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FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP – Hobby Lobby is coming to the Freehold Mall shopping center on Route 9 as discount retailer Burlington is getting ready to move a smaller store.
The arts and crafts retailer has signed up for a 55,000-square-foot store, part of what was a larger storefront belonging to Burlington, according to executives at Aspen Real Estate, the shopping center’s owner. Hobby Lobby is projected to open later in 2025. Burlington is moving next door.
A spokesperson for Hobby Lobby could not be reached for comment on Tuesday. The company has stores in Holmdel, Howell and Marlboro with another expected to open in Neptune.
Hobby Lobby will attract more customers to Freehold Mall, said Alex Reizner, managing partner at Aspen Real Estate. “It brings in a lot of foot traffic,” he added.
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Hobby Lobby is part of a makeover at Freehold Mall, a 220,000-square-foot shopping center at the intersection of routes 9 and 79. Once struggling and rundown until it was purchased around 2020 by Aspen, with joint venture partner Devli Real Estate, at an auction, the shopping center has seen new tenants over the last several years, including Aldi and AutoZone.
The work has included new facades and dividing the Burlington store. Burlington will move into a smaller, 27,000-square-foot, space, said Philip M. Proetto, principal at Aspen Real Estate. “They are going to have a brand new store,” he said.
Hobby Lobby will take the remainder of the current Burlington space. Burlington and Hobby Lobby “completely anchors the center,” Proetto said.
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David P. Willis, an award-winning business writer, has covered business, retail, real estate and consumer news at the Asbury Park Press for 27 years. He writes APP.com’s What’s Going There column and can be reached at dwillis@gannettnj.com. Please sign up for his weekly newsletter and join his What’s Going There page on Facebook for updates.