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NewPark Mall in Newark, the park of plenty, 1980+

NewPark Mall opened on August 6, 1980, with Macy's and Sears. It was developed by Homart Development Company (a division of Sears) and Calmart (a division of Macy's). Mervyn's and a new wing opened on October 18, 1985, moving from Fremont. Emporim-Capwell, also moving from Fremont, came to the mall February 7, 1987. The last anchor to joint the mall was JCPenney, opening November 6, 1991.

Grand opening ad from July 1980.

I’ve always thought of NewPark Mall as Stoneridge’s fraternal twin—born just weeks apart in the summer of 1980. NewPark opened its doors on August 6th, and Stoneridge followed fashionably late on September 4th. Naturally, we had to compare. Stoneridge was sleek and radiant, all white-on-white with crisp blue accents—like stepping into a very stylish cloud. NewPark, on the other hand, leaned into its earth tones. Brown, taupe, and a sort of brooding 1980s sophistication. It was moody. It was grounded. It was very brown. But credit where it’s due—NewPark had trees. Lots of them. Stoneridge might have had the glitz, but NewPark had the greenery. It was like shopping in a forest of ferns and shoulder pads.

Here's an early shot of NewPark Mall after it first opened. It's a scan of their promotional brochure that mall management sent to me in the mid to late Eighties. I believe the original intent of brown was to make it look like a Eucalyptus forest it replaced. A fragment still remains outside the mall and is a popular Monarch Butterfly area.

NewPark Mall has your shopping needs covered.

If I remember correctly, the last major remodel saw the replacement of the brown tiles on the second level floor with white tiles. In addition, the railing was replaced with a clear glass one. A few minor things were also updated, but the lasting update is the Miami Vice glass elevator.

Picture of NewPark Mall Newark

In 2005, General Growth Properties (GGP), the mall’s owner and manager, promised an extensive remodel and expansion of a cinema. This year, though, they retracted their announcement. Mervyn's sold GGP their building, so that gives the mall some new options (and maybe some preferable ones) for an expansion. I'm sure we'll see a fresh remodeling soon, but nothing has been announced yet. I'm just wondering if Mervyn's will be closing?

80s NewPark logo

A logo scanned from a directory printed in the late Eighties. Before JC Penney joined the mall and the Target was still Emporium-Capwell.

NewPark Mall logo

This logo is remarkably similar to the logo for Newark itself.

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Comments

Anonymous said…
Ahhhhh. Early NewPark. -sigh- My mother worked for the developer (in the mall itself) so I stopped by there often in the early days. Anyway, it was just across the freeway. Lots of brown and tan tile, flashy new Macy's store, cool Video Concepts store with projection TV, Laserdisk and sectional sofas. Countless stores have come and gone and a huge remodel on the scale of the San Francisco Airport has brightened up the place but it still has a comfortable feeling to it.

An unfortunate casualty is the Fremont Hub not only 2 miles away. Fremont Hub was the cool place to be, but NewPark was newer and cooler. Fremont Hub then tried to look like Stanford but it didn't help. It has tried to look like a trendy new lifestyle center but the center of the mall is still barren. Fremont Hub is still a nice place to shop, and is improving, but does not have quite the vitality it had in the 70's.
9:51 PM
Anonymous said…
I worked for Emporium at the NewPark Mall when it opened in 1987 and I remember the dark brown and tan tile! The mall originally opened with Macy's and Sears in 1980 in the middle of cow pastures! I too remember the Video Concept store when VCR cost $1000's !! When they added J.C. Penney and Mervyn's they extended the Mall. When they first opened I remember the food court was small and strangely located a 'Shirtique' t-shirt store in the middle! Back in the 80's when the rage was customized t-shirt decals! Orange Julius, London Fish & Chips, Hof-Brau, Chinese Food, The Hot Dog Experience, Paddy's Pizza, Tater Junction, Swensons Ice Cream, and Donut World.
6:40 PM
Unknown said…
That was a long long time ago - Frederick's of Hollywood was still going on...
7:55 AM
The Sun The Earth The Moon said…
I had my 11th birthday party at the 50's restaurant called The Grill, inside of the Emporium. I loved that place. My mom used to take me there all the time and everyone that worked there, knew us. I'm 40 now and my have the times changed. I really miss those simple days.
11:03 PM
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