How to fill centers with fun
There’s a funny word that entered the retail real estate lexicon over the past decade: “Activations.” At most centers it defines things like farmer’s markets and yoga classes in green spaces. At American Dream, we do things a little bit differently. We still call them “Events,” which are defined by Merriam-Webster as “noteworthy happenings.” We stage some 800 of them a year, and our events team has become especially adept at making them noteworthy.
Near the end of March, we attracted a crowd in excess of 100,000 people with JonasCon, billed as the “ultimate Jonas Brothers free fan experience.” The event featured live performances by the band, DJ sets, Q&A panels, pop-up surprises, immersive experiences, and special guest appearances to celebrate the band.
The Jonas brothers themselves are fans of American Dream. New Jersey natives from Wyckoff, they bring their own kids to our Nickelodeon Universe Theme Park and our DreamWorks Water Park. They approached us with the idea for JonasCon and said, “We’d like to do this for our fans. Can we do this with you guys?”
Um, yes!
A few weeks later, thousands packed American Dream for the opening of a new tenant in a 1,200-sq.-ft. space, CardVault by Tom Brady. The NFL GOAT himself took the stage in one of our rotundas and fired souvenir footballs to fans lining the rails of our upper walkways.
Our ice skating rink serves as a multi-purpose arena for live sporting events. In 2024, it hosted the United States Curling Championships, the Arena Football League’s ArenaBowl XXXIII, and then was transformed into a basketball court for a 10-game appearance by the Harlem Globetrotters.
This year our hoops court hosted the second run of the National Basketball Players Association’s The Throne, a tournament that showcases top high school players headed for college ball and, eventually, the NBA. The men’s competition was won by a Long Island team starring Kiyan Anthony, son of NBA legend Carmelo Anthony who watched the games at courtside.
Our brands, too, are very active in using American Dream as an event platform. Hasbro hosted the Transformers One watch party with a meet-and-greet with New England Patriots wide receiver and three-time Super Bowl winner Julian Edelman.
Nintendo, Dragon Ball, Lilo and Stitch, NJ Lottery, Coca Cola, NHL are among the many other brands to have hosted events on the property.
We are currently gearing up for a spate of exciting happenings in 2026, when soccer’s World Cup finals will be hosted by the arena that sits across from American Dream: Met Life Stadium.
American Dream has become the Madison Square Garden of the mall business. Many more such singular events are in our pipeline. Just wait to see what’s next.
These kinds of events draw thousands and thousands of guests, but they also position us as the prime location for Bar Mitzvahs, high school graduations, and Sweet 16 parties. Kim Kardashian, Cardi B, Nikki Hilton, and Eli Manning have hosted their children’s birthday parties here. Jake Paul, Tracy Morgan, and Adriana Lima have also made great use of our property.
Though celebrities take advantage of all that American Dream has to offer, we aim for it to be a destination for consumers of all education and income levels. We invite them to walk it, grab a bite to eat, or sit in our garden. Everyone is welcome to our building to spend some glorious time seeing things and doing things that allow them to escape life for a while.
When Chain Store Age invited us to take part in their Show Scoop section with a thought leadership piece about the retail real estate industry, we looked at it as an opportunity to write a “fun leadership” piece. Because that’s what we position our property to be—a place to shop, dine, ride a roller coaster, body-surf at our water park.
Fun is what we’re all about.
Paul Ghermezian is the COO of East Rutherford, N.J.-based American Dream
