FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Main Street New Jersey Reminds Residents of Remaining NJ350 Pop-Up Stores

South Orange Village Center Alliance Hosts NJ350 Pop-Up Store Celebrating New Jersey’s 350th Birthday and Local Businesses and Artisans


TRENTON, N.J. - New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (DCA) Commissioner, Richard E. Constable, III, today reminded residents that NJ350 Pop-Up Stores will continue to make appearances throughout the state to honor and celebrate New Jersey’s 350th Anniversary. The next store, the fifteenth of 16 NJ 350 Pop-Up Stores, will be hosted by South Orange Village Center Alliance in the historic downtown commercial district of South Orange, NJ at 65 South Orange Avenue.　　 The store will run for a limited engagement from December 11 through December 14, 2014. Store hours can be found on the NJ350 website.

"This year-long celebration is a great way to honor New Jersey’s rich heritage and all it has to offer," said Commissioner Constable. "We encourage you to visit the South Orange store to support participating local businesses during this holiday season."

The South Orange Pop-Up Store will be the second and final store to be open in Essex County and the NYC region.　 It will include 350th-branded merchandise, books from Rutgers University Press on New Jersey history, figures, and politics, as well as merchandise from local merchants and artisans.　 It will also feature "Jerseyana" from the New Jersey State Museum Store such as the "Jerseyopoly" board game and the children’s book "Goodnight, Jersey," as well as specialty items from the Island of Jersey (from which New Jersey received its name 350 years ago.)

"We are thrilled to be able to host the first-of-its-kind NJ 350 Pop-Up Store Program in South Orange Village," noted South Orange Village Center Alliance Executive Director Bob Zuckerman. "It turns a vacant space into a vibrant retail location, showcases NJ's history, and highlights our eclectic and thriving historic Village while featuring South Orange businesses and artisans.　　 You can pay tribute to New Jersey and get your holiday gift shopping done while supporting our local businesses. At the same time, visitors can enjoy our Hometown Holiday events on the 13th, and of course stroll, shop and dine throughout the village every day!"

The NJ 350 Pop-Up Store concept highlights the assets that downtown businesses bring to the state’s economy, culture, and history and is made possible by Main Street New Jersey, the NJ Department of Community Affairs and the NJ Historical Commission, and is sponsored by vend, SnapRetail, IKEA, Friends of NJ State Museum, RetailMinded, Storesigns.com, ITO Design, Alignable, the NJ State Museum and the NJ State Archives. Promotional partners for this year-long program include Independent We Stand, BALLE and the American Independent Business Alliance.

Jef Buehler, State Coordinator of the Main Street New Jersey and Improvement District Programs at the DCA said, "It is our hope the NJ 350 Pop-Up stores will raise awareness of the rich history, character, and commerce in our traditional towns all over the state.　We also want to show that a vacant storefront can have retail success, hopefully inspiring small businesses to fill that space after each pop-up store moves to the next location around the state."

The NJ350 Pop-Up Store project is made possible by Main Street New Jersey, the NJ Department of Community Affairs and the NJ Historical Commission, and is sponsored by vend, SnapRetail, IKEA, Friends of NJ State Museum, RetailMinded, Storesigns.com, The NJ State Archives, ITO Design, Alignable, and the NJ State Museum. Promotional partners for this year-long program include Independent We Stand, Be A Localist (BALLE) and the American Independent Business Alliance.

Main Street New Jersey is a comprehensive revitalization program that promotes the historic and economic redevelopment of traditional business districts in New Jersey. The program builds on the Main Street Approach™ that was developed by the National Trust’s National Main Street Center in 1980 to assist downtown revitalization efforts nationwide. Communities participating in Main Street New Jersey receive valuable technical support and training to assist in improving their Main Streets. The program employs a four-point approach that focuses on:

　

  • Building a strong, local Main Street organization that is well-represented and funded by stakeholders such as residents, merchants, civic groups, and bankers; 

  • Restructuring the district’s economics by engaging in such activities as recruiting new businesses, converting unused space for new uses, and sharpening the competitiveness of merchants; 

  • Enhancing the visual appearance, attractiveness and traffic management of the business district; and 

  • Promoting the district through festivals, retail events and marketing campaign to encourage consumer traffic. 

　

For more information, visit NJ350ShopLocal on Facebook and Twitter, or on the web at http://officialnj350.com/category/shop-nj350/.

For more information regarding Main Street New Jersey, log on to www.mainstreetnewjersey.com.