By MADDY VITALE
When the Levchuk family, owners of the JiLLy’s Boardwalk shops in Ocean City, decided to close their dollar store at the end of 2019, they made a plan.
And just like their creative models for their other shops, including JiLLy’s Candy Factory, which opened in May of 2018, they will offer something that is not typical in their continued dedication to please, amaze, amuse and excite patrons.
Brothers Jody and Randy Levchuk, and their parents, Jill and Paul Levchuk, pride themselves on offering memorable experiences for visitors who come back year after year, decade after decade. The first of their shops, JiLLy’s arcade, opened in 1976.
In September, the Levchuk family announced they were closing the dollar store at 1040 Boardwalk.
The family has decided to expand the T-Shirt Factory, knock down the wall that separated it from the dollar store, and offer some new products and souvenirs as well as retain some of the same merchandise at the former dollar store section.
“For 25 years my mother has been running the dollar store, and we understand it is important to customers in Ocean City to have that value,” Levchuk noted in an interview Friday. “There will be certain items that will remain in the convenience line at a dollar price point and we want those customers to come in and see them.”
But expanding the one shop is far from the end of the project, Levchuk said. The plan is to add new signage.
There have already been renovations going on inside the T-Shirt Factory. There is also new merchandise coming in and counter space is being added.
“We will add new gifts you don’t see anywhere else,” Levchuk said.
The exterior will require approvals from the city.
The plan is to knock down the wall that separates the dollar store from the T-Shirt Factory and make it one property.
“We are hoping for approvals by the new year. We aren’t asking for anything outside of the box,” Levchuk pointed out.
The project would also open up the T-Shirt Factory to the walkway at the entrance to Playland’s Castaway Cove, where a pirate statue greets customers.
That would lead shoppers into the common area where there is the entrance to the Candy Factory at 1048 Boardwalk.
“We want people to enjoy going from the T-Shirt shop right to the Candy Factory and have one nice shopping experience,” Levchuk explained.
One of the ideas is to add furniture along the walkway. “We thought about new furniture that would allow you to sit and eat and have a place to step away from the Boardwalk and the rides,” Levchuk said.
“We feel we have a lot of good plans on what we are doing to the store and the walkway that leads into Playland,” he continued. “People love taking pictures of the kids with the pirate. We thought it would be neat to make the walkway a real meeting spot.”
He said there was plenty of interest in renting the corner spot from the Levchuks, but the family wanted to keep it as a part of the JiLLy’s Boardwalk empire.
“Assuming everything is approved, we have some really neat ideas of what the outside of the store will look like,” he added. “We love customer feedback. We listened when it came to what we did with the candy store. We are making the corner look even better. Customers can expect nothing less.”
For more information visit www.jillysocnj.com. You could also visit them on Facebook.
