Business

PROPOSED APARTMENT BUILDING – An artist’s rendering of the proposed four-story, 200-unit apartment building proposed for the former K-Mart location in Rutgers Plaza. The October 17 Zoning Board of Adjustment hearing on the Levin Properties application to build 200 apartments in Rutgers Plaza has been postponed until 2025. The township published an online notice, saying that Levin had requested the …

FAIR WARNING – This sign greeted customers of Starbucks on Cedar Grove Lane October 13 and 14, after issues with the store’s filtered water arose. Customers at the Cedar Grove Center Starbucks were greeted by an unusual sign on October 13 and 14; one warning them about the water in the store. “Do not trust our water,” the sign began. …

POT TALK – Township Manager Robert Vornlocker talks about the proposed ordinance amendment limiting the number of cannabis retailers in the township to 18. The number of cannabis retailers in the township would be officially limited to 18 under an ordinance amendment introduced at the Township Council’s October 8 meeting. There is some leeway in that number, however. If a …

READY TO EXPAND – The Fitness Factory health club is preparing for an expansion into adjacent martial arts-related spaces. After six years of helping people slim down or bulk up, depending on their preference, the Fitness Factory is adding a little bulk of its own. The health club, located in the Cedar Grove Center on Cedar Grove Lane, will soon …

NEW DIGS – The interior of the new Venus Jewelers location in the Rutgers Plaza shopping center on Easton Avenue. The new location is scheduled to open this Fall. (Photo: Venus Jewelers.) Originally planned for this summer, the opening of Venus Jewelers’ new Rutgers Plaza location has been delayed until the Fall due to supply chain issues and construction challenges, …

RIBBON-CUTTING – Imran Fayazi, center, aided by (left to right) Umar Sheikh, Township Councilman Alex Kharazi, and Aliya Fayazi, cut the ribbon on the new AFC Urgent Care Center in Cedar Grove Center on Cedar Grove Lane. It’s all about family at AFC Urgent Care in the Cedar Grove Center, which celebrated its grand opening on July 18. The township’s …

The Stop & Shop supermarket in the Market Place on Franklin is slated to close by November 2, according to a company spokesman. The store, located at 1221 Route 27, is one of 32 “underperforming” stores in five states slated to close. “The decision to close our Franklin Township store was a difficult one, and only made after careful analysis …

VOLUNTEERS AT WORK – Volunteers at the Food Bank’s warehouse on Churchill Avenue. (Photo: Franklin Food Bank.) The Franklin Food Bank recently received a $15,000 grant from Bank of America. The grant will help the Franklin Food Bank further its mission of serving neighbors in need, while improving economic mobility in greater Somerset County. Between 2022 and 2023, the Franklin …

GRAND OPENING – Christine Aboyoun cuts the ribbon April 20 at the Grand Opening of The Dispensary of Somerset, 920 Hamilton Street. Another April 20 – 4/20 – and another grand opening for a cannabis adult recreational store in the township. This time around it was The Dispensary of Somerset, 920 Hamilton Street, doing the honors. 4/20 is a veritable …

AD HOC COMMITTEE MEETS – The Township Council’s ad hoc committee on retail signage chose to hold its first public meeting virtually on April 29. Changes to the Township’s retail signage regulations that take into account a businesses’ location rather then set broad-brush standards may be in the offing. That was the upshot from the first open meeting of the …