die at this point. Every time I go, it just seems to get worse. I'll admit, it is fascinating to see the decline and at least the Barnes and Noble is still fun to look around in. Great video btw I subbed

I have gone to this since it opened. It used to be the go-to mall! It was always crowded, plus it was the only mall around at the time. It used to have water fountains ⛲️ all along the main corridor, but they got rid of them a very long time ago. It had a lot of theft problems, I won't say why, but you can figure that out. Haven't been there in over a decade because I no longer live in that area. It still sadens me, though.

In its heyday, the Livingston Mall was the place to be. I still go there to shop at Bath Body Works, which always seems pretty busy, probably one of the only busy stores left. If you want to see a thriving mall, go down the street a few miles to Short Hills. Around Christmas, you can't even park.

I was 16 in '87 when I landed my first job at Sbarro's(across from Nathan's). Met alot of girls and copped alot of Polo,Guess and Nautica from the boosters on the #70 bus...fun times

Growing up in Livingston, my mother took us to the Mall all the time. We loved it, just a great place to walk around, shop and meet friends. Honestly, I don't get why they're dying out the way they are, unless the rents are just way too high. Where I used to live in Bethlehem Twp, Pa, there is a good-sized, strip mall that has two great anchor stores and a lot of good, quality stores in between. The stores are always very busy, begging the question why the demise of indoor malls if an outdoor strip mall can do so well?

I loved that mall! I was there about 2 years ago and it was empty then! So sad.....

I used to take the public bus to this mall when I was in high school to visit their awesome arcade in the 90s. It was still thriving back then. Most malls in NJ don't die out because of the condensed population there so I am shocked this one has.

Thanks for this great video. I've lived 10 minutes away for 10 years and I've never set foot in the mall because it looks so depressing from the outside. I'm surprised they still have an H&M!

The heyday was definitely in the 80's for this mall. I remember as a kid it had far better stores (at least I thought) than short hills. Once short hills mall expanded... I feel that's when the short hills mall really took off. I remember the Roy Roger's at Livingston as well as the big fountains with colored lights as well as those big metal whale-like sculptures at Livingston. I haven't been there in a few years, but it looks so barren now. The collectible stores look like they're worth a visit. Thanks for the video!

I worked there at Herman's sporting goods around 73 - 74. The place was busy all the time. Short Hills Mall with all the real high end stores is only 2 miles away. That's what probably killed this place.

I’m surprised that this mall hadn’t closed sooner. It’s been struggling for years.

Great video on a local mall 20 minutes from my house. This was THE mall to go to when I was in high school. I did a video on those mall a couple months ago. It was so weird walking around in there after not being in there for so many years. The white marble anchor on your left was a Lord and Taylor. We were literally there a couple weeks ago doing my daily walk after my back surgery, and it looks more dead by the week. The only escalator that was working was in the Macy's and it was only the down escalator. I hope you went to go visit the upscale and very busy Short Hills mall. Big money stores in a big money town. Thanks again!!

Ugh I used to love Livingston mall. I would go here with my family on Sundays after church as a child

Once a piano is in its place, it is in its place for years. Each time a piano is moved it must get tuned and that is something that can take hours and the cost lot ton. So, those pianos are for show.

This hurts my GenX, mall rat heart. So many memories, starting with getting my back to school sneakers at stride rite across from Ed's aquarium store. As a teen I took NJT #73, hung out with friends, and worked at Kinney's shoes 1986-89. Took my own kiddos there, too. Thanks for the memories.

This is so sad. I can't believe they can't repurpose the mall into a vocational school, medical center annex, senior center, or something that the community could use. I was probably one of the first visitors back in 1972 because malls were the place to be back then! As you said, Hahne's was one of the anchor stores, and Bamberger's preceded Macy's. Sears was the 3rd major store. When Hahne's closed, Lord and Taylor replaced it. I believe M Epstein was a Short Hills Mall store (not Livingston Mall). There was a time when I knew the names of all of the mall stores, but as time marched on, so did the store names. I always looked forward to having lunch at a restaurant called "Lorries". I think this is how it's spelled. Anyone else remember this restaurant?

The exteriors of the main anchors are all more or less original as you surmised. The interior of the mall is virtually unrecognizable to anyone who only remembers this place in it's original form. The original interior had a mid century modern look when it first opened. There were several fountains, the payphones were very cool circular stainless steel mushroom pods, and there were all sorts of interesting metal sculptures and tropical plants throughout the mall. The atrium elevators weren't there. My favorite store was a tropical fish store, I think it was called Ed's Aquarium. It was located near the entrance adjacent to Sears and had a great stone cave like facade that fascinated me when I was little.

Man is crazy I grew up going to this place I had my teenage years where we hung out at the mall ! This was early 2000s I would have never thought this would be the malls future

Such malls looks like as the relics of ancient times of ancient empire

I was hoping you'd get around to this mall. I grew up in East Hanover, the neighboring town and I spent the better part of almost forty years going to the Livingston Mall. As a child in the late 1970s, that's where I'd get my Atari games and Star Wars toys, my picture taken with Santa, go Christmas shopping, get my back to school clothes or have lunch at Roy Roger's. As a teen in the '80s, that's where I'd go to the crappy arcade, buy records at Sam Goody's or magazines at B. Dalton. It was never the cool mall. It didn't have a Food Court or a movie theater, but back then it was close and convenient and really the only place to go. The only place to waste away a boring Sunday afternoon. Of course, as I got older and started driving, I went there less and less. By the late '90s, early '00 I probably only went there a handful of times. I have fond memories of this mall, though. I literally grew up there. It's sad to see it go.

I can’t recall the last time I went into the Livingston Mall. I think it was in 2016 before L&T closed. I grabbed lunch with a friend in the food court who was working at the mall. Burger King was still open. I hung out a lot here in the 2000s as a teenager because this mall was the easiest to get to, but it was struggling even then. Short Hills and Willowbrook were more popular.

When I drive by, there are, maybe 100 cars in the parking lot. The Short Hills Mark, about 2 miles away, is almost always with a full parking lot.

I opened a Zales Jewelers here in 1998 and it was the least productive store in my region of 18 locations from day one and remained an undesirable store for the seven years it remained in my region. Low sales, internal & external theft, and very dark in every aspect. I'm surprised the place still exists

Used to be a sports memorabilia store upstairs by the escalator. LOVED that spot as a kid in early to mid 90’s . Spencers was the store to go to in my teens

Been there many times, also worked in the Macys for 2 yrs. I remember KB toys, The Gap, Sam Goody, Foot Locker, Electronics Boutique, Burger King as a walk-in place not a food court kiosk.

After they got rid of the Roy Rogers there was no point in going to that mall!

Grew up in West Orange. Remember Bambergers. Remember seeing the Apple Lisa in their computer department. Spent many, many evenings here from mid-80s to 93 or so. The arcade, the comic book store Hero's World. Sbarros and Roy Rogers. Spencers Gifts and Hong Kong Imports. Alwick Records and Sam Goody. B. Dalton.

In the food court, there used to be an amazing italian place there at 14:54. They closed last year unfortunately. And believe me when I say that devastated me. And it was only there for about a year. They had the most amazing made to order food. Fresh, and fast. I used to order delicious ham & cheese calzones from there. And the portions they gave you were HUGE. The calzone was so big, and they would give you a drinking cup full of sauce. I would eat half for lunch, and save the other half for dinner, it was that big. And it was only $8. Any other place would charge $20-$25 for a calzone that large. I would get spaghetti and meatballs, and it was enough to feed 5 people. The meatballs were huge. They were the size of tennis balls. For only $7. They had this delicious eggplant parm, and they would give 9-10 eggplant pieces each time. For only $8. Now sadly, I think the true reason they gave you so much food, wasn't because they were incredibly generous. But because they were struggling, and had to use the food or throw it away. Seeing as how they're closed, that's most likely the reason. And despite the amazing price and high quality food, there was never a line there. Which I'm not complaining about. But for a place like that, there should be no less than 5 people on line at any given time.

WoW the playland use to be the Kay Bee Toys I managed, around the Cabbage patch craze, we took in 40,000 a day black friday and C'mas time. Next to Sears, Italian touch pizza, Alwilk records. When walking in a mobbed Bagel shoppe and a pet store, This was around 1985. This was the palce to go! Maggies Pub upstairs.

So sad to see my first mall ever like this. It has been in decline well before 2020. My parents used to take me and my siblings here on the weekends every few weeks via bus in the 90s. It was a long ride from Orange and the bus used to stop all the way out by the street instead of pulling into the mall parking lot in those days. I have so many fond memories here from the Roy Rogers, to my father getting his tires rotated at Sears and buying kitchen appliances, to taking the bus down from Drew while in college to get cheap clothes at H&M. I remember when they added the food court, when Barnes & Noble opened, and how I joked that one day I would be able to go back to Lord & Taylor and afford something. I remember my middle school band performing and high school choir singing during the Holidays in the middle rotunda near the elevator. So many memories. 😢

Oh man… Livingston mall… I grew up on the boarder of Livingston at west orange NJ up the hill. In 2006 is when I moved to WO and first went Livingston mall shortly after. It was one of the most popular malls till I’d say around 2015/2016 and then it started to die heavily. You’d get students, family, friend from all over go here. There used to be tons of places such as Victoria secret, express, Macys, sears, aerpastel, GameStop, Verizon, hallmark, pink, yankee candle, a chocolate factory (they’d make chocolate from scratch), they had great options at the food park, had a Spencer’s and Hot topic next to each other, and so much more. The reason why I say macys is because it has done down hill. The collectible store never existed till recently. The only OGs left there is Macys, Cinnabon, Barns and noble, and bath and body works, foot locker but that’s about all I can remember. Maybe Zales.

I worked at Livingston Mall way back in the early 80's- 85 to 87 at Sears. My neighbor across the street helped build the Mall. He was a mason and he told me he spent 15 months laying brick for the mall.

Hey Tom! Sorry to hear the dead mall views are down. While you have definitely posted way more dead malls than I have and have many more viewers… I have also experienced the same trend. My older dead mall vids pulled way more views than my newer dead malls vids. This is why I just post what interests me and I let whatever happens just happen. I definitely receive your notifications when you post but I think the genre is soooo saturated at this point. Anthony from aces adventures was saying the same a few days ago. Either way, your videos are great and you have a very good skill for voiceovers and a friendly tone. 🎉🎉🎉

The mall has deteriorated a lot in the last year; many more stores have closed. I also enjoy how many of the remaining stores are not chains but strange one-offs. The other thing about this mall is how large the parking lot is. Even 20 years ago it would fill up especially around the holidays; now it's so empty the utility company uses it to store cables, trucks and equipment. I know some of the discussions around redevelopment involve converting some of the empty parking lot space to housing, office space, or other retail. Also worth noting the Sears was used as a COVID vaccination center in 2021 for around 6 months. Nice open space so they could provide distancing as people got their vaccines. When I was in college (1989 or so), there was an Alwilk Records (local chain) store where the FYE used to be. I saw Alice Cooper doing an in-store event there. We still go to LensCrafters here but there's little else for us here. Even the food court has little appeal. There also used to be a Roy Rogers at least but it's gone. Even the Macys which is probably the most viable store here is not particularly good.

We lived in Livingston when the Mall was proposed and built circa early 1960. The residents of Livingston were very much against a mall in our town, but the powers that be pushed it through. It was a nice shopping area with some fairly high end stores. Probably the building of Short Hills Mall, with easy access to Rt. 24, took a lot of traffic away from Livingston Mall. This is so sad to watch.

Grew up in livingston from the early 70’s until the late 80’s. Worked in several stores in my teen years. Those that live in Livingston or surrounding areas (western Essex county) go to Short Hills Mall or Willowbrook Mall now.

This is a very attractive mall. Unfortunately, the number of mall retailers continues to decrease as more and more companies go under making it extremely difficult to fill these very large malls unless they get creative. They, of course, can go in the other direction and fill spaces with local stores which are most often the kind that actually detract from the attractiveness of the malls.

I worked at Hahnes at the location. I left in 85. I think it closed in 87 or 88 before it became Lord and Taylor

This is my local mall and reminds me so much of high school! My friends and I would go so much, and we still make an effort to go every now and then as we enjoy some of the stores there that are still open. It’s been a shame to watch this mall slowly close down as the years pass, but I’ll always have fond memories of what it once was. In the meantime, it’s still around for now! 😊

This mall was dead in the 90s I grew up near it and we would drive 20 minutes to the Willowbrook mall in Wayne

word from locals, AC hasn't worked in weeks and there were multiple heat waves

I loved going to this mall. When I drive by now my heart breaks.

Barnes n Nobles probably draws the highest income out of any store in that mall. Every single time I've gone to that Macy's, somebody is actively stealing something out of there. A manager was in front of our family before when it happened and said over $1m in merchandise is stolen from that store alone every year.

I worked at Gap kids in Livingston Mall when I was 18 yrs old (my first job). Occasionally, I use to grab a lunch at Roy Roger’s on the 2nd floor. I see a lot has changed in 23 yrs.

The mall owners usually don’t allow stores to close until the end of the day. Went to pick up eyeglasses at 10 AM. The pretzel guy looked sad, Chinese food was empty, Cinnabon, Starbucks and Dunkin’ were busy, Pizza was empty, but all had their doors open.

I go waaayyy back to the mid 70's. The stores I remember other than Sears, Bambergers, and Haynes, there was Kay Bee Toy and Hobby, Sam Goodies Record Shop and Music Center, Herman's Sporting Goods, a Tropical Fish Store, Pet Pouri, Spencers, and my favorite store of all time: Heros World. The eateries were Burger King, Roy Roger's, and a large Nathan's that sold everything. Sooo many memories. I miss my childhood

I started working at Sears in 1978 and then in 1980 worked mall security, what a great job that was, lots of excitement and fun as well. Met some beautiful girls and got to eat free at Nathan's.

Worked in the Livingston Mall 1998-2001 at Baskin Robbin’s and Gap when I was in high school. So much memories with friends at this place😢. I thought the mall was at its best at that time but has deteriorated since then.

This is the current status of most Malls it seems today. Hamilton Mall in Mays Landing, NJ seems to be in the same state of decline. The last time I went there to return something to American Eagle (now no longer there) that my wife bought online I walked the Mall and there were approximately 35 Empty Store Fronts. Such a shame from what these Malls used to be like. You mentioned Monmouth Mall (I grew up going to that Mall when it was an open space and then when they enclosed the space to a three tier Mall) and now they are in the process of destroying the expansion part to make it an Open Mall once again. I believe the Internet has ruined the Mall as well as a ton of brick and mortar stores plus, as you call it, "the thing" put stores in their grave. The Mall used to be an experience in going which we will never see again and what has been ruined by the so-called advances of society.

The food court had a Roy Rogers upstairs and i went with my mom all the time!

Heartbreaking. I used to love Ed's Tropical Aquarium where you would enter through a fish cut in the front. Even Uncle Floyd made a parody of it.

Ya gotta wonder how these places cover their rent every month.

Kohan is the death of a mall...sucks the remaining life out then sells the property to an Amazon or similar....

I wish I had been alive to see a mall in the 80s. I was a baby in the 90s so I don't even remember what a mall was like then. Seeing them now is depressing.

I actually have pictures of this complete mall under construction in the late 1960s. The mall was opened in 1972, however, Bamburgers and a few other stores first opened in the late 1960s. I just walked through this mall several months ago. The mall is going to stay open as of now.

I graduated high school in the mid-70's, and this was the place to go hang out!

Tom, we enjoy your videos. These mall tours are fascinating! Did your dentist appreciate the the Skittles encounter? Ouch!

I was the manager of the FYE that use to be on the second floor. They originally opened my store, because they thought it would be the same as Short Hills. Obviously Corp did NOT do the research. We signed a 5 year, Was a disaster.

When ypu first walked in, the store to the right was a bagel place, closed in 92 I think. The one to the left was a marketing place. Cohen has been in there for a long time. Playland used to be Kaybee toys.

That play area store you show at the start of the video is run by a company that also has an ice skating rink and roller rink set up in empty stores. Basically, the old Gap/Kids Gap, with its wooden floor, became a roller rink that we've enjoyed several times. This summer, the air conditioning seems to be busted. Many stores have signs up saying they've closed because it's too hot; I wonder if they're withholding lease payments because of it. Though some stores have portable ACs brought in that connect to the ceiling plenums. Macy's is still pretty cool, with it's own AC system and fans set up. What's the financial dynamic here? There are a lot of collectible stores, and more kind of innovative idea stores. Is the rent super cheap?

I used to buy my shoes in the early 70's in two different stores, Chandler's and the other one was Bakers. Back in the day, loved this mall! Still live in the area. Enjoyed viewing n reading others comments. Brought back lots of memories!!

I worked in the mall at Spencer Gifts from 1981-1984 in different positions. I LOVED THAT MALL

Back in the mid 80s and 90s, this Mall used to be our hangout spot on Saturdays..... Short Hills Mall was always known as the rich people Mall growing up .... we could catch the 70 bus to Livingston Mall and hangout for hours ...... the good old days

Brave man, consuming what could potentially be 5-year old Skittles. Spent some time here back in the late 80s when I lived by Montclair State a few miles east (because the Short Hills Mall...a few miles in the opposite direction... was too frou-frou for me.😉).

I could see this mall becoming townhouses or condominiums. The parking lot is HUGE.

I worked at the mall in 1974- 1976 during summer breaks at a little clothing store called Ups& Downs also a big sporting goods store owned by Grace Corporation called Herman’s World of Sports . There was a fantastic upscale jewelry store called Ruth Satsky . The mall was packed , it was a big hang out for teens from Short Hills, Livingston , Madison and other areas. Haines was a NJ local department store with several locations . It was bought out by a larger Co . Lord & Taylors moved out of Millburn to that store , but it was never very good there , the merchandise was lower quality and the store was smaller than the Millburn store. Bamburgers another NJ department store with several locations was bought out by Macys and again the merchandise suffered in quality at this mall.

Grew up in Livingston and spent sometime walking through there. Today I was there and maybe 10 stores are open and there was no A.C.

That salon used to be “Professional Hair” and my hair cut there from the 70’s until the 2000’s when they moved to a location in the center of town.

i went here all the time as a kid in the early 2000s. crazy to me how different it is now

EB Games rules!! I worked there when we had two stores in the same mall. We helped bring MtG to the store and even ran a tournament. Something the chain now called Gamestop should continue doing. Good times in them days. Miss after hours game night too!

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the "whale tail" sculpture! I couldn't count how many times I was in that mall when I was younger. KB Toys, the arcade (was it called Space Port?), Roy Rodgers, etc. Not to mention doing all of our back to school shopping there.

It was a great mall when it opened in the mid 70s , when they made the food court it took away a lot of store areas and push out a lot of restaurants and fast food places, it's a shame how corporations destroy all these malls ..

It is funny you mention the power outage. I was last there about 2 years ago during the Christmas season and half the mall was dark with a power outage. It was ultra creepy to walk around in.

It’s deteriorated even more with the elevators and escalators in the mall not working and the air conditioning breaking and not being repaired for weeks. The upper level is stifling with roaches everywhere and stores refusing to open in those conditions. The pianos are left out.

This used to be🎉 my favorite mall when i was a kid back in the 90s

very sad to see Livingston Mall.... I used to live in Livingston with my family for 20 years. And My sister worked at Sears there in around 1975. I have been there many times!!! I miss Livingston Mall my heart breaks.......

This mall is now owned by a hospital which will begin to tear things down in 2025. If you drive through the parking lot be careful of the pot holes. Unfortunately this mall was too far from large routes which would allow more people from other counties to travel to. Barnes and Nobles is the only store that I would visit and they seem to maintain stock pretty well and avoid the food court.

Grew up in Livingston, this mall was solid in the 90s up until the early 2000s. I used to like Hot Sam’s pretzels, Sbarros, World Foot Locker, and Maggie’s pub

Grew up here. I'm 37, and hadn't been in years holy crap! Wow... 😢 but not surprising. Feel like it's been going this way for many years.

There used to be a place that paid you to do surveys where you first walked in. We always hit them up when we were broke in high school 😆