Business News

Somerset Family Physical Therapy is once again serving as a donation center for the U.S. Marine Corps reserves “Toys for Tots” program.

A fundraising drive by the township Stop & Shop store to benefit the American Cancer Society netted more than $3,000, the company said. The store raised $3,735 in a two-week period in October through the sale of pink ribbons. The money raised will go toward the ACS’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk.

Rupen Patel was all smiles Oct. 26 as he mingled with guests at the grand opening party for his newest property, the Springhill Suites hotel on Cedar Grove Lane. “It turned out beautiful,” said Patel, who also owns The Imperia on Easton Avenue and Fairfield Inn and Suites on Davidson Avenue. “I couldn’t be happier than this.”

Johnson & Johnson’s Chief Health Officer and Corporate Medical Director Dr. Marcelo Targino will present “The Future of Employee Wellness” at Healthier Somerset’s annual Worksite Wellness Forum on Oct. 24 at the AVE, 199 Pierce Street. Breakfast and networking begin at 8:30 a.m. The program begins at 9:00 a.m. and concludes at 10:30 a.m.

The iHop restaurant on Easton Avenue Oct. 14 celebrated its new interior with a ribbon-cutting, cake and free short stacks. Mayor Phillip Kramer was on hand to do the ribbon-cutting honors, as the restaurant’s management and staff looked on.

A township resident was recently honored by Citizens Financial Group for 25 years of service. Sushvet Kantesaria’s name was inscribed on a brick that will be installed outside Citizens’ headquarters at One Citizens Plaza, according to a press release from the company. Kantesaria was one of 75 Citizens employees so honored.

There’s once again an Italian pizzeria and restaurant in the Village Plaza shopping center on Easton Avenue, with the opening earlier this week of Mezza Luna. Cosimo Correale, the restaurant’s owner, is a veteran of the industry. Correale, who emigrated to the United States from his native Calabria, Italy, when he was 16 years old, has in the ensuing 36 …

NEW BRUNSWICK – The new owners of University Shell on Easton Avenue want to expand their reach beyond the city’s borders. In an effort to appeal to Franklin auto owners bordering the Hub City, partners Evan Ahmed and Christian Guerrero are offering free auto pickup and delivery to Somerset residents who have service appointments with them.

Township residents looking to get fit have another choice with the grand opening of Crunch Fitness in Rutgers Plaza on Easton Avenue. Located in half of the space of a former supermarket – and next to the former Staples space – the new Crucnh franchise takes up about 25,000 square feet, said Eric Wahad, the franchise’s general manager.

It’s Resta’s Car Care’s 70th anniversary, but for 70 minutes on Sept. 17, it’s the customers who will get the present. From noon to 1:10 p.m. on Sept. 17, gasoline customers at Resta’s, 1873 Amwell Rd., at the corner of Cedar Grove Lane, can receive up to seven gallons of regular gasoline at 70 cents below the listed price.