Joan Verdon

Staff Writer, @JoanVerdon

The five major North Jersey malls decided not to take a snow day Thursday, and were open for most of the day, but shoppers for the most part stayed home.

Westfield Garden State Plaza and Paramus Park Mall, both in Paramus, and Willowbrook Mall in Wayne, opened at noon, two hours later than their normal opening time, due to the winter storm. The Shops at Riverside in Hackensack opened three hours later than normal, at 1 p.m. The Outlets at Bergen Town Center, also in Paramus, opened at its regular time.

At Westfield Garden State Plaza, the state's largest mall, many of the stores were closed the entire day, even though the mall was open. Nordstrom was closed, which Macy's and Lord & Taylor were open. Other stores, such as Eddie Bauer, which closed for the day at 6 p.m., set their own hours. Only a few dozen shoppers were spotted at the mall in the middle of the afternoon.

STORM: Heavy, wet snow blankets region

SNOW: What we know now

Unlike previous storms, when the malls made the decision to be closed a day in advance, the five major malls in North Jersey all took a wait-and-see approach this time, waiting until this morning to make the call.

Westfield Garden State Plaza, the state's largest mall, announced its decision first, shortly after 7:30 a.m. It posted the delayed opening on its Facebook page, triggering comments urging it to close for the entire day.

Past closings

Mall closings due to snow storms have become an annual occurrence over the past three years in North Jersey. All five malls were closed for an entire Saturday on January 23 last year.

In 2015 they closed early on Monday, January 26 due to a storm. They also closed early on Tuesday, Jan 22, 2014 due to a storm that hit in the middle of the afternoon.

Snow closings are one of the toughest calls for malls to make. If they close for the entire day, and roads end up being clear and snow-free in the afternoon and evening, they miss out on a day when North Jersey residents who are home from work and school typically head to the malls, restaurants and movie theaters.