The shopping plaza at 1220 Hooper Avenue, Toms River, N.J., and an existing Sprouts supermarket. (Google Earth (left), Shorebeat Photo (right)).
One of the country’s fastest-growing supermarket chains is proposing a location in a prominently-located Toms River shopping center that would be reconstructed and reconfigured under a plan that will be considered by the township’s planning board later this month.
The changes are planned for the shopping center at 1220 Hooper Avenue – across the street from the Ocean County Mall – which currently houses an Encore Dental office and Burlington retail store. The once-bustling shopping plaza has seen many of the its anchor tenants move out in recent years as the shift from retail big-box stores and e-commerce put several of them out of business, but the property owner, Paramount Realty, of Lakewood, is seeking the board’s permission for an effective redevelopment of the complex.
The new shopping center would be anchored with a Sprouts supermarket. Based in Phoenix, Sprouts has become one of the nation’s fastest-growing supermarket chains in recent years, with large footprints in many states and 483 total locations. But the company operates just five locations in New Jersey, and none in Ocean County, making the proposed Toms River store the first in the Shore area, with the nearest located in Aberdeen.
An existing Sprouts supermarket, March 2026. (Photo: Shorebeat)
An existing Sprouts supermarket, March 2026. (Photo: Shorebeat)
An existing Sprouts supermarket, March 2026. (Photo: Shorebeat)
Sprouts specializes in natural and organic foods, including fresh produce, bulk foods, packaged groceries, meat, poultry, seafood, deli, baked goods, dairy products, and frozen foods. The store also sells vitamins, beauty and household items.
According to a filing with the board, Paramount is pitching a larger plan beyond the addition of the Sprouts market. It has applied for a planned redevelopment of the existing shopping center, including the construction of three new freestanding buildings to establish six new businesses, as well as a 258 square foot addition to an existing nail salon. Two of the new buildings will offer “various food and beverages” to customers via drive-through lanes – likely quick serve restaurants whose brands were not disclosed. The third building would house the Sprouts supermarket.
Additional proposed site improvements include demolition and removal of some existing buildings and a modification to the existing parking lot area so as to provide for the new buildings, drive thru lanes, off-street parking, solid waste storage, lighting, landscaping, business and traffic control signage.
1220 Hooper Avenue (Google Earth)
As with most large-scale projects, variance relief is required due to the shape of the lot and the layout of the shopping center, including a proposed setback from Hooper Avenue of 72 feet where 100 feet is normally required, and a landscaping buffer of 9-feet where 100-feet would normally be required – a pre-existing condition on the property. The developer is also seeking 21-foot wide drive aisles where 24-feet is normally required, and the affirmations of numerous pre-existing conditions within rights-of-way, plus relief for signage that would be have to be posted for the operation of drive-through lanes for the proposed restaurants.
The application by Paramount is scheduled to be heard at the March 18, 2026 planning board meeting, which begins at 6 p.m. at the township municipal complex on Washington Street.
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