Most prom shopping in western Monmouth County happens in a strip center off Route 9. This one happens on the second floor of the third-largest mall in New Jersey, in a boutique that sells Jovani, Amarra, Faviana, Terani and Tiffany Designs a few storefronts from the chain dress shops. Azaria Bridal sits in Suite D218 of Freehold Raceway Mall, the Macerich property at Route 9 and Route 33 across the highway from the Freehold Raceway harness track.
That address matters more than it sounds. Macy’s and Windsor are both in the same building, and both sell a prom dress. Azaria is selling a different thing: labels with designer names on them, tried on in a fitting room with a consultant, one style at a time.
What the store actually covers
Prom is one of several seasons here. The store runs bridal, mother-of-the-bride, bridesmaid, evening, quinceañera and sweet sixteen as separate categories, each with its own appointment type. Quinceañera is not a footnote on the website; it has its own menu item alongside prom. In Freehold Borough, where a majority of residents are Hispanic or Latino, that is a working part of the business rather than a gesture.
Five brands are confirmed through the designers’ own retailer locators: Amarra, Faviana, Jovani, Terani and Tiffany Designs. The store’s own FAQ adds House of Wu and Mary’s to its designer list, both of which matter if you are shopping quinceañera rather than prom. They also stock shoes, including flats and, per their FAQ, dressy sneakers.
Read the policies before you drive over
Azaria is unusually specific in writing about how it operates, and some of it will change how you plan the trip.
- All sales are final. The store states this plainly and ties it to keeping prices down. There is no bringing the dress back.
- No holds. Staff will work with you, but a gown cannot be set aside while you think.
- Alterations are outsourced but on-site. There are no seamstresses on Azaria’s own staff. An outside company, Rocio’s Alterations, keeps someone in the store, and you are free to take the dress to your own tailor instead.
- Appointments are recommended, not required. A prom appointment is booked as a one-hour slot; a fitting room and a staff member are held for you.
- Open Mondays. Monday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Sunday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. The store points out that Monday hours are not standard for formalwear boutiques, and that is fair.
- Bring an adult, or at least call one. The FAQ says a teenager may try on and purchase alone, while the booking page asks that prom shoppers come with a parent or guardian. Given the final-sale rule, sort that out on the phone first.
Who owns it, and since when
The shop opened in 2015. In November 2023 it was bought by Andrea Kelliher of Robbinsville, making it a woman-owned business, a change the store announced on its own news page and one that was covered in local TAPinto coverage at the time.
Finding it, and who else is in line for the same dress
One warning: the store’s FAQ still places it “near Forever 21” on the upper level. That Forever 21 closed at the end of March 2025 in the chain’s bankruptcy, so the landmark is gone. Park on the Macy’s side and go up. The mall is also mid-renovation on its anchor spaces, with Dick’s House of Sport in the old Lord & Taylor box and a three-level Von Maur announced for 2027, so entrances and traffic patterns are not what they were five years ago. NJ Transit routes 67, 836 and 838 stop at the mall if nobody is driving.
The catch of a single store serving one large regional district: the six Freehold Regional high schools — Freehold Township, Freehold Borough, Colts Neck, Howell, Manalapan and Marlboro — are all within a short drive of this parking lot, and they collectively enroll more than 10,000 students. Ask the consultant whether a style has already gone to your school before you commit, because you cannot return it if it has.