Throw Hatchets, Find Bargains, Race Toys: New Toms River Stores

TOMS RIVER, NJ -- A year ago, the Indian Head Plaza was beginning to look desolate. With Pathmark gone, Home Depot was seeming a bit isolated.

That has changed, however. Last week, Ollie's Bargain Outlet became the latest business to hold a grand opening in the center at the corner of Route 9 and Indian Head Road.

Ollie's, which calls itself "one of America's largest retailers of closeout merchandise and excess inventory," occupies the site that was Pathmark. The retailer has 285 stores nationwide and carries a variety of items from pots and pans to drones to cleaning products and toys.

It joins Whistle Punk Hatchet Den, which opened earlier this month; HobbyTown, which opened in May, and several other businesses that are filling the once empty shopping center.

Whistle Punk Hatchet Den is one of a new trend of entertainment places where patrons throw hatchets at targets. (Think of it as darts on steroids.) The Den is BYOB and no hard liquor is permitted.

HobbyTown, meanwhile, appeals to the kid in all of us. with model trains, remote-controlled cars, planes, and other toys, kits and items guaranteed to take the 50-and-over set back to your childhood.

Other businesses that have opened in the plaza:

• See The Rim Academy, a basketball training facility that calls itself "the first total basketball performance center in New Jersey" and says it combines skills training, athletic performance and more "to develop the complete basketball player."
• Train Nation, a personal fitness training facility that offers a space for trainers who have clients to work out, and a place where those seeking personal trainers can find someone to help them.
• Force Fitness, a gym that offers morning and evening classes for those who like the fitness class environment.
• Central Jersey Blood Services, which has a blood donation center at the site.
• Tony's Pasta House & Gourmet Pizzeria, tucked into the corner next to HobbyTown, offers a wide menu of Italian favorites and gourmet pizzas, including a "create your own" option.
• Rising Sun Karate, which offers karate lessons to children and adults.

Pathmark left in 2015, when the Greater Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company went out of business and sold off or closed all of its properties. The plaza was bought out of bankruptcy in 2017 by JJ Operating Real Estate Investments, according to a report in the Asbury Park Press. Home Depot, Payless Shoes and Wells Fargo are still at the plaza. Home Depot was not part of the shopping center sale, according to the Asbury Park Press report.

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Photo by Karen Wall, Patch staff