The results of our latest poll are in:
Continue reading Poll results: What do you want to see downtown?
Tag Archives: bakery
What store would you like to see downtown?
An illness and the holidays teamed up to give me some time off but we’re back now with the first poll in awhile. It often comes up in reader discussion and comments, so here goes:
Patria, D’Orsi’s win big at The Taste of Rahway
Patria and D’Orsi’s Bakery were the big winners at The Taste of Rahway on Friday night, winning three categories each. The winners in each category were as follows (in Rahway, unless otherwise noted):
Continue reading Patria, D’Orsi’s win big at The Taste of Rahway
Poll results: two clear leaders for retail options
Almost 100 votes in our latest poll and two clear leaders finished ahead, with a pretty close third, among the 10 options:
What store would you like to see downtown?
Specialty food store — 23 percent, 21/91
Bakery/bagel shop — 21 percent, 20/91
Coffee shop — 16 percent, 15/91
Liquor store/wine shop — 8 percent, 8/91
Butcher — 8 percent, 8/91
Bar/restaurant — 7 percent, 7/91
Other — 6 percent, 6/91
Books/news/magazines — 4 percent, 4/91
Art/art supply — 2 percent, 2/91
Clothing — 0 percent, 0/91
Furniture — 0 percent, 0/91
So, it looks like you all want a specialty food store, bakery/bagel shop, and coffee shop the most. While most of you seem to want a grocery store, a specialty food store could be an interesting draw. Any suggestions exactly? I would think it’s key to have shops that might not be found elsewhere, and that could mean “specialty” just about anything.
Most of the choices in our latest poll could very well be combined into the same shop; a bakery that has bagels, and a nice coffee house space, and maybe specialty foods? Of course, just recently there was a bakery/pastry shop downtown but it didn’t last; so is it a matter of people saying they want something, but practically speaking, not using or patronizing it? I still think we’re desperate for a good bagel shop downtown, as well as a liquor store/wine shop — and not the kind that were downtown before. A liquor store would make a great complement to BYO restaurants.
What were some of your options for the six “other” votes? It’s clear that readers don’t want a clothing store or furniture store. Kind of surprising to be honest, as was the art/art supply choice. I mean, if it’s an arts town, you’d think and art or art supply shop would work, and in the same vein, perhaps an artsy type of specialty furniture store. Know what I mean? After all, the Rahway Survey (remember that?) recommended a strategy of recruiting retail related to arts and entertainment.
Free free to discuss in the comments below.
Facade collapses at burned out E Cherry building
The ground-floor facade of the burned out building at 65 E. Cherry St. collapsed over the weekend. It’s likely that it occurred sometime between Saturday morning and Sunday afternoon.
The Redevelopment Agency considered buying the property last summer and last spring was looking into possibly demolishing the structure. Dornoch purchased the property for $65,000 from the Parking Authority and more than three years ago had proposed renovations to the Planning Board.
The two-story building has been vacant since a fire destroyed the beauty supply shop in the summer of 2005.
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MyCentralJersey.com had this profile of Aromalicious, the new pastry shop on East Cherry Street.
Aromalicious by Christmas
A Portuguese bakery and cafe is coming to East Cherry Street within the next week. Aromalicious will be open by Christmas, according to the signs in the windows of 85 E. Cherry St. Renovations had been ongoing at the site since the summer.
Readers of the blog often have expressed a desire for a local bakery downtown. The results of the Rahway Survey from several years ago indicated support for a bakery, among other things, and there was quite a discussion about a bakery after Drug Fair vacated their spac
e on St. Georges Avenue.
International Pastry, now in Clark, was located along East Cherry Street about a decade ago, and not far from this location, American Jubilee, a dessert shop/bakery operated at 88 E. Cherry (most recently an art gallery) until about five years ago.
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Kind of a scary story from The New York Times on Friday (“A ‘Shadow Inventory’ Dampens Winter Market”): A “shadow inventory” of 41 months worth of homes to sell that aren’t even on the market yet because they’re in the foreclosure process. “More northerly, urban parts of the state are in less dire straits.”