ASBURY PARK, N.J. -- 7-Eleven Inc. is on an expansion spree in New Jersey and plans to add five 7-Eleven stores in Monmouth County and three in Ocean County this year, reported The Asbury Park Press. Statewide, the company hopes to open 200 more stores in 2010 and 2011, according to the report, citing The Goldstein Group, a Paramus, N.J.-based commercial real-estate firm.
The company already has a strong presence there, the report said, with 31 7-Eleven stores in Monmouth County and 28 in Ocean County.
"7-Eleven stores in the area perform well, and we [image-nocss] see a still-growing demand from the consumer for additional 7-Eleven stores," spokesperson Margaret Chabris told the newspaper.
"7-Eleven is trying to get as many good sites in New Jersey and New York City as 7-Eleven can to try to connect with more consumers before the twin powers of strengthWawa and Sheetz really take the New Jersey and New York and New England markets by storm over the next five to 15 years," retail consultant Burt Flickinger III, managing director of Strategic Resources, told the paper.
New Jersey, with its high disposable incomes and balanced economy, is attractive to Wawa and Sheetz, he said. Wawa, Pa.-based Wawa Inc. has multiple stores along the Jersey Shore; Altoona, Pa.-based Sheetz Inc. does not have any stores in New Jersey yet.
"[7-Eleven is] very smart and...very aggressive," Chuck Lanyard, president of The Goldstein Group, told the paper. "The marketplace is such that there are numerous opportunities out there that weren't available before as a result of this economy."
In the retail corridors of Monmouth and Ocean counties, vacancy rates are between 3% and nearly 13%, said the report. For instance, Hooper Avenue in Toms River has a vacancy rate of 3.13% as of January, according to the brokerage. Meanwhile, Route 35 in Shrewsbury and Ocean Township has a vacancy rate of 11.76%.
Landlords are happy to put 7-Elevens in their spaces that are sitting empty, Lanyard added.
"Many other retailers are scaling back or reversing their growth plans," Chabris told the Press. "In some cases, this opens the way for 7-Eleven to become an anchor tenant at a retail center."
One new store in Brick on Route 70 is expected to open in June, Chabris said. According to the Goldstein Group, other possible locations are in Neptune and the Freehold area.
The chain is focusing on opening convenience stores, not gasoline stations, she added. The company does, however, have a program where gas station operators can convert their existing repair bay into a 7-Eleven.
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