Retail Skills Center established at Jersey Gardens to create a high performance workforce; trained over 21,000 people since 1999

The 1999 opening of Jersey Gardens meant more than 200 outlet stores and great savings for area shoppers; it also generated over 5,000 new jobs for the area. The Retail Skills Center (RSC), located in the mall, provides tenant and job candidates alike with a valuable resource for recruitment, training and ultimately placement. The RSC opened with the mall as an industry-driven one-stop and uses industry skill standards to help workers enter and advance in retail and service-related careers. The RSC was the first retail training center opened in the United States and is the national model for the National Retail Federation Foundation. Since opening, the RSC has served over 21,000 people and has developed programs to meet specific needs of employers.

Its special curriculum trains job applicants in the skills needed for success in the retail workplace, with a strong emphasis on customer service as well as sales.  The RSC matches employers with job applicants already qualified on the basis of industry-wide standards.

According to Crystal Stell, Marketing Director for Jersey Gardens, “The Retail Skills Center’s comprehensive curriculum will continue to facilitate the hiring process for our 200 retail tenants by ensuring a highly qualified labor force that is skilled in sales techniques and customer service.”

Success Stories

Luis Ruiz was hired as a Manager at Vitamin World in 1999. Luis completed the Customer Service & Sales training and received his certification in 2000.  Luis kept in contact with the Retail Skills Center to find Sales Associates for his store. Luis has risen to the Senior Store Manager position and currently oversees two locations!

Maritza Rivera graduated from the Retail Skills Center in November 2008. She was previously an accountant and found herself unemployed.  She decided to take the Customer Service & Sales training and try a new career in retail.  She was hired as a Keyholder with US Polo shortly after graduation. “The Retail Skills Center helped me focus on what I wanted and not waste my time. As an accountant, I was used to working with numbers.  The RSC taught me how to deal with a variety of people.”

Angela Howell graduated from the Retail Skills Center in 2006. She started as a Sales Associate at Ashley Stewart and was promoted to Co-Manager at another location. In November 2008, she returned to Jersey Gardens to work for Fashion to Figure. She is currently the Co-Manager and hopes to become the Regional Manager one day. 

Stell continues, “We are thrilled that many of the original students are not only still employed in the mall but have risen through the retail ranks to management level positions.  It truly has been a win-win for everyone, benefitting local job candidates, the retailers that hire them and the mall visitors they serve!”