New Jersey's demographics are also helping.

"The density and prosperity of our population makes us popular for retailers who are looking and want to locate in the state," says Harding. "Also, the New Jersey economy is more diversified than other parts of the country, so we tend to not quite hit the peaks or the valleys of the economic cycle that other parts of the country do. We're not seeing big increases in vacancy rates as of yet."

So, many retail brokers and developers remain optimistic: both Levin and Walters are currently working on major retail projects. Levin has Edgewater Square in Edgewater, a mixed-use site with residential, retail and the local municipal building in the works, and the Walters Group is welcoming its first tenants to Stafford Park, its own residential/retail/office mixed-use project in Stafford. Both projects illustrate the new, increasingly popular trend in retail development: shops are rarely found isolated. Now, a residential and often an office component are vital to the project, the various aspects perhaps acting as a buffer when things go sour in one segment or another.

New Jersey has not yet felt the full sting of the downturn, and perhaps it never will, but developers are still somewhat cautious, though hopeful that the state and its retail market will escape with few bruises.

"We'll have to wait and see how long the current conditions lasts and what the ultimate impact will be," says Harding, "but overall I think New Jersey is somewhat insulated."