Hot Shoppes, The Purple Room, and Fun N Games circa 1979. The memories…

I used to go there all the time in the 90s. I remember the Kaybee toys store

I love how the older pictures had lots of vegetation in it. I could feel the vibe 💚💚 🙂. I like how this shows the transition over time. A walk through time! Good job Ryan 👏🏼!

The 70's pictures have a warmer and welcoming vibe.

Comparing the old and new photos and one thing I've noticed was that the foliage that was in the mall all over the place really made it feel welcoming, like it was actually worth going there even just to read a book. I honestly think they could have still kept it AND add the open sky top ceiling to draw light in for the plants, but I guess because I guess the cost of maintaining such beauty wasn't in their budget, so take the shortcut instead.

I miss all the greenery, moved away many years ago but this was where I hung out growing up in the 90’s

The mall has lost all of its charm and character. The older photos look warm and inviting. The newer photos look like it's going through a moody phase. BTW, spent much of my youth there in the 1970s.

Spent my entire 80s and 90s there and wouldn't remember there was a Stern Brothers anchor store if you paid me. How bizarre.

i moved out of nj 21 years ago...spent alot of time in the late 80s in that mall...surprised its still there(open)

Not sure how this got in my recommended's but, I grew up in Lake Hiawatha/ Parsippany, NJ 1961-1979 and when I was16, 1977 me and my best friend went to the Willowbrook Mall to see a Band from Long Island called The Good Rats so, while we were there, me and my buddy decided we wanted to look cool 😎 so we chipped in an bought a pair of Cubic Zirconia Earings and got our ears Pierced, we each got one in our Left ear, I'm 62 now and have the same hole in my ear from that day and have a real Diamond Stud in it now, when I was 25 living in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. a chick who lived in my neighborhood did ear piercings so, I got a silver Ring above the stud, just in case anyone was wondering, Lol! Cool video, lots more memories there, Peace ☮

I grew up going to that Mall...

Great video - I spent my teen years at that mall!

Much nicer back then when you didn’t have Paterson trash skulking around.

it was a magical place to go as a kid in the 70s

Willowbrook looked so much better in the 1970's images to where it's ridiculous in comparison. It's very sterile now. Looking at those pictures reminds me of how interesting the place once was, and I only went there occasionally. The earlier images show a place that you want to go to even for the experience of being in there. The 2022 images show why malls are dying.

Spend a lot of time there in the 90's and 00's and still visit now and then. I think the modern design makes the mall look like a big meat-processing factory, clinical and cold and easy to clean with an industrial pressure-hose. No warmth whatsoever. And the overwhelming majority of shops is now clothing and lifestyle. Where are the software, music, gadget, book and toy-shops? I know modern times. But why would one go to the mall anymore? Apart from the food-court, which still excellent!

I wish there was a comparison for the Exton Square Mall as well. Apparently, both malls were Rouse Company malls that were revamped by Cee Jay Frederick Associates.

Loved going to Barricini Candy with my grandfather.

Sad to say this, I think in the next 10 or 20 years from now malls are gonna be used for housings, practice offices, gyms, food courts and entertainment. I don't think these big giant retail stores are gonna last longer. Online shopping has changed the world of shopping.

I like the seventies photos with all the trees, plants, flowers and greenery much better. Looks too bare now.

excellent. thanks!

Haven’t been in the mall in 6-7 yrs , last time I was there my buddy’s punk band played the men’s department in Macys , before that I hadn’t been in there in maybe 25 yrs. It looks so sterile now , nothing like it did when I hung out there on the weekends through the 80’s & early 90’s. They should have never taken the fountain out in the middle , that was one of the best parts of the mall.

I hate it when they removed the fountain! Just in order to squeeze a couple of tiny stores in that spot. 🤮

Anyone have any pics of that Santa? He was AMAZING!

1:28 1967? I read that this mall first opened in 1969

Looks like an extention of port authority now.

I preferred then

I'm diggin it!

Wasn't there an S. KLEIN dept store there at one point?

Looks deserted in 2022...I remember that mall packed

Stearns & Bamburgers

Does anyone know what the name of the muffin place was in the mall where the Starbucks is now?

The earlier versions are much more full of life than the sterile 2022 ones.

👏👏👏👏💙❤

Something dosnt make sence. If you look at one of the black and wite photos, outside in the parking lot. You can see a Jeep model that at the time had not yet existed

Look so sterile now, like some kind of Institution

So much warmer and inviting in the 80's. Now it's just cold, sterile and lifeless.