WHAT'S HAPPENING BUSINESS-WISE IN THE DELAWARE VALLEY
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NEW CLOSURES-(unfortunately) -RIP
SONIC DRIVE IN'S BUCKS COUNTY - We hardly got to know you
GENARDI'S SUPERMARKETS - means higher food prices for everyone
NY BAGEL & DELI - fairless hills _ after only 6 months?
DOLLAR BOUTIQUE summit square shopping center- RIP....in a recession?
CHEESEBURGER IN PARADISE RIP - no real marketing since the opening!
BUCKS COUNTY ZOO is closing - Good luck - we hope to see it back in the future!
ROUGE - IS closing -RIP
All the BORDERS Stores that are closing -RIP - It was a great place to hang out!!
NOT AGAIN - FAMOUS DELI of Holland is closed again for renovations??? Is this its demise?
OLLIE'S DISCOUNT OUTLET - In BRISTOL - not enough good deals at the grand opening - the jury is still out- don't think the variety and frequency of really good deals exist!
RIP - Wish List - Southampton - geat place for unusual gifts............landlord problem????
RIP - Summer Kitchen - Penns Park- not enough businees OR not enough marketing?
RIP ? - ROUGE - Newtown ? for RENT sign 3,500 sq ft on TOP of restaurant?????? SIGN IS NOW DOWN .....WHAT'S UP????
RIP ? - Peter Puck Pub in Holland - banruptcy notice filed - closed....
RIP - Puzzle Castle Newtown - no surprise here - please do your homework before you leap! Retail at a holiday kiosk does not always = a good year round business in a strip center
RIP? - Vader's in Southampton? closed on a Fri night?...not again... looks deserted now.. NO SIGNS of LIFE there????
RIP- Mutchie's Pizza in Richboro
RIP - The NEST in Newtown has just moved south on state street - good luck! PS - HINT: better market more as the walking traffic is less on that end of State Street
What's with all these NEW BANKS? - Do we really a new WACHOVIA BANK where the Richboro Pizza Hut once stood? A new BENEFICIAL BANK where Stockberger Chrysler once stood? and to top it off a MONUMENT bank where Council Rock Cafe once stood.
Hey PA MALL owners - check out the expanded CHERRY HILL MALL - it's awesome and normally busy....PSST - We need more interesting fun stores in our malls! DITTO for the King of Prussia mall! VISIED Montgomery Mall last week...it needs alot of help & sprucing up!
LOVE the new morning SUNDAY BRUNCH at Christine's in Yardley -awesome!
JAKE'S EATERY of Richboro opened a 2nd location in NEWTOWN in April 2011.......kind of close to the Richboro location isn't it? - it is what Richboro should be...spacious ! Non - Refurbished Richboro location seems emptier & badly in need of a spruce-up!
263 MARKETPLACE on york road in Warminster appears to be in some trouble ..little foot traffic ...some unhappy vendors .....at $52 a sq. ft. to rent a space ...you had better get the owners to market the place like crazy to drive a crowd there.......it will be a real tough road for all of you......good luck! Update June 2011 ............things look bleak here - sparse crowd on a Friday night - many shops relocated on gone altogether....best wishes......
OH NO------ COUNCIL ROCK CAFE closes-RIP - When will new restaurant owners ever ever budget enough money to advertise? A good product ...good service.......no marketing sense. And now its replacement - Monument Bank?
A new restaurant has taken downtown NEWTOWN by storm - PALATE on State Street - It's first class ***** - give it a shot................
CUPCAKES HAVE ARRIVED IN A BIG DELICIOUS WAYin downtown Newtown -FELIX's CAKETERIA is finaly open on Washington Ave. in the old maternity store location...AWESOME! Is it open that much for retail trade? UPDATE - NOT REALLY A NEWTOWN ATTRACTION, DOES NOT PUSH
WALK-IN BUSINESS which State Street sorely needs............
OH NO - Looks like poular HUNGRY H CAFE closed down..........THE best brealkfast / lunch around -RIP
OH NO AGAIN - no more shrimp salad sandwiches at INNFLIGHT WINGWALKER in Feasterville -RIP.........now it's CHOW - & it's just OK....
We need more NEAT stores around here like "DRAGONFLY" on S. State St. in Newtown - A great place to get unique gifts at a reasonable price!
I Just LOVE "The Hungry H Cafe" on Bridge Street in Old Morrisville for breakfast & lunch..... it just keeps getting better & better! Please open up location # 2 soon.......
Council Rock Cafe opens in place of Ali's Igloo.... Food is great -give it a try.....It will need help via word of mouth to succeed!....Marketing is needed here as soon as possible!
Ali's Igloo ice cream in Newtown - Is it really back open again?? No .. will open with new owners as a cafe with live music ....in conservative Newtown? We'll watch this one close....
Jake's Eatery of Richboro is expanding to Newtown late in 2010 - Watch out Pat's! ...at the old Indian restaurant site across from Dunkin Donuts in the Citizen's Bank shopping Center.
Rouge Express Gourmet takeout opened on S. State street across for Pat's. Not much traffic seen there yet!.....................but It is starting to get noticed! OH OH- RIP ...closed for good!
Hungy H Cafe opened in Morrisville.....like Pat''s Kitchen in Newtown;but more spacious and more food variety...Check it out as the food's great and so is the atmosphere.
Summer Kitchen in Penns Park on RTE 232 - best & cheapest Sunday brunch in Bucks County!
Vader's restaurant is back ......better than ever.
Goodnoe Dairy Bar is back in Newtown now,, You betcha ..........right on Sycamore Ave.about a block from the old place -FOUR ice cream stores within a block?? .........sounds like a recipe for failure for two. UPDATE: Ali's Igloo closed for the season or forever? ...NO old Goodnoe's Dairybar charm --what a shame!
The Newtown Old ACME site ...........becoming an upscale women's store based in Phlly called ANTHOLOGY??? Was supposed to open by Sept 2010.....No way, no how!... It's still a HUGH eyesore with no news of when anything will happen on the ground. Anybody know what happened? Another upscale woman's store in Newtown? That's not what I think Newtown needs or wants...... I give it a year ...what about the effect on the other upscale ladies stores in the area like Angel Heart, Metro, Marrissa's..........In my opinion, this choice of venue is not good news period. Where's Trader Joe's or Whole Foods when we need them?
The long-awaited Green Parrot Pub opens in Newtown ..........but why? and why now?
(This is a classic example of a business opening without adequate planning (no backup plan) and not really knowing how to treat new customers the right way.)
I went to the Green Parrot twice on its opening weekend. On Saturday night we attempted to get in & try out the new place. I tried to make reservations but they took none ......but the hostess hinted to me that there should only be a short wait at 6:30pm. Approaching the place at exactly 6:30pm in the Old Goodnoe Shopping Center at 6:30pm, we were stopped dead in our tracks at the entranceway to the restaurant by a big sign put up by a valet parking company offering complimentary valet parking-at the lot....... the wel-known undersized lot was packed as expected .......and no other choice existed for parking..........
I felt sorry for the other stores........first time I ever saw valet parking for an AT&T store? or an ice cream store? or a rite aid? or a Mac machine at the bank?.......Good planning (as we all knew) by the township. So I tipped the valet person, waded thru a mobbed bar & found out there was an hour & a half wait at 6:30pm ? are you kidding me? Then I waded back out and tipped the valet again to get my car back and went elsewhere........I believe they parked my car in the lot across the street in the shopping center that loudly protested the planned lack of parking in the Goodnoe Center before it was built. I Hope the Parrot owners paid the landlord of the shopping center across the street some rent to park the Green Parrot overflow cars there.
On Sunday at 4:30pm I revisited the Green Parrot again determined to get in & taste the food. I got in all right .......but the computer system had crashed (?) and they said they were only serving pizza . Pizza? Nothing Else? ...........liquor & beer was readily available.
The owner & head cook came over to our table & explained that because their order system was down, they were afraid to make anything else but pizza for fear of delivering other food offerings that they felt they could screw up & give a bad first impression of their sparkling new restaurant. They also apologized to us....... I looked at the menu & about 15% of the menu choices were pizzas. I would love to what Jules Thin Crust Pizza just 4 doors down feels about that!
The pizza was just ok ........the waitress gave us undersized square plates to eat our slices on. I expected a manual bill since the new computerized system was down .......but a perfect computerized bill with no discount at all came & that was that. A free dessert or free drinks or a 20% discount to come back would have been a good idea in my opinion ........ but I guess the owners think from the crowds that they had on the 3 previous nights indicated to them that they already had a gold mine waiting for them in Newtown.... but don't count on me or my friends coming back real soon. (RUMOR - TWO SOURCES TOLD ME THAT THE RESTAURANT ACTUALLY RAN OUT ON FOOD WHEN I CAME BACK THE SECOND TIME....But used the computer excuse card on me instead of being upfront with me.)
Green Carrot Update - Things are better...I went back- The Bar is hopping and looks great...The food just average in my opinion.
2009 saw the demise of some more aging Bucks & Montgomery County Businesses:
RIP 2009
1) Partyland Richboro....blame the $ stores
2) Stefano's Restaurant...blame Yardley's Christines 2nd location
3) Mother of Five Maternity clothes... closed ......site to open as Felix's bakery?
4) Marcella's Beauty Salon - Morrisville
5) Circuit City - bet prices go up @ Best Buys in the future...
6) Office Depot - never saw any activity there until closing was announced
7) Lexy Q Newtown- Marketing ???
8) Famous Deli -Holland.......for just a few weeks -open again!
9) Gulf Station -Richboro...but back open in 2010
10) Bank of America branches -Richboro for one
11) Inkspot ......all of them ....no surprise here..within walking distance to STAPLES
RUMORS of a possible demise.... Jules Thin Crust-Newtown, Metro Clothing -Newtown...hear of any others?
The Current Economic Climate in Delaware Valley according to EARL!
Last year was the QUIETIEST Winter EVER for me in my consulting business and I am hearing that for a lot of consultants that I talk to. It's got to be the economy and the FEAR that this decline has put in the mind of entrepreneurs and the business startup owners. The number of startup businesses is declining slightly in our area for the first time in the past few years, but is starting to ramp back up in the first part of 2010.
The BENEFITS (good things???) TO ENTREPRENEURS OF AN ECONOMIC DOWNTURN
1) You must change the way that you do business or perish............
2) You must think differently - out of the box
3) You will have less competition in the long run.
4) You can't take any order or referral for granted
5) You will be forced to become more organized & thrifty
Certain local banks in my area asked for BAILOUT money..........unfortunately, these are the same banks that tell us at networking events that they are solid and have plenty of money to lend to entrepreneurs. What gives???
Want to start a WET HOSING business? What did you say? It's a new business in which companies with large large fleets of vehicles hire you (& your wet hosing company) to fill the gas tanks of the fleet at off hours so that higher wage earner drivers don't have to.Hey in this economy- anything goes!
GETTING PAID-Expect your clients to take longer than ever to pay your bill......makesure that your future price structure takes this into account. BE PATIENT.....WE ARE ALL GOING THRU IT!
ANYONE want to own the TASTE OF PHILLY PRETZEL STORE like the one we had at the old Goodnoe site? The pretzel store lasted only 4 months ...........a record for the Newtown shopping district.
NAIL SALONS & Spas- Do we really need this many of them?
Check out the growing shopping district in Bordentown, NJ on Farnsworth Ave. - it's like a bigger version of State St. in Newtown, Pa. I love Oliver's Bistro restaurant there.
Watch out malls! Unless the weather is bad, new small town look shopping centers like VALLEY SQUARE in Warrington, PA. will give you a run for your money this holiday shopping center.