SnapGlow.TV: Modern Gems Galore! NEW YORK - In a storefront tucked between Abe's Antiques and Blatt Billiards, the sounds of Springsteen and reggae waft through air redolent of cotton candy and coconut.
Beach balls loll near a mock boardwalk, and a sand castle rests in a corner, undisturbed by waves or flailing feet.
Here, the Jersey Shore meets Manhattan, and bemused passersby on Broadway pause long enough to accept a piece of saltwater taffy and, maybe, an invitation to step inside.
"Hi, welcome to the Jersey Shore Store!" chirps Amanda Boekelheide, a New York actor who manages this temporary shop just south of 12th Street.
New Jersey has launched a summer tourism offensive on New York City.
The state sees an opportunity to lure New York natives and transplants from their usual haunts in the Hamptons and on Fire Island for the casual charms of Cape May and Atlantic City. It has extended to Aug. 9 a $20,000 monthly lease on the store in Lower Manhattan, which opened May 28 and originally was to close July 5.
"It's been absolutely wonderful. . . . We're very happy with it," said Jennifer Stringfellow, spokeswoman for New Jersey's Division of Travel and Tourism. On average, 300 people a day visit the store, she said.
In tough economic times, state officials are selling a Shore vacation as an inexpensive way for New Yorkers to get away without going far.
"It's a very fun place to visit, and you don't have to travel much," said Quiana Warner, 24, of East Orange, N.J., who works for $15 an hour as one of the state's "brand ambassadors." Decked out in blue T-shirts, white shorts, and flip-flops, Warner and her college-age colleagues work the sidewalk in front of the store, offering pedestrians taffy and cotton candy.
Shore businesses have sent performers and exhibits to give New Yorkers a taste of what they're missing: dancers from the Showboat casino, a penguin from Jenkinson's Aquarium in Point Pleasant Beach, food purveyors from Red Bank, poker dealers from Atlantic City, stilt-walkers, jugglers, disc jockeys, spa treatments. Miss New Jersey was on hand June 25 to celebrate the state's 345th anniversary with a cake.
Would-be tourists can reserve Shore accommodations, get tickets to Six Flags Great Adventure, or make plans for a round of golf.
The pitch seems to be working, state officials say, though they acknowledge they have no way to know exactly how many new shoobies and bennies have been lured south.
"Atlantic City is a huge draw. Cape May is also very popular," Boekelheide said. "We talk to people, try to find out what they like to do, and then we can help them figure out where to go."
One Canadian couple signed up for 15 nights in Cape May after visiting the store, Stringfellow said.
Last week, Sharlene Allen of Brooklyn bustled in and asked for information on Asbury Park.
"I'll tell you what drew me there - they have spinning on the beach!" the exercise enthusiast said.
Amanda Redling, a magazine advertising saleswoman in Manhattan, stopped by and said she preferred Jersey vacations to the Hamptons variety.
"The problem with the Hamptons is that it's exactly like the city," said Redling, who summers with her family at Bay Head in northern Ocean County. "The Jersey Shore is more relaxed. . . . No one gets all dressed up for dinner."
Joe Parkes, president of Cristo Rey New York High School in East Harlem, wandered in and extolled weekend life in Sea Bright and Spring Lake in Monmouth County: "I love the beach, the weather. I love meeting people I grew up with. The food always tastes better there, as does the beer."
Boekelheide acknowledged that pitching the Garden State to crusty Manhattanites could be a tough sell. After all, she was asked, why would you pick Jersey over the Hamptons?
"Well, if you have a ton of money and a big place there, you probably don't," she said. "But in a time when the economy is not so great, the Shore is a very viable option. It's affordable."
Boekelheide likes to stress the ease of visiting the Shore, touting ferries that go from East 35th Street to Sandy Hook.
For New Jersey, much is at stake in what has been a rainy late spring and early summer. The Shore accounts for 65 percent of the state's $38.8 billion tourism industry.
"The weather put a little bit of a damper on business," Stringfellow said, "but we hope to rebound."
The shop on Broadway is a "pop-up store," ephemeral as a summer breeze. Previously a pop-up store for Dell computers, it is the most ambitious effort of its kind for New Jersey tourism officials.
The "destination marketing organizations" involved with the project encouraged the state to extend the Shore Store's run, said Susan Evans, spokeswoman for the Department of State, which oversees the tourism division.
In the Philadelphia region, New Jersey tries to drum up Shore business with kiosks at the King of Prussia, Oxford Valley, Quaker Bridge, and Lehigh Valley malls. They'll be open until mid-July.
Contact staff writer Paul Nussbaum at 215-854-4587 or pnussbaum@phillynews.com.
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