True Jersey began in the early months of 2008 in Asbury Park.

New Jersey has long been known as a hotbed for innovative and even provacative ideas and inventions, from the world's first boardwalk in Atlantic City to the first officially recorded baseball game in Hoboken.

Local artists, clothing designers, musicians, and even just Garden State enthusiasts knew the demand for their various ideas, handiwork, and merchandise, but many found that their concepts were simply not mainstream or politically sensitive enough for most large companies to consider.

One such group, known as BennyGoHome, had been in operation for several years by the start of 2008. Support for their concept of local unity, their calls for respect from the tourist community, and their accompanying messages displayed across t-shirts and stickers was fairly high, and rising constantly. Despite this, the group struggled to find a physical outlet for their message. The bottom line was that most businesses were more afraid of turning away profit by associating with 'risky ideas' than they were interested in marketing and supporting a growing grassroots organization.

But it wasn't just groups like BGH getting turned away by institutional conservative business. Countless others, from independent musicians to apparel producers simply weren't big enough to command the respect or consideration of established businesses.

By the summer of 2007, members of the BGH organization had begun to establish ties with other New Jersey innovators, and they eventually arrived in Asbury Park. Known as a testing ground for new ideas for decades, Asbury Park, at this point in the early stages of a privately-operated redevelopment, welcomed BGH to participate in occasional events and functions.

The exposure which resulted allowed group to realize that despite the rejections they recieved from countless established businesses elsewhere, there was tremendous demand for not only their own handiwork, but also the music, merchandise, artwork, and ideas of endless independent New Jersey business people, groups, and enterprises.

Seeing the need for a permanent, physical location in which to operate, but knowing that most established businesses would reject any kind of partnership, several members of the BGH crew began discussing with other like-minded professionals the prospects for an independently owned, operated, and supported business location. The idea began to emerge as a place for local professionals to be able to market and sell their ideas without needing to go through larger, third-party businesses. The site could sell clothing, music, artwork, games, stickers, and more. Even moreso, the prime strategy would be independence from the mainstream, and adherence to the principles of respect and fairness, both in dealing with customers as well as managing the new company, which could be achieved through worker-managed syndicalism as opposed to having owners and managers dictating to the workers. This business would become the means by which to prove to critics that simply being small or even controversial has little to do with success. The new business would be the proof that one can run an ethical, open, and fair business and still remain profitable.

The emerging alliance's first break came in the form of a storefront opportunity on the Asbury Park boardwalk in the summer of 2008. Jumping at the opportunity, the group quickly solidified their plans for the company and determined that in keeping in line with their anti-corporate approach to doing business, as well as their New Jersey roots, the new company should be distinctly regional, catering to all those who share their spirit for innovation and love for the Garden State. With the foundation for the company set, True Jersey was born.

The new company, still establishing itself on the boardwalk of Asbury Park, immediately began to catch the attention of passers-by, bands, shop owners, and even Garden State enthusiasts. By the start of 2009, True Jersey had established its first permanent location in Belmar, New Jersey.

Today, True Jersey continues to grow and welcome new partners into the fold, all while remaining true to our origins, our customers, and our beloved home of Jersey.