Ocean County Mall

Ocean County Mall

Center court during Christmas 2006
Location	Toms River, New Jersey, USA
Opening date	1976
Management	Simon Property Group
No. of stores and services	140+
No. of anchor tenants	4
Total retail floor area	890,000 sq ft (83,000 m2)
No. of floors	1 (2 Macy's, Boscov's, and JCPenney)
Parking	Parking lot
Public transit access	NJ Transit bus: 67
Website	[2]

The Ocean County Mall is a super-regional mall, opened in 1976 by Edward J. DeBartolo Corporation, located in Toms River, New Jersey on Hooper Avenue (County Route 549). The mall is accessible from Exit 82 of the Garden State Parkway via Route 37 East. The mall is managed by Simon Property Group. The mall has a gross leasable area of 890,000 sq ft (83,000 m²).

The mall is anchored by Boscov's, JCPenney, Macy's and Sears. It also contains several eateries, and a small food court. The Ocean County Mall is the only enclosed mall in Ocean County. It is a popular destination for tourists in the Toms River area during the summer season.

In the 1970s, the Toms River area, although growing quickly, was still relatively rural. The closest malls were the Monmouth Mall in Eatontown, and the Shore Mall in Egg Harbor. With the growing need for an enclosed mall, the mall was originally planned to be at the intersection of Route 37 and the Garden State Parkway. However, the mall opened in 1976 at its current location at Hooper Avenue and Bay Avenue, with 3 anchors and a cinema.

In 1988, a small expansion was built which included a Stern's. When the chain went out of business, it was turned into Boscov's. Around the same time, the General Cinema quietly closed down due to competition from the AMC-Loews across the street at Seacourt Pavilion. The Cinema's main mall entrance near Applebee's was sealed off for years, while the small side hallway near Sears remained locked and dark. In 2009, Benihana opened in the vacant space. Benihana closed abruptly in February, 2012, and was replaced by Ichiban, a similar style restaurant, in 2013.