Business

LEASE ANNOUNCED – Levin Property Management has announced that the former K-Mart and several attached spaces in Rutgers Plaza on Easton Avenue have been leased, with a formal announcement coming soon. (File photo.) Levin Management Corp., which manages Rutgers Plaza on Easton Avenue, has listed the shopping center’s former Kmart space as leased.

GRAND RE-OPENING – “Wendy” and “Mr. Frosty” were on hand October 10 to greet customers at the Easton Avenue Wendy’s Grand Re-Opening. A line of customers wrapped around the Wendy’s on Easton Avenue on Oct. 10 as the restaurant celebrated its grand reopening after a total remodel, with the first 100 guests going home with a card good for free …

OFFICIAL OPENING – Surrounded by Township, company and business officials, Dr. David Maloney cuts the ribbon for HearingLife’s new location in Cedar Grove Plaza on Cedar Grove Lane. HearingLife, a national provider of hearing health care services with corporate headquarters in Franklin Township, celebrated the grand opening of its new hearing care center in Cedar Grove Plaza on October 7 …

NEW BEGINNING – Approved Fire Protection & Safety CEO Diane Pein reacts after cutting the ribbon October 2 at the company headquarters’ grand opening. Approved Fire Protection & Safety cut the ribbon on its new Commerce Drive building Oct. 2, marking the 90-year-old company’s move to Franklin from its longtime headquarters in South Plainfield.

GENERATIONS AT WORK – Peter and Jason Stavrianidis (left to right) inside Venus Jewelers in Rutgers Plaza. (Photo: Venus Jewelers). Submitted by Venus Jewelers.

BRIDGE CITY DISPENSARY – The Grand Opening of one of the last dispensaries to open in 2025. (File photo). Cannabis businesses in Franklin Township rang up $21.6 million in taxable sales in the first half of 2026, up 52% from a year earlier, but nearly all of that growth came from a single cultivator while many of the township’s retail …

A local Verizon-authorized retailer will participate July 26 in a nationwide giveaway of backpacks for school children. The Verizon Wireless store in the Crossroads Somerset retail center at 441 Elizabeth Avenue will host the local “giveaway”School Rocks Backpack Giveaway,” set to start at 1 p.m.

CELEBRATING THE RELAUNCH – Mayor Phil Kramer speaks to the Franklin Reporter & Advocate’s PJ Parker July 15 during the Dunkin relaunch celebration in Village Plaza on Easton Avenue. The Dunkin’ at Village Plaza on Easton Avenue marked its re-grand opening July 15 with a ribbon-cutting-style celebration that drew the mayor, a state assemblyman, two county commissioners, township and police …

A FEW CORRECTIONS – Township Councilman Ram Anbarasan suggested some changes to the proposed cannabis business ordinance amendment. Update: The ordinance was approved at the Council’s August 11 meeting.

EXPLAINING THE CHANGES – Township Manager Robert Vornlocker describes the changes to the Township’s cannabis regulations at the June 23 Township Council meeting. Operating a cannabis business in Franklin Township is about to get more expensive.