“Bergen County, NJ Still Bans Buying Pants — or Any Clothing — on Sundays”
Bergen County, New Jersey is one of the last places in the United States where it is illegal to sell clothing, furniture, appliances, and other 'non-essential' goods on Sundays, under a state statute known as the Blue Law. The law has been repeatedly upheld by county voters and remains actively enforced today.
Three centuries of Sunday closing laws
Bergen County's Sunday shopping ban is no quirky internet myth — it is a living, breathing, actively litigated law with roots stretching back to 1704. The original blue laws were codified in 1798 under the dramatically titled 'Act to Suppress Vice and Immorality,' which at the time also prohibited traveling more than 20 miles, swearing, and 'various forms of amusement' on the Sabbath. In 1959, New Jersey gave each of its 21 counties the choice to keep or repeal their blue laws via referendum. Bergen County voted to keep them — and then voted again in 1980 and 1993 to keep them still, with the 1993 vote a decisive 2-to-1 margin in favor of retention. Every other county in New Jersey has since abandoned the laws. Bergen stands alone.
Surreal enforcement and ongoing litigation
The law produces surreal real-world scenes: at a 24-hour Walmart in Teterboro, the clothing section is physically roped off on Sundays while groceries remain on sale. The tension exploded into active litigation when the American Dream megamall in East Rutherford — physically located on New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority state land — began allowing its retailers to sell clothing on Sundays, claiming state-owned property is exempt from county law. As of 2026, that lawsuit is still working its way through the courts, while shoppers buy shirts inside American Dream as Garden State Plaza, five minutes away, cordons off its clothing racks with caution tape.
A repeal attempt that failed
Governor Chris Christie tried to repeal the laws in his 2010 budget and was shot down.
Where the story gets it wrong
A common misconception — even echoed by Jeopardy host Alex Trebek — is that the law bans all retail sales in Bergen County on Sundays. It actually only prohibits specific categories: clothing, furniture, building/lumber supplies, and home/office appliances — food, medicine, beer, and wine can still be sold. Stores like Costco and Target stay open but must rope off restricted items, since the law binds sellers, not buyers.
N.J.S.A. 2A:171-5.8 prohibits 'any person whether it be at retail, wholesale or by auction, to sell, attempt to sell or offer to sell or to engage in the business of selling... clothing or wearing apparel, building and lumber supply materials, furniture, home or business or office furnishings, household, business or office appliances, except as works of necessary and charity or as isolated transactions not in the usual course of the business of the participants' on a Sunday. The broader Sunday Closing Law is also cited under N.J.S.A. 2A:171-1.1 et seq. and N.J. Revised Statute § 40A:64-1.
- Current status
- Actively Enforced
- Enacted
- January 1, 1959
- Penalty
- $250 fine for first offense; repeat offenses up to ~$5,000 fine and 30 days to 6 months imprisonmentFine: USD250 – USD5,000Imprisonment: 180 days
- Jurisdiction
- New Jersey state law (N.J.S.A. 2A:171-5.8) that Bergen County has elected to retain by referendum. Also applies with additional restrictions in the borough of Paramus. All other 20 NJ counties have opted out.