Where are NJ’s highways still lined with empty stores?

Does it sometimes feel like more and more stores are empty in northern and central NJ?

In some parts of the Garden State, sure. But overall, things are holding steady.

Chuck Lanyard, president of The Goldstein Group, said the organization's latest survey on vacancies shows the rate holding steady at 6.2 percent. That's the same as it was at the end of last year.

He says there are parts of north Jersey in one of the largest retail corridors in the country. With the economy coming back, the spaces are being filled up.

According to the Goldstein survey, the lowest retail space availabilities were Route 17 in Rochelle Park and Rutherford, at just 1.85 percent. Just behind that was Route 46 in Totowa and Fairfiled, at 2.1 percent.

The survey showed the highest availability rates were Route 10 in Morris Plains and Ledgewood at 12.5 percent, and Route 17 in Paramus at 11.4 percent.

Just five years ago, the same survey showed store vacancies at 8 percent in New Jersey.

"I think the best way to put it is, the beauty of this is when you look at these vacancies, and you compare numbers, and we are staying the same, that is okay, because we are still strong," Lanyard said,

Lanyard said it may be too early to tell if walk-in retailing is holding its own against Web commerce, especially among millennials.

"I think we are going to see additional shifts for the Internet. And let's not forget the important people who are buying online today — the Millenials — continue to use online websites to purchase more and more," he said.

But Lanyard also said some of us still like to see and touch what we buy.

"No. 1, people still like instant gratification, to be able to go and buy something right away. And No. 2, they still like to, 'kick the tires' as we say — in other words to feel the product and see the product," he said.

Joe Cutter is the afternoon news anchor on New Jersey 101.5