FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP – Ocean State Job Lot, a discount retailer, said Thursday it will open a new store this fall in a building once occupied by Toys R Us.
The 44,784-square-foot store on Raceway Mall Drive, will be the sixth in New Jersey for the company.
“”Ocean State Job Lot is committed to continued expansion and growth throughout the Northeast, and based upon the warm welcome we’ve received in our other New Jersey markets, we are excited to add another location,” said Paul Cox, director of store operations for Ocean State Job Lot.
Ocean State Job Lot is based in North Kingstown, Rhode Island, and sells a variety of products, including apparel, household goods and pet supplies.
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The company is expanding despite a lingering pandemic that upended the retail industry, from consumer behavior to the supply chain. And it isn’t clear how many of those changes are permanent.
Ocean State Job Lot’s Freehold Township store marks a return to Monmouth County. The company closed its Shrewsbury store in 2019 when it couldn’t reach an agreement on a new lease. It had operated there for 11 years.
Ocean State Job Lot purchased the Freehold Township building from a group overseeing the disposition of Toys R Us’ real estate. The toy retailer, which opened adjacent to the Freehold Raceway Mall in 1992, filed for bankruptcy in 2017.
The location is next to a Bob’s Discount Furniture and a Home Depot. It is also very close to a Big Lots, which is also a discount retailer.
The bankruptcy left large, empty stores that have slowly been filled during the past four years. Among them: Burlington Stores in Toms River; The Goodwill Store in Hazlet; and a yet unnamed supermarket in Eatontown.
Ocean State Job Lot has purchased 11 former Toys R Us locations in the Northeast.
The Freehold Township location will join other Ocean State Job Lot locations in Sparta, Franklin Park, Clinton and South Plainfield.
Michael L. Diamond is a business reporter who has been writing abou tthe New Jersey eocnomy for more than 20 years. He can be reached at mdiamond@gannettnj.com.