FREEHOLD – The Jersey Shore Premium Outlets in Tinton Falls opened for business last week, and it couldn’t have come at a better time for job seekers and shoppers alike.

The $150 million outlet mall off Route 66 boasts 430,000 square feet of high-end retailers and is being hailed by many as a sign of economic life during a slumping economy. Already the mall has created 800 new jobs and it is expected to generate much-needed tax revenue.
 
"Jobs were created and we are very excited to have that happening, especially now that the economy is in such poor shape and so near the holidays,” Freeholder Barbara J. McMorrow said. “To see so many people here shopping is very encouraging in view of the current state of the economy.”
 
“Anytime something like this opens it shows that there is confidence in consumer spending and it will spur this area for future economic growth,” said John Ciufo, Monmouth County’s administrative director of Economic Development and Planning. “Judging from the traffic the mall has generated so far, it doesn’t appear that consumers are overly concerned about the economy.”
 
Once the mall reaches full capacity, there will be 120 stores ranging from J.Crew, Godiva Chocolates and Crabtree & Evelyn to Burberry’s and Calvin Klein.   
 
“This is a great day for New Jersey,” said former Gov. Brendan T. Byrne, who attended the opening. “This is like a bright star in our firmament.”
 
Monmouth County Tourism representative Jeanne DeYoung said the mall is a draw for tourism, because the area will begin to host more bus tours. “It will help put more heads in beds in the hotels,” she said. “And they will spend money in the outlets as well as shop and eat in restaurants in surrounding towns.”
                      
Neptune Mayor Randy Bishop said, “It’s such a good thing to have this open because it becomes another piece in the economic engine. The more we can bring in terms of jobs, in terms of people coming to this area, the more it will mean that this area will survive much better than other parts of the country, the county and the state in many ways.”
 

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