Retailers also are looking for and finding space, including a new concept from Lord & Taylor, Bass Pro Shops Harbor Freight Stores, Pet Supplies Plus, The Tile Shop, Hobby Lobby, XSRE Accessories, Blick Art, Carsmetics, Dr. Dental and Hand & Stone Massage.

The retail markets with the lowest overall vacancy rates include the Ramsey/Mahwah - Route 17 corridor with 4.53%; the Clifton - Route 3 corridor at 1.69%, the Route 23 Wayne/Butler corridor (5.31%) and the Toms River - Hopper Avenue corridor (5.07%). The highest vacancy rates are reported in the East Brunswick – Route 18 corridor (18.84%); the Totowa/Fairfield - Route 46 corridor (11.30%) and the Livingston/East Hanover – Route 10 corridor (12.42%).

Also among the good news, the survey says, is that a large majority of leases are with tenants taking spaces of 20,000 square feet or less, many of them independent retailer and franchised chains. Though Lanyard predicts that economic recovery will take at least three to five years, he notes that New Jersey’s retail vacancy rates are far better than other regions of the country, which report levels from 10% to 15%. “New Jersey still rates number one or two in terms of demographics,” Lanyard says.

The most densely populated state in the nation, with 1,174 residents per square mile, it also is the second wealthiest state in per household income, only behind Maryland. That affluence will continue to attract the stores that are expanding, he says.