Big Changes Coming To Paramus Park

is turning over a new leaf, inside and out.

The mall is planting a new set of signs on Route 17 and From Road and adding a number of new stores, Chris Dudley, marketing manager, said.

A granite composite sign with white letters and a red background will usher out the familiar golden-lettered signs at the entrances to the mall. Mimi Olsen, president and CEO of Service Select Signs, the company that designed the new signs, said the current signs are out of date.

"I'm sure that those signs had their day in time, but they no longer do," she said.

For shoppers, though, it's the inside that counts. Paramus Park is in the process of turning over 14% of its stores, Dudley said.

Some of the new stores that opened include Francesca's Collections, Coach and Teavana. Later this year, shoppers can visit a remodeled Sunglass Hut and new and larger locations for and Victoria's Secret at the center of the mall.

Sephora is opening across from the new Express and Victoria's Secret locations. Champs Sports is opening in the old Victoria's Secret location and Famous Footwear is replacing Express.

Build-a-Bear Workshop is moving farther down the Sears wing to make room for Clarks.

There is also a new eatery coming to Paramus Park.

"In August we're opening a new sit-down restaurant in the former Bensi location," Dudley said.

Tommy's Coal-Fired Pizza, a chain with roots in southern New Jersey, is making its way north to Paramus. The restaurant has locations in Red Bank, Oakhurst and Brick.

The changes are meant to meet the needs of what has become a key group for Paramus Park: Mothers with young children, who make a ritual out of the circuit up and down the mall. Dudley said this group has kept sales and traffic at Paramus Park strong despite growing competition from Bergen Town Center.

"We don't really worry about what's going on outside of us because we've got such a great base," Dudley said.

One of the newest and biggest additions to the mall is also providing a boost in traffic: . The store is drawing shoppers from a broad area including southern New York, eastern Pennsylvania and all over northern New Jersey.

The store is serving as a new anchor for the mall, at a time when Sears stores at other General Growth Properties malls are closing. General Growth Properties owns Paramus Park.

Although other Sears locations are shutting their doors, Dudley said the Paramus Sears "does very well, and it's a great part of the center."