Oddly enough, there’s almost no internet history about the Hudson Mall in Jersey City. Aside from an entry on MallsDB.com that notes that it opened in 1965 (listed elsewhere as 1966, so who knows), was renovated in 2005, and covers 377,090 square feet. The mall itself is rather small and a bit strange: I was there in the hour before it closed for the night, so perhaps at other times it’s more lively and some more of the storefronts are open but it’s hard to tell. I do know that when you get to a point where your mall is dimly lit and stores are closed during business hours, people stop going back, so I’m not expecting this one to last much longer.

It’s not a particularly fancy or architecturally impressive mall, but I do think the stark gray and white floor tiles and the huge light fixtures that remind me of enormous lightboxes are striking. The strange motif of angular branches jutting from iron beams is repeated throughout the mall, including over the entrance and on the sign outside. It’s distinctive! The stores are a mishmash of chains like Bath & Body Works, Popeye’s, Foot Locker, Super Cuts, and Rainbow, alongside what I presume are more local stores like A Dollar, Door, and the religious-themed Father Yostos Gift Shop. There are a lot of empty storefronts, sadly, but the mall is clean and still has a number of places to visit if you’re so inclined. There are also a number of businesses that only have entrances from the exterior, including Staples, Marshalls, Old Navy, and Chuck E. Cheese’s. There’s also a Pizza Hut – with the original exterior! – in the parking lot, which is quite the find for retro enthusiasts.

My guess is that at some point the interior section of the mall will be closed and demolished in favor of incorporating the remaining businesses into a strip mall, and there have been talked of redeveloping the property since at least 2021. I always like to see locally owned businesses and hope that more will find a home in aging malls. As Jersey City’s original mall, I hope that it finds success leaning into the needs of the local community and is around for years to come.