Can stores in a shopping mall be open on a Sunday? One Bergen County mayor is not happy about open retailers:

Paramus officials say they’re exploring a lawsuit against American Dream, after learning that retail shops at the Meadowlands megamall are open for business on Sundays in defiance of Bergen County’s Blue Laws.

The stores at American Dream have been operating in violation of those laws for nearly a year, The Record and NorthJersey.com reported last week, despite the county’s longstanding prohibitions against the sale of nonessential items such as furniture, appliances and clothing. The restrictions, in place since the 17th century, exempt some services, including groceries and drugstores.

Paramus residents in particular have been proponents of the Blue Laws over the years. Supporters say they grant them a day of reprieve from heavy traffic that plagues the town the rest of the week due to the borough’s four malls…

“Being mayor of Paramus, I know how important the Blue Laws are to our way of life and the peacefulness of Sundays,” he said in an interview. “[It gives us] the ability to move around town, the ability for our emergency services to have less calls and regroup. As mayor, I’m going to fight like heck for Paramus and the county as a whole.”

Such regulations used to be more common across the United States. It can be surprising for some to hear that places would continue to follow these guidelines or businesses might choose to follow them (see some of the conversations around Chik-Fil-A in different parts of the country regarding their practice of not being open on Sundays). Even the article above notes that these restrictions date back hundreds of years; are these simply archaic local idiosyncrasies?

The explanations given by these suburbanites regarding the purposes of the blue laws are interesting in today’s context. Is Sunday a day of rest from traffic? Are the malls bringing in so many vehicles from outside the county that their closure on one day makes it easier for locals to get around? Do the EMTs and police need time on Sunday to regroup from all of the accidents and calls on the other six days of the week? The website of another suburb in the county highlights the Sunday prohibitions but does not say why they exist.

My guess is that the Bergen blue laws originate in religious motivations. Sunday is the Christian day of rest. I wonder how much of the current support for the blue laws is religious support as opposed for other reasons for having a day of rest.

Many municipalities in the United States want more local revenue. Having multiple local shopping malls is a good thing because it can increase commercial activity and sales tax revenues. Can communities still thrive if they limit shopping mall activity on one of the weekend days?