Main: Arnold Constable

[Editor]

Arnold Constable: http://sixtiesmrmustache.blogspot.com/2008/10/arnold-constable.html

[just watching]

I think Arnold Constable closed the same year that the Bergen Mall was converted from open-air to an enclosed "true mall".  Was it 1971 ?  I was a kid at the time, but all the talk around town was that those two events marked a big shift in where people would shop.  How true. I think that was also the same year that Temple Beth-El moved from State Street to Summit Ave, which was another bellweather event that had a big long-term impact.

1971 was when Main Street really started to decline as a commercial center. I think the enclosure of the Bergen Mall (followed by the opening of Paramus Park in 1974) hurt Main Street as much or more than the initial construction of the Garden State Plaza and the Bergen Mall (as open-air malls) in the mid-1950's.

[Homer Jones]

Main Street's decline didn't begin overnight and wasn't caused by just one event like the closing of Arnold Constable.
 The malls were a new phenomenon. Free parking! No parking tickets! Heating in the winter! Air conditioning in the summer! Lighting at night! Credit cards! Money back return policies! Night time shopping! One stop shopping! Food courts! Sales! Major chains! Atmosphere! Professional marketing efforts! Co-op advertising and seasonal promotions! Security! etc. etc. etc.

Adding to the above, there was a changing population dynamic and more women were driving who preferred the ease of parking at the malls. Price and convenience outweighed customer loyalty.

Need I say anymore?

[just watching]

Yes, and I did say that the appearance of enclosed malls in 1971 was the main cause of Main Street's decline.  And it was probably a factor in the closing of Arnold Constables around the same time.

Not sure why people often read different things into my posts, or interpret them differently than I intended.

[Top of the Hill]

Just a little side note. My grandmother worked at AC in the kitchen. I remember visiting her there. I don't remember if it was an employee cafeteria or a public resteraunt. It was upstairs on the top (third?) floor. I was a participant in a fashion show there when I was about 5 or 6? I modeled knickers and got my picture in the record. I think we received a gift certificate for the store. Oh, how I wanted those knickers. Thankfully my mom had much more fashion sense than I did.