NJ’s got Sunday Blues

NEW Jersey is located right next to New York City and offers plenty of malls and other shopping venues.

But the state closes virtually all retail shopping in posh mall-enclave Bergen County on Sundays — including the lucrative Sunday after Thanksgiving — thanks to the county’s arcane, outdated Blue Laws in place since 1704.

The laws were originally implemented for religious reasons by the Puritans to prevent the sins of alcohol sales and shopping on Sundays.

You’d think the state — ranked dead last by State Data Lab for its fiscal health in 2018 — would leave the Stone Age behind and encourage access to this vast revenue and job generator. But no. Annual sales tax revenue lost to the state on Sundays was estimated by Chris Christie’s administration to be approximately $65 million in 2010. I’d think it’s well over $100 million per year by now.

And to think, a new study based on Census Bureau data ranked New Jersey as the “smartest” state!

Many local residents with full-time jobs find it tough just to accomplish mundane errands like picking up drycleaning or going to Home Depot when limited to just one weekend day to do so.

Brick-and-mortar retailers need all the help they can get to be accessible to those that wish to shop, since practically anything can be ordered online on Sunday and delivered Monday.

So it’s time to apply some of New Jersey’s Census-determined smarts and take populous Bergen County out of the horse-and-buggy days. It will help those who want to work Sundays — and those who want to commit the sin of conducting commerce in the mall capital closest to the city.