Ocean County Mall Reopens, With Limits And Safety Measures

Karen Wall
·3 min read

TOMS RIVER, NJ — If you've been eager to go shopping — or you just want to walk around the mall — the Ocean County Mall has reopened.

The mall updated its hours over the weekend in anticipation of opening Monday after more than three weeks of being closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Indoor shopping malls were given the go-ahead to reopen on Monday as part of Gov. Phil Murphy's relaxation of restrictions that were imposed in March to slow the spread of the virus, which has killed more than 13,000 people in New Jersey since mid-March.

The reopening of the mall appears to be slow. While the restaurants, including Applebee's, BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse, Bahama Breeze and Ichiban Japanese grill, are offering curbside pickup or delivery (indoor dining does not resume until Thursday) only a handful of the stores at the mall appear to have opened Monday.

Boscov's, JC Penney and Macy's all have opened. Several stores are offering curbside pickup, but several others remained closed Monday. It was not immediately clear when the others might open.

The reopening comes with what mall staff described as rigorous new safety procedures, and limits in the mall and in stores of 50 percent of their capacity. All of the stores in the mall are expected to adhere to the same rigorous policies, mall officials said.

"The health, safety and well-being of the community we serve will always be our highest priority, and we have developed a thorough and detailed set of protocols highlighting the exceptional measures we’ve implemented for shoppers, retailers and employees as we reopen," said Tara Melodick, general manager at Ocean County Mall. "We also recognize that individuals and families in our community are suffering significant hardship as a result of both COVID-19 and the economic shutdown, and we believe that reopening our property will not only help people get back to work during these challenging times, but also enable us to use our property to further support charitable initiatives."

Here are the details on the mall's safety efforts:

  • Enhanced sanitization and disinfecting using the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) approved products with an emphasis on high-traffic locations such as dining areas, restrooms, escalators, stairs, directories, trash bins and door knobs.

  • Shopper safeguards that include making available protective masks, sanitizing wipes and temperature testing at entrances or property offices.

  • Shoppers are urged to stay home if they have exhibited COVID-19 or flu-like symptoms within 72 hours.

  • Hand sanitizing stations throughout the property.

  • Signs promoting CDC guidelines for maintaining personal hygiene throughout the mall.

  • Employee health screening to ensure that employees do not arrive at work within 72 hours of exhibiting COVID-19 or flu-like symptoms.

  • Employee safety protections including frequent hand-washing and offering personal protective equipment in addition to other CDC recommended practices.

  • Promotion and enforcement of social distancing practices, including occupancy limitations, furniture and restroom spacing

  • The play area is closed.

  • Traffic flow through the mall is coordinated with traffic signs and distance markers.

Ocean County Mall closed on March 19 to help limit the spread of the virus.

"Reopening provides a much-needed economic boost to the local community," mall officials said in a news release. "Ocean County Mall is an important economic engine for the local community, providing more than 1,800 jobs and contributing $10 million of sales tax and $2.3 million in property tax revenue to the state. These tax receipts fund essential services in communities, including education and infrastructure as well as health and safety services."

"We look forward to once again serving the needs of our community, and doing so in a safe and responsible manner," Melodick said.

In addition to reopening, Ocean County Mall has joined a national initiative to host food banks, clothing donations, COVID-19 mobile testing, and blood drives as part of an outreach to 1,300 health providers, government agencies and nonprofits.

See more stories about New Jersey's coronavirus recovery.

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This article originally appeared on the Toms River Patch