If Hillsborough residents want to attract big name stores like Trader Joe's, they will need to speak up. When Pathmark closed, someone started a Facebook campaign to bring in Trader Joe's and less than 400 people supported it. I emailed TJ's and was told they need to see at least 1000 people interested in a town our size to even consider setting up shop. Most other retail chains will likely test the waters carefully before coming here. Perhaps the Patch could help start a campaign to recruit some businesses and team up with Mr. Strupinsky, the business advocate, to focus local efforts. Here are my suggestions for businesses: Panera would be a nice fit either in the Blockbuster space or in the old Chinese buffet slot in the Promenade. Kmart would be a great spot to house an upscale version of the former Route 18 market but with higher end vendors, perhaps an international food market. Cost Cutters would be great for a company like Odd Lots or maybe Sports Authority. Pathmark is rumored to be going to Weis Markets (BTW, a terrific store from PA!) but if it does not, how about subdividing into two restaurants? Something like Outback Steakhouse or Red Lobster might work in one half and Golden Corral in the other. The Township Committee needs to take the lead now and do whatever is needed to bring in businesses quickly to rejuvenate Hillsborough.

Would be nice to see Panera Bread and Trader Joes in Hillsborough. If Trader Joes can't come to Hillsborough then it would be nice for it to be in Bridgewater or some other town in Somerset county. Will be happy if Weis does come to Hillsborough. Use to live near one and I miss it.

Weis is going in the Pathmark space. It has been confirmed with the leasing agent. Hillsborough's Business Advocate is aware of many of the resident's desires when it comes to wanted businesses. I have corresponded with him and he has also read my blogs on the subject which have mentioned certain desired businesses as mentioned by some town residents.

http://hillsborough.patch.com/blog_posts/welcome-to-hillsborough-home-of-the-vacant-storefronts-houses-for-sale-and-high-taxes

http://hillsborough.patch.com/blog_posts/a-new-dawn-for-hillsborough

That said, ultimately it is up to the landlords to select tenants, and for the tenants to want to rent existing commercial space or develop space that is zoned for their purposes.

I have also given Trader Joe's a copy of my blog stating Hillsborough's desire to have them here, but they have chosen not to respond on the topic.

Personally, I'd love to see a Trader Joe's here.

I'm wondering what kind of business could fill the vacancy that will be left by Kmart since it is a large retail space. I would love to see a high-end sporting goods store that carried things like kayaks and ski equipment in town. I'd also like to see a Trader Joe's and a Whole Foods, or even another Costco or Target or Walmart. The problem is that some neighboring towns also have the same businesses so I'm not sure if that would fit their demographic strategies.

I'd also like more upscale restaurants to come here, like Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, so we've got some variety and more fine dining choices.

My family's top choice for a new store would be a sporting goods store. It's inconvenient to have to travel out of town for sports supplies. I know Play it Again Sports left the Raritan Stop-n-Shop plaza. I believe there was another sporting goods store in the Kohl's plaza very briefly a number of years back. There are so many athletic kids and adults in town; it makes perfect sense to have a local source for our needs. Wheel Life bicycle store in Belle Mead closed recently as well. A sporting goods store would fill a big hole in our town's shopping options.

I'd also love to see a Trader Joe's or Whole Foods. Unfortunately, the Fountain of Vitality health food store in Nelson's Corner closed last year. It was a good quality, small health food store. It doesn't look good for Hillsborough that we couldn't support it. Perhaps a national chain would fare better.

In Style Kids is no longer in the space it used to occupy in the CVS plaza on Triangle Road. Just thought I'd mention that as some more additional retail space that has become available.

Fountain of Vitality has reopened with new owners since last year.

My family would love to have a Chevy's restaurant or similar restaurant of some sort. Would be great to have Trader Joe's! A good NY style bakery would be awesome to have around too!

Trader Joe's would also attract people from Bridgewater. Montgomery, etc. Kmart would be a perfect fit for it!

I agree with the above posters that a nice upscale restaurant and a good old fashioned bakery would be great ideas

a target would be great

I'm glad to hear a new grocery store is going where the Pathmark used to be. I'm quite sad the Kmart is closing since we'll no longer have an "odds and ends" kind of general store in town anymore. I would also love a Trader Joe's or a Whole Foods to come to town. A clothing store might be nice, since there are no more of those either (aka: RIP Fashion Bug in Manville).

I Just DON’T get it!

Look, nothing against Gene, Frank Delcore, or anyone else, BUT this is America, and in America the Free Market dictates what businesses come and go in Hillsborough, not the government. At the end of the day it is competition that controls the market, and that competition is good for business and even better for consumers!

My phone bill used to be $150.00 a month or more, now it is $19.95 a month for unlimited usage! Why? Because the government got out of regulating the Phone Companies, and regardless of the doom and gloom that was preached by the anointed few (ATT, Bell Labs..etc) phone service is better today and 20 times cheaper!

So here is what I don’t get. In this supposed “conservative republican” town, why does our very government say we need a $70,000 a year taxpayer funded Business Advocate to navigate and cut through the confusing red tape our very government has put on the books?

Does anyone here actually think a" Business Advocate," can bring business to town? Any town? They can't, at the end of the day it is all about Dollars and Cents, and put bluntly, the higher our taxes (someone has to pay the Business Advocate salary) the less chance we have in seeing new business.

I really wish someone could explain that to me!

I would also love to see Hillsborough welcome something full of enrichment for our children related to play and learning. We have a great school system, but I want a convenient way I as a parent can continue to satieate kids' love of learning. I vote to bring in a Children's Museum. My family visited on recently on the Worldwide Day of Play in Boston and it was an incredible experience for the young and young at heart. Visit http://www.bostonkids.org to learn more.

Yes, traditional box stores like Target or Wegman's would be great. But I want to see Hillsborough stand out from Bridgewater or Princeton in a completely different way. I think our town could do just that by offering a community experience to cultivate the love of play and the love of learning.

We can wish for businesses, and we can lobby for them, but it doesn't mean that it will happen. Business owners have the final say as to where they want to set up shop.

Hillsborough could benefit from some more family friendly restaurants. Chain restaurants seem to be the ones that survive so why not make attempts to bring in something like Olive Garden, Cheeburger Cheeburger, On The Border, or others similar to these. Also a recreational place such as roller skating, ice skating, etc would be great for families as well.

It's about time K-Mart is closing, that location has been such an eye sore. I'm fine with whatever opens in these locations, but for the love of God no more Banks or Pizzerias - I think we have enough of both at this point. I would like to see a Trader Joe's, Sports Authority (or Dick's Sports) and Panera Bread as well. Some other places I wouldn't mind seeing are PF Chang's, Joe's Crab Shack, and even a coffee house - yes I know we have two Dunkin Donuts practically next door to each other and a Starbucks.

Personally I would like to see a Costco with a gas station. With gas going up it would be nice not to have to drive to Bridgewater and have lower gas prices that the Costco stations have. However I don't think we can attract a Costco here until the route 206 bypass plans are complete to alleviate the bottle necks on 206 where it goes down to single lanes. Locals may know how to get around not using 206 but larger stores would also need to attract customers from neighboring towns that would use 206. And no one likes to sit in traffic.

When I learned of KMart closing, it came to mind that soon Hillsborough will not really need a 206 bypass, since all people will be passing are all the empty stores! Yes, a Panera would be great, however that might put Culinary Creations out of business next. Any of the large chain restaurants would be a welcome though and they are the ones that seem to survive, as people know what to expect when they go there.

I'm surprised no one has said that they want a really BIG bank to go in the spot where Kmart is. (I joke!) ;)

Great one Laura! I worry about what businesses might be able to survive here as many Mont people gravitate Princeton direction to shop and Bridgewater folks have everything there they need, so it might be difficult to prove to any large business that we have a population large enough to support them. This is exactly what has happened to all those closing now. I worry about Stop and Shop too, as do any of you ever see many cars in that parking lot? When I stop by to do a quick shop, that store is always empty.

Would love to have somewhere to buy fresh fish besides ShopRite!

Well, we used to have the great fish market/restaurant, but they too left a few years ago.

It used to be right next to Desi's Pizza and I'm not sure what's there now.

Trader Joe's would be great in Hillsborough! The Lobster Dock is really missed and it would be so great if they came back into town!

He closed up i am not sure why, he was doing well.I love Hillsborugh more then any one but what people have to under stand is in order for any one of these big stores to open they have to have people, customers, alot of customers. Are population is not very large and the rents are very high THIS IS NOT A GOOD MIX..

I can't wait until the RetroFitness Club opens; the area really needs a nice workout facility.

I like to see a Wegman's in town.

Ron . The rents are not high compared to bridgewater , branchburg, somerville or princeton. we are a town of CHEAP customers

Just take a look at the UN scientific poll about "best sandwich". The results are evidence enough that this town's cheapness kills any chance at upscale dining or retail. Catered , hands down is the best of that lot. More expensive , yes. But for taste it has won awards. Just Subs - CHEAP, lousy grub with less than NO meat. And in your poll they nearly split the vote. CHEAP town for cheap eats. Explains the crowds at IHOP, and domino's. Thank you for making my point

Ok, here is my wish list. i think we should take this golden opportunity to tell the current land owners, they must knock the vacate buildings down and plant trees, grass and re-create the once sprawling farmland that was gobbled up by those who throught building so much was actually really good or wanted by us all.

Less building equals less people equals less resources to maintain which means less property taxes for those of us who are left.

Sounds like a plan to me.

I'm not sure why we are CHEAP customers...I don't mind paying for quality. With all the expensive homes here and people living in them, no reason for anyone to skimp on a sandwich! For families, I understand IHOP, although that is not on my radar. Domino's---not good. Papa John's has rewards and discounts on pizza all the time so not sure how Domino's is still here. There is something going in the old Lobster Dock, can't remember what it is. And yes, Panera would be great but would probably infringe on Culinary.

I agree with the higher end super markets not choosing to come to Hillsborough---I don't think it will ever happen, as for whatever reasons, Hillsborough shoppers, with the exception of a few, seem to thrive on bargain shopping......that's why Cost Cutters is missed so much. Wegmans would never survive here I'm afraid. We don't have enough Yuppie young couples who shop for prepared foods on their way home from work---have you ever been to Wegmans at the dinner hour and observed the shoppers----all well dressed younger professional couples---and that's never been the makeup of the Boro.

We just wish that Papa John's wasn't just a carry/delivery place. Their pizza is great though and we use their delivery a lot!!

Something that goes into Kmart needs to be a "stand alone" store. By that, I mean a store that will draw people to that shopping center just for that(only small stores/services there.) So what would I like to see in Hillsborough:
Fairway Market(like Wegmans but not as expensive and I think they have better specialty items)
Trader Joe's, Target, Sports Authority, a good Old Navy(not like the one in Bridgewater), Michaels or AC Moore, Party City,
A fish market(I moved here after the last one closed), a great Italian Specialty store like Uncle Guiseppe's or Top Tomato(from Staten Islan but they just opened a Jersey location-near Manalapan), a bowling alley(great place to take our kids and a safe place for older kids). Those are my top requests. Once we get those I can add some more.
Once Hillsborough gets some more buisnesses I think people will begin to realize how nice convenience is. I'm tired of paying shipping to order online or driving 30 minutes to go to party city. We should also keep in mind that buisnesses absorb taxes. If we don't want our property taxes to go up we need to draw buisnesses in.
Most importantly, I think the residents of Hillsborough need to support the buisnesses that are opening(and already open). Closing buisnesses don't make Hillsborough look good to those thinking about opening here.
Whoever said PF Chang's, that would be awesome. Love that place!

Andrea

I would love to see a nice, reasonably priced seafood market in our town.

Wegmans, Traders Joes or Dick's Sporting Goods or Cabela's...

I miss the Ace hardware store. The big box stores are good for some things, but if you just need a bit of sandpaper or some nails, the smaller store is better.
I believe it was the high rent that did them in.

I still say Hillsborough is LOADED with successful businesses that you don't really notice because they don't need large storefronts. Things like pet sitters, therapists, tutors, accountants, etc.
I can't think of anything, realistically, that would work in K-Mart's spot (even when I worked there in 1984). It's a bad traffic situation if you're trying to turn in from northbound 206.

Walmart would be great because Manville's can be scary. Target would be nice too since the Bridgewater one is quite far.

After reading some of the comments, I agree on a Wegman's too!

I heard Uncle Giuseppe's are awesome! That may be just what we need!!

I would like to see - don't beat me up - an indoor flea market space that would be an incubator for small businesses. A space where small vendors could rent out 300 sq ft and put in their T-shirt business, or handicrafts, or even baked goods. We could even have a "kitchen incubator" - a commercial kitchen space rented out for hours to days for those folks whose home-based baking business has outgrown their space, but can't afford the rent on their own permanent commercial kitchen. To expand on that idea, we could also have "carpentry incubators" and what-have-you. Nothing against big box stores, I'd love to see Trader Joe's or Whole Foods in town, but the money spent at these stores tends to leave the area. Getting creative folks the traction to overcome that big startup bump might serve the community better, and launch new local businesses.

Someone mentioned a bowling center. We had one, where the Cost Cutter's was....Someone mentioned a supermarket... we had one, where the Cost Cutters was. We also had a wonderful market with great meats, wonderful fresh baked goods, fresh fruit, homemade pickled items, a pretzel shop and lots more. We forced it to close because it was "ugly". The "pretty" version was reopened in Flemington and is always packed with shoppers. The empty "ugly" Hillsborough buildings were recently torn down after about 15 years. I suspect K mart will ultimately become a storage place, and Cost Cutters another badly needed bank.

So, is it true what Curt Carnes posted here? Maestro 206 failed? All I can find is their dead web site.

There's another spot in town that just seems to have trouble in any economy. I can't remember what it was when I was a kid, but it was also Jersey Jim's Brewery, and Coco La, of course. From the reviews I read, I was afraid to try it (unlike Joey G's, which seems to have found its stride).

That's another spot where:
1) it's hard to enter from northbound 206, and
2) will remain 2 lanes with no turn lane for the foreseeable future. (RR bridge there)
One could argue that spot seems a bit industrial for nice restaurant. I bet a fast food place or diner would do OK there.

I was amazed that Maestro stayed open as long as it did. The bar crowd on the weekends was the only things keeping it hanging on for a while. When Joey G's opened, the bar competition went there. For 206 being such a well traveled road, one would think we wouldn't have so many failed buisinesses giving us empty store fronts. However, a business has to be consistent with their good service to establish a loyal clientel, not just hit or miss. Since the rents are very high, the businesses can't survive if they don't establish a regular flow of customers as soon as they open in our town. We have very few decent restaurants in the area and when we go to our neighboring towns on a Friday or Saturday night for dinner, we sometimes have an hour wait. Clearly that tells us our town would benefit from having a restaurant with an already established reputation to open here. I would love the owners of Chimney Rock Inn to consider opening a place in Hillsborough.

Patti,
The "rents are not too dam high". They are lower than Bridgewater. the problem is that Hillsborough does not support those resteraunts you speak of. Presumably you are talking about the ones at or near the MALL and the ones by Wegmans. The reason why they are not here is that the owners are smart enough to higher consultants to tell them what we already know... we are a CHEAP town and will not sustain those businesses plus we get a bad break because ours in a one way in town. As opposed to those other locations that include 287, 22, 78, 202, 206 and a much larger and affluent population. i hope that sheds all the light you need.

No, it's not because people are cheap. That's not why we don't have upscale shopping and restaurants in Hillsborough. I've been here for 40 of my 44 years, and I've seen Hillsborough go from a place with gravel roads to an award winning place to live.

Hillsborough is still tied to its history. Hillsborough was never a place to go TO; it was a place to go THROUGH, or live IN or farm IN. In 1971, my parents moved us from Manville so we could have a bigger yard and my dad could get to Johns Manville to work. Friends teased us about moving to the "boonies."

When we went out to dinner, we drove to Rt. 22 or down the shore. So did people from other small towns and rural areas. And now you have all the bigger franchises and more formal restaurants in the bigger towns and highway corridors, because for so many years people would drive to those places.

Now, we have some local shopping and eateries, but mostly we have the day-to-day businesses such as fast food, groceries, banks galore, and the kinds of places that we don't want to go out of town for. They're businesses that can survive with local customers. Upscale businesses would have to rely on people coming INTO Hillsborough, not just locals. Being so close to Bridgewater's Mall and Wegman's, Manville's WalMart, Somerville's restaurants, Flemington's outlets, and Princeton and Rt. 1, it's just not going to happen overnight. Especially not on any two-lane stretch of 206.

Of course, it would be nice if we had a few more "grown up" places to eat. I believe we have a set number of liquor licenses, which becomes part of the equation.

Hi all, Retro Fitness is opening in Hillsborough in June. I just wrote a blog on it. Come on over. Here's the link: http://hillsborough.patch.com/blog_posts/retro-fitness-scheduled-to-open-in-june

Curious what everyone has to say on the matter.

I was one who voted for Trader Joe's. Princeton is closer than Westfield but the return trip is such a bear it's not even worth going. What a great store, though.

We need a mexican restaurant in Hillsborough!

La Costenita is still there...Never knew about any behind Five Guys. I did like Los Jalapenos for a while but then it closed. Love Mexican and all for another restaurant here in town!

Would love Whole Foods, trader Joe's, a Children's museum, upscale clothing stores/shoe store (boutique or chain) for adults and kids, roller rink, indoor rock climbing, etc. I feel like I am always leaving town to get what I need