American Dream Unveils Theme Park, Retail Set to Bow in March

They came, they saw, they played — but they’ll have to wait until March to shop. Advance tickets to American Dream‘s Nickelodeon Universe Theme Park — the first section of the massive 3.3 billion-square-foot entertainment and shopping center in East Rutherford, N.J., opened Friday — with tickets selling out for the weekend at prices from $39 to $79. Skating flash mobs, marching bands, hay and pumpkin displays, a farmer’s market and a 60-foot Statue of Liberty made of candy were just a few of the sights at American Dream’s preview. But questions about the country’s second-biggest entertainment-cum-retail center remain. For example, will visitors who travel to the project lured by amusements such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Shellraiser — billed as the steepest roller coaster in the world — also shop at Saks Fifth Avenue, and its Louis Vuitton and Gucci shops; Hermès; Saint Laurent; Tiffany & Co.; Dolce & Gabbana; Moncler; Zara; H&M; Primark, and Century 21, which are among 450 retailers scheduled to open? “Our experience  with West Edmonton Mall and Mall of America, two incredibly successful centers that are not in this market, is that the entertainment components that we deliver drive traffic,” said Don Ghermezian, president of American Dream and

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