Livingston Mall — Attraction in Livingston

Former Livingston resident here. About a week ago, my brother wanted to show me a store that had a bunch of collectors items. When we got to the parking lot, there were far more potholes than I recalled from memory. The mall's decay was evident before 2020, but never did I think to see the day that this place, a chunk of my childhood and high school life, would fall into such a state. It was humid in there due to no working A/C. The paint was peeling off the walls and ceiling. Half of the lights were out, so the inside was dark. More than half of the stores I used to go into were either closed or just about to shut down on their last day.

After visiting the collector's store, my brother and I went to the food court. The only fast foods left were the Popeyes, Sarku, the China one or whatever it was called, and the Cinnabon, I think. Auntie Anne's at the time had no attendant, and whatever pizza brand used to be here was closed. At most, just a few local crackheads were in the booths getting takeout.

I decided to go to this one candy store I used to just pass every time I went to the mall. It would be my first and last visit as a customer. I wanted to get some fudge, but as I dug into the jar, mold was inside it. The best I could do was buy an airheads candy. Talked to the guy for a minute and asked him what happened to this place. He said the place just kept losing customers over time. I guess it's no surprise that the less customers a place has, the less money it has to spend on utilities.

We then proceeded to walk around the other side of the mall, where the Modell's used to be. I guess that place turned into some generic furniture store, and even that went out of business. The GameStop, unsurprisingly, was also closed. Naturally, the dollar store in the area is the only store with any real amount of customers. THE SPENCER'S OF ALL STORES WAS GONE! Now all this mall has left in the middle of the place is the 'virgin spencer's', Hot Topic. That one had a sign saying it was closed due to no A/C or power.

The 2 hours I walked around this mall just made me sadder every step of the way. This place is a stark reminder for those like me who reminisce about the good memories walking up and down the length of this humble mall that all good things come to an end. Perhaps it's just as well.

Whether you had your pals with you to get something quick to eat, the girls going out looking for whatever brand designer clothing to flaunt their style, the beer-bellied dads buying their sons cleets and pads for football, moms going to Sears or Macy's for whatever appliances were on sale, or even just to be away from family for a few hours, the Livingston Mall provided all of that. Perhaps it fell short of the standards that The Short Hills or Rockaway Mall possessed, the place still had its own merits.

Livingston Mall, thank you for being the mall...

Nice mall, many stores closed now. No Lord and Taylor and no Sears so only Macys anchor store left. I don’t understand why no locks in the family rest room, I was changing my son’s diapers while my toddler daughter was using the bathroom. Neither the family room nor the toilet in the family restroom have locks. Many people were going into the family room while my kids were exposed (no one entering had kids btw). I basically resorted to keeping my foot at the door to keep it shut while I changed my sons diapers. I would tell people my daughters using the bathroom and they barge in anyway??? Can you imagine how embarrassing that was for her??? At one point someone was knocking at the door, I said loudly that someone’s here, he started pushing the door forcefully so I pushed it back hard. Basically I was fighting with a member of the housekeeping staff for my kids privacy. I mean I told him someone’s here and I was holding the door shut and he just kept trying to come in??? Why bother having a door to the toilet if you...

The Livingston mall was great! I went here with my mom and my friend and it was so much fun! It’s perfect for dead mall enthusiasts, but also very sad to see in this condition. Most of the stores are closed and the parking lot was honestly empty. It is very hot and people weren’t lying when they said there’s no AC, there are also roaches as well (we only saw two and they weren’t alive). The stores that were open were Nai the Tea Lady (which was closed when we were there), Aeropostale (which is closing soon), Popeyes, Master Wok, a few clothing stores, Quails (men’s suits), a jewelry store, Claire’s, Macy’s and a few collectible stores (which may be all that is open, give or take a few stores). The directory and website is very outdated as most stores listed on there are closed. If you are planning to come here, you should probably bring a personal fan as it is very hot. The bathrooms are also not in order, so you may have to go...