Only in Bergen County, MDW Without the Shopping

Memorial Day weekend is supposed to be one of the biggest shopping weekends of the year.

Across America, people spend the holiday racing to mattress sales, loading patio furniture into SUVs, and convincing themselves they absolutely need a new grill because it’s “40% off for this weekend only.”

Which is what makes Bergen County completely absurd.

Only here can one of the country’s biggest retail weekends arrive while half the stores are closed on MDW Sunday.

Every Memorial Day weekend, newcomers are introduced to one of North Jersey’s most confusing local customs: Bergen County’s blue laws. 

On Sundays, most retail stores in Paramus and throughout the county are prohibited from selling clothing, electronics, furniture, and other nonessential goods.

This creates a uniquely Bergen County experience where you can sit in bumper-to-bumper traffic for 45 minutes trying to get near the mall… only to discover the mall is closed.

For locals, this barely registers anymore. But every year, thousands of people from outside Bergen County unknowingly make the pilgrimage to Paramus before realizing they’ve accidentally entered the retail version of a ghost town.

“Wait… Garden State Plaza is CLOSED?” has become a Memorial Day tradition in its own right.

And yet somehow, despite the stores being shut down, Bergen County gets even busier.

That’s because Memorial Day weekend here has evolved into less of a shopping holiday and more of a giant county-wide block party.

On Monday, May 26, downtown Ridgewood will once again transform into organized chaos for the annual Ridgewood Run, where thousands of runners, spectators, strollers, dogs, and coffee-carrying parents flood the streets before 9 a.m. It’s one of North Jersey’s biggest Memorial Day traditions and somehow manages to feel both athletic and deeply suburban at the exact same time.

Meanwhile, Paramus still finds a way to stay crowded thanks to the L.E.A.D. Fest Carnival at Garden State Plaza, running Friday, May 23 through Monday, May 26. Because even when Bergen County bans shopping, it apparently still allows funnel cake, spinning rides, and impossible parking situations.

Over in Teaneck, the Cedar Lane Family Festival returns Monday afternoon with live music, food vendors, and enough families walking around to temporarily convince everyone that parking spots simply no longer exist.

And across the county, towns including Glen Rock, Wyckoff, Mahwah, Oakland, Fort Lee, and Westwood will host Memorial Day parades and ceremonies that somehow still manage to feel genuinely small-town despite taking place in one of the most densely populated corners of New Jersey.

The blue laws themselves date back centuries and were originally intended to preserve Sunday as a day of rest. Today, supporters argue they save Bergen County from becoming one endless seven-day traffic jam. Critics argue they’re outdated and inconvenient.

Both sides, however, can agree on one thing: nobody truly understands how Route 17 can still be this backed up when the stores aren’t even open.

But maybe that’s the strange charm of Bergen County on Memorial Day weekend.



While the rest of America spends the holiday inside big-box stores buying sectional sofas and discounted air fryers, Bergen County residents are outsidemat parades, carnivals, diners, downtown festivals, and backyard barbecues.

It’s chaotic. It’s confusing... And somehow, it works.

What Memorial Day weekend shopping are you doing this weekend?!