NYC Commuters Get Another Option

One thing that Route 27 offers that many New Jersey suburbs don't is mass transit. For years, Suburban Transit, owned by U.K.-based Stagecoach Group, was the only option for commuters heading to New York. Now it has some competition. In May 2016, Ourbus started service from Kendall Park/Franklin Park to the city. 

Route 27: At least it has access to mass transit.

Twice a Day

The disadvantage to Ourbus? It only has two departure times in the morning, the same for the return trip in the evening. Suburban Transit runs twice an hour for most of the day and even more often during rush hours. The Ourbus route, though, is an express. There are no local stops in North Brunswick and New Brunswick.

The Ourbus route begins at Kendall Park Roller Skating Rink at 6:30 and 7:00 each morning then goes to Green Hill Manor apartment complex, Stillwell Road, and Kendall Park Post Office before heading to New York. Once in the city, it makes stops at Times Square, Bryant Park, and Grand Central. In the evening, service departs from Grand Central at 5:10 and 5:55.

Ourbus is now offering service to and from the city...

...which means competition for Suburban Transit.

Another advantage is the cost. The fare is $9.25 each way, making it $18.50 for a round trip. That compares with Suburban Transit's round trip fare of $25.44. Suburban Transit's monthly pass at $410 equates to about $9.32 per trip for the month of October if you used it for five round-trips per week (at 22 working days in the month).

Note: Thanks to my husband for noticing the Ourbus driving up Route 27 today.

Online Tickets

With Ourbus, you buy your tickets online, and of course, they have an app for your smartphone. So you skip waiting in line at a bus station to buy tickets. Ourbus also had had service from Montgomery and Rocky Hill service, but that was discontinued as of Oct. 2.

Franklin Towne Sharing Center?

Following up on my post from Oct. 10, perhaps the space that was occupied by Stein Mart, can now be used as a shared-office space, a la WeWork buying the flagship Lord & Taylor store in New York from Hudson's Bay Co.Click for press release. That would be one way to repurpose traditional retail space into a millennial sharing economy enterprise.

Riya Plaza Update

Les Delices Bakery at Riya Plaza is progressing toward opening. It now has help wanted signs up for bakers and sales staff.

New Nail and Spa Time, also in Riya Plaza, looks close to opening.

"This Stretch of 27" covers business on Route 27 between Finnegan's Lane and Route 518. What's your story? Email me at lkiesche@gmail.com

Liz Kiesche
Liz, a business journalist, formerly worked for Bloomberg News in Princeton and New York.

Help Wanted Ranges From Alankar to Wawa

I've noticed a few help-wanted signs in the area, the most noticeable being the one at the corner of Beekman and 27 announcing that Wawa is now accepting applications. Wawa's website doesn't give an estimated opening date for the site that's now under construction.

Positions include customer service associates, fuel service associates and night supervisor. The company didn't respond to an email seeking clarification on when the store/gas station will open. The site was previously a Lukoil gas station with a Circle K convenience store, which was closed a few years ago.

The new Wawa will be well situated, since a new development, East Meadow Estates, is being built around Wawa and the Tabtor Math building. The development was approved for 55 single-family homes by South Brunswick Township.

Other places that are hiring are the Franklin Park Diner; Alankar Boutique, which is seeking a tailor; Hair Time, advertising for a barber; Cleworth Conditioning, seeking an HVAC technician; Domino's, L'Affaire Bakery; and Party Fair. It's likely that most of the stores that are coming soon (mentioned in Sept. 18's post) are also looking to hire.

Odds and ends: Construction has started in two store fronts in Franklin Park Plaza, behind IHOP. No signs have yet indicated what will occupy the spaces and the real estate broker didn't return a call seeking further information.

Mini-Profile: Alankar Boutique

When Stein Mart closes next month, the only store selling clothing (other than underwear and sweat shirts in Walgreens, CVS and Stop & Shop) will be Alankar Tailoring Boutique, the company's third store in New Jersey. It's located behind the CVS on Route 27 south, not to be confused with the CVS on Route 27 north.

Husband-and-wife team Darshita and Rikesh Solanki at Alankar Boutique

The Franklin Park store opened about a year ago and is doing well, says Rikesh Solanki, who is a partner in the business. His wife, Darshita, also works at the store. The couple comes to the U.S. from Gujarat, India's western-most state. 

The store imports clothing from India, as well as sells custom-made clothing. Alankar hasn't done much advertising or promotion, Solanki says, other than listing on Google Business. Word of mouth appears to be the main source of their customers, who are both from the Franklin Park/Kendall Park area as well as further south. 

Let me know what's going on in your business on Route 27 between Finnegan's Lane and Route 518. Email me at lkiesche@gmail.com

Liz Kiesche
Liz, a business journalist, formerly worked for Bloomberg News in Princeton and New York.

Coming Soon to a Strip Mall Near You (Near Me, Actually)

A new sign went up in the Park Plaza strip mall over the weekend. Persis Biryani Indian Grill will open in the space once occupied by Spice Rack restaurant. The new restaurant will add to the chain that already has 19 locations in the U.S., and will be the fourth in New Jersey. Persis's existing New Jersey locations are in Hamilton, Piscataway and Jersey City.

The company's website says each location is independently owned and operated and adheres to the Persis's guidelines and food standards. Other locations are in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Tennessee, Florida and Nebraska.

Child Care...

A couple more sign changes occurred recently at Franklin Park Plaza (the shopping center that includes the IHOP). The Wonder Years Academy preschool and day care has changed to Greatstart Early Learning. (The Franklin Park Plaza sign still says Wonder Years, though). Greatstart has four sites in New Jersey and another in the Philippines, while Wonder Years only has two locations now. Greatstart offers programs for children from 6 weeks to 13 years old, according to its website.

The original building, built in 1909, was called Franklin Park School, but renamed the Phillips School in 1931 and was part of the Franklin Township public school system until 1976, according to Wikipedia. The township recreation department used the building until 1993, when it was closed due to structural problems. It was sold, renovated and re-opened as a private childcare and preschool facility in 1999.

.. And Kidney Care

A sign went up for DaVita Kidney Care Center in the strip mall behind the IHOP. The company operates 2,445 outpatient dialysis centers in the U.S. and  217 centers in other countries as of June 30, 2017. The company opened 27 centers in its fiscal second quarter and 24 in this year's first quarter.

Lots More Coming to Riya Plaza

Rita Dance Academy is moving from Finnegans Lane in North Brunswick to Route 27 (probably no more than 500 feet from its current location). The school teaches Kathak, a dance style prevalent in northern India, according to the academy's website. 

A brand known in India, Kwality Ice Cream, is also opening a store in Riya Plaza. Headquartered in Edison, the brand is available at 10 other locations in the U.S. The chain carries more than 57 gourmet ice creams and specializes in Cassta, Kulfi, eggless ice cream cakes and sugar-free ice creams.   

Five-minute pizza? Pie Five Pizza Co. is also opening up in the same strip mall. The  chain, based on the premise of preparing pizza in five minutes, stretches as far west as Nebraska and Texas and as far north as Minnesota. The company also plans to open a location on Route 18 in East Brunswick and another on Long Island.

Also coming to Riya Plaza is Les Delices Bakery and New Nail Time & Spa

.

Let me know what's going on in your business on Route 27 between Finnegan's Lane and Route 518. Email me at lkiesche@gmail.com

Liz Kiesche
Liz, a business journalist, formerly worked for Bloomberg News in Princeton and New York.

Gasoline Prices: The World Turned Upside Down

Wait! What's going on? The Raceway and Valero north of Finnegans Lane always have the cheapest price around here, right? And Exxon is always the most expensive. Well, the Exxon part is still true. But now Raceway and Valero, which are practically across the street from one another, are the same price as Exxon. But wait--if you pay using a credit card, then Exxon is cheaper than Raceway and Valero.

Since Hurricane Harvey shut down some refineries in the Houston area, gasoline prices have, of course, risen in New Jersey, as they have around the country. At the Raceway, just north of Bennington Parkway/Finnegan's Lane, the price jumped 40c/gallon to $2.799 (cash price) from $2.399. 

As of noon today (Wednesday, Sept. 6),  the lowest gasoline price $2.749 (when you pay cash) at Valero on 27 South.

At the BP on the corner of Finnegans Lane, the price is now $2.759/gallon. Again, it's unusual that BP's price is lower than the Raceway's. The BP at the corner of Allston Road and Sunoco, both close to Route 518, are selling gas at the same price as the Finnegans Lane BP.

Sunoco just north of Route 518

                                                                          

    How to account for the discrepancies? For one thing, there may be two different products they're selling. When I stopped at the Finnegans Lane BP earlier this week, I noticed a label on the gas pump, "May Contain Ethanol."  Ethanol is cheaper than gasoline. According to Business Insider, today's price for ethanol is $1.57/gallon. The average price for a gallon of regular-grade gasoline today is $2.80, according to the website GasBuddy. That's a big difference. So some of the refiners may be adding ethanol to the mix.  If you notice your miles-per-gallon decreasing, that's probably the case.

Then there are the dynamics of fuel retailing. Here's how it works. Branded fuel (such as BP, Exxon, Shell) costs more because there are more costs inherent to the product, such as advertising, research and additives. Unbranded fuel retailers rarely advertise and don't include additives in their fuels, so they sell at a discount to branded fuel.

A hurricane can mess with the supply/demand unevenly. A lot of gasoline is refined in the Houston area, and many of them had to shut down for awhile because of the storm. Some may take longer to get up and running due to storm damage. About 20%-25% of U.S. refining capacity was disrupted by Harvey, CNBC says. This may have hurt the supply of unbranded fuel more than it did branded fuel. Therefore, when supply falls and demand remains the same, the price goes up. 

Of course, once the refineries are all up and running, the gas prices may all revert back to their normal order of things. Hurricane season isn't over yet, though.

Lucky for the Texas and Louisiana, Hurricane Irma doesn't seem to be heading their way, but does appear headed for Florida. That may actually reduce demand for gasoline temporarily. Tropical storm Katia, which formed in the Gulf of Mexico, is expected to make landfall in Mexico. Stay tuned. Gas prices could be in for bumpy ride this year.

Let me know what's going on in your business on Route 27 between Finnegan's Lane and Route 518. Email me at lkiesche@gmail.com

Liz Kiesche