Largest $$$ in retail sales in any zip code occurs in strict blue law zone

Status
Not open for further replies.

crhoades

Puritan Board Graduate
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_law

Bergen County, New Jersey

One of the last remaining blue laws in the United States that covers virtually all selling is found in Bergen County, New Jersey. It has produced the ironic situation that one of the largest and most popular commercial shopping cores of the New York metropolitan area, is almost completely closed on Sunday (grocery stores are allowed to operate). Paramus, whose four major shopping malls account for a significant proportion of the over $5 billion in annual retail sales generated in the borough, more than any other ZIP Code in the United States[4], has blue laws that are even more restrictive than those imposed in the rest of the County. Bergen County has significant Jewish and Muslim populations whose observant members would not be celebrating their Sabbath on Sunday with most of their Christian brethren. The substantial Orthodox Jewish minority is placed in the position of being unable to shop either on Sunday (due to the blue laws) or on Saturday (due to religious observance).
However, repeated attempts to lift the law have failed as many locals either see keeping the law on the books as a protest against the growing trend toward increasing hours and days of commercial activity in American society or enjoy the sharply reduced traffic on major roads and highways on Sunday that is normally seen the other days of the week. In fact, a large part of the reason for maintaining the laws has been a desire for relative peace and quiet one day of the week by many Bergen County residents.
This desire for relative peace is most apparent in Paramus, where most of the county's largest shopping malls are located, along the intersecting highways of Route 4 and Route 17, which are jam-packed on many Saturdays.
 
Chris - I spent part of my childhood in Oakland, NJ (a few miles from Paramus). New Jersey has been one of the last holdouts on blue laws. But alas, the reasons for keeping the blue laws in Bergen County are far from obedience to God. So if your a sabbatarian living in Bergen County, it works well for you. Count your blessings I guess.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top