New York Times
July 20, 2004
ELIZABETH, N.J., July 19 - In the film "Being John Malkovich," a journey into the portal of Mr. Malkovich's brain ends with a fall from the sky onto an embankment of the New Jersey Turnpike.
It is a cinematic moment that can pull smiles from viewers who have never even been to New Jersey or zipped down its leading highway. To consider the turnpike as anything more than a conveyor from point A to point B seems laughable. A destination it is not.
Or is it? Yesterday, the struggling city of Elizabeth held a news conference to promote not its town square or even a new firehouse, but the turnpike - specifically, its exit 13A. "Someone asked, 'Are you going to try to make 13A a tourism opportunity?' " Mayor Chris Bollwage said at the news conference, which was held in the parking lot of the Jersey Gardens Mall, near the exit. "I said, absolutely."
That an exit should inspire a marketing campaign makes particular sense in New Jersey. After all, one of the oldest jokes here - and among its greatest pickup lines - remains the question, "What exit?"
But officials are also hoping it makes business sense. An average of 59,645 vehicles go through the tollbooths at the exit every day, and local officials want more of them to slow down, turn off and spend the day shopping or the night in one of the area's hotels.
Soon there will also be radio spots, a logo - "13A, Shop, Play, Stay" - and perhaps the first Web site ever created for a turnpike exit, www.exit13a.com, all to promote the mall, a movie theater, Ikea and seven hotels.
"This has probably never been done," Mayor Bollwage said.
The question of whether it should have been done is eagerly taken up by Gordon Haas, executive director of the Greater Elizabeth Chamber of Commerce, who came up with the idea.
"It was basically us, the chamber, talking to members of the business community, learning that business could be better," Mr. Haas said.
"When we sat around we realized that when you are in Jersey, people ask you, 'What exit are you?' " Mr. Haas said. And so, voilą. "It's something way off the wall."
The state and local businesses put up the money for the campaign, Mr. Bollwage said. Part of the campaign will promote the fact that the area is an urban enterprise zone, which means shoppers pay just 3 percent - half the state's sales tax - on their purchases. Some of the tax money is reinvested in the community, one of the poorest in New Jersey.
Tasseen Afzul, a manager at Socks and More in the mall, said on Monday that he thought the campaign was a great idea.
Standing in front of piles of crew and ankle-length socks, without a customer in sight, Mr. Afzul said the campaign could turn things around. "I believe business will be doubled," he said.
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