Amid many reports about the suffering economy, several businesses seem to be doing fine, and at least two of them are both located in the new Village Center of Plainsboro — It’s a Grind Coffeehouse and Sugar and Sunshine Bakery, both run by West Windsor and Plainsboro residents.##M:[more]##
With the new Plainsboro Library nearing completion and the hospital project underway, business owners all around the village are even more excited for the prospects of transforming the center into a bustling hub of activity.
In fact, It’s a Grind is doing so well, the franchise’s owners, Dave DiOrio, a 15-year West Windsor resident, and his brother-in-law John Nuzzo, who moved to West Windsor four years ago to open the business, have been looking at expansion.
Before they opened the business two years ago, what they knew was that they wanted to go into business together and that they wanted to be a part of the Plainsboro Village Center. After researching franchises, they came across California-based It’s a Grind. They both agreed it was the best coffee they had tasted, and went with it from there.
Complete with leather armchairs, the coffee shop has become a spot where friends can catch up comfortably or where students or office workers can sit together at a table and work on a project.
The two owners say the Plainsboro Village Center makes for a great location. “Add the library and the medical center, and this really becomes a downtown,” says DiOrio. “People are excited about having a place of their own.”
But it is also the coffee, good customer service, and atmosphere, they say, that has generated a healthy flow of traffic into their shop. The store offers WiFi connection, and can be used for group business meetings. In the summer the live entertainment, including poetry readings and musical performances, attract upwards of 70 people both inside the shop and outside, lining the sidewalk and Market Street. “It’s the ‘Cheers’ of Plainsboro,” says Nuzzo.
DiOrio and Nuzzo both grew up in Brooklyn. DiOrio’s father was a steam fitter and his mother worked part-time in the administrative office at a Catholic school. DiOrio worked for Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch, which drew him to West Windsor in 1994. His job required him to work in the new business and product development and new sales and marketing sectors.
In order to go into business with his brother-in-law, Nuzzo moved to West Windsor three-and-a-half years ago. His mother was a homemaker, and his father worked for the New York City Department of Sanitation. He earned his degree in accounting and business from St. Francis College in Brooklyn. For 31 years he worked for an electrical construction company. Then he and his wife, Deborah, who serves on the board of directors for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation in East Brunswick, were involved in fundraising for the JDRF while in Connecticut.
Both men run the coffeehouse with help from their wives, as well as DiOrio’s three children, two of whom are students at High School North. Alexandra, 19, who attends Arcadia University, was a junior when the shop first opened. Now her brothers, Andrew, 17, a junior at North, and Nick, 15, a sophomore, are among the 15 students from North and South employed as baristas. Cathy and Deborah, their wives, help organize the store’s entertainment events. “We’re looking for this to be a diverse, cultural entertainment place where young people and artists can hang pictures and read poetry,” DiOrio said.
With the slew of services already offered, Nuzzo and DiOrio are now looking to expand their business into some space in the unit next door, where they hope to build a kitchen to be able to serve lunch.
It would also come in handy for the new venture the two business owners have also taken on — catering. The men have launched a menu available to groups, parties, or businesses who need their breakfasts’ catered. With options including brew boxes and speciality airpots of various sizes and trays of bagels and pastries already, the men say that an expansion would prompt a revision of their catering menu to include lunch options.
And to be sensitive to the economy, the shop will be rolling out a new promotion in which the afternoon through evening, patrons will be able to buy one cup of coffee and one dessert item for $4.
This isn’t the first economic storm the owners of It’s a Grind have experienced. When corporate America changed dramatically from what it was in the 1990s, DiOrio says he “wanted to do something here in my own neighborhood. Now I’m around for everything.”
It’s a Grind Coffee House, 7 Schalks Crossing Road, 609-275-2919. Home page: www.itsagrind.com.
Sweet Start-Up For Village Bakery
Meanwhile, Gigi Burton, owner of the Sugar + Sunshine bakery, located at 6 Market Street, which opened in April, 2008, similarly says she has also been drawing customers from all over. “I wanted to create an environment where people can feel at home and enjoy fresh baked goods made by hand in small batches from the finest ingredients,” says Burton, who adds that everything the bakery makes is “something you would serve to your mother or grandmother.”
Every item sold at the bakery is made from scratch with local ingredients — milk, eggs, and even the coffee, which is brewed for the bakery from Small World Coffee in Princeton. It is rare you find an ingredient that travels far and winds up in her shop (the chocolate supplier is Guittard, based in San Francisco), and everything is baked the day it is sold. Recycling leftovers? Out of the question.
“We don’t believe in expiration dates on cakes,” she said. In other stores, “you see a cake in the refrigerator and it has a sell-by date, and that date could be six weeks from now. Is that how you really want to celebrate something — with a cake that’s six weeks old? Or, do you want something with ingredients you can print out that’s made specifically for you on the day of your celebration?” Not to mention, people are starting to look for healthier options with natural ingredients, which can also be found at her bakery, she says. And instead of disposing of the leftovers at the end of the night, Burton keeps a list of groups and organizations like the police and fire departments and senior housing complexes where she drops off the day’s unsold products.
For Burton, baking has always been a passion. She left a successful 12-year career as a financial services marketing executive at JP Morgan Chase in New York City, and enrolled in the pastry and baking program at the Institute of Culinary Education. After graduating she worked for cake decorator Colette Peters at her shop in the West Village, helping to create some of the best and most distinctive cakes and assisting Peters with her latest book, “Cakes to Dream On.”
She and her husband, Ray, moved to Plainsboro 10 years ago. Burton grew up in Altoona, PA, where her father was a doctor and her mother worked for a bank. She attended Penn State University and met her husband when they both worked for Chase. When they were looking for a place to move, they searched along the train line and chose Plainsboro for its similar rural feel to Burton’s hometown.
Since opening the bakery, Burton has been involved in the fundraising efforts for the library and in Founder’s Day. “It’s really going to be huge exciting time to have that amazing library at the anchor of the Village Center,” says Burton. “I think it will really bring more people through the area.”
The business has had no problems, however, bringing in customers on its own. Some even come as far as 30 miles away to try selections like the Red Velvet or Cheesecake cupcakes. “Remember being excited about a great cupcake?” says Burton. “When your mom could magically turn flour, eggs, butter, and sugar into your favorite birthday cake and your grandmother greeted you at the door with a plate of warm homemade cookies?”
Burton says people are also turning to natural products and all-natural ingredients — something found in her creations. Burton’s recipe for Triple Chocolate Truffle cake recently won the grand prize in a national dessert contest sponsored by Ghirardelli Chocolate, beating out thousands of other entries and appearing in Ladies’ Home Journal magazine and other food-related publications.
Other than expanding the product line, Burton says she would be open to the idea of opening more locations, but it has to be the right decision at the right time and place. “The last thing we would like to do is expand and have the quality suffer,” she said. “It would definitely have to be a controlled growth.”
Burton has done virtually no advertising. But she does have other marketing techniques, including some Internet-based promotion. The bakery’s mascot, Wilson Sugar, and his best friend, Ray O. Sunshine, featured in the bakery’s signage, have their own Facebook pages.
“Really, the bottom line is to do whatever we do as well as we can, and never put out a product that you would never give to a loved one yourself,” she says.
Sugar & Sunshine Bakery, 6 Market Street. 609-936-3777.
Fitness Is a Snap,
Day or Night
Open since last summer, Snap Fitness in the Village Center offers its clients accessibility 24 hours a day. The gym, owned by Ajani Malik, offers no contracts and customers pay month-to-month. All members are given a free fitness consultation and equipment orientation, and once a patron becomes a member, he or she will have access to all Snap Fitness clubs nationwide (over 1200 locations).
Malik, a certified personal trainer and a resident of Middlesex County, has been into fitness for at least 20 years. The Plainsboro Snap Fitness location is actually his second; his other location is in Spotswood, which has been open for 16 months now. Malik has over 10 years of experience in martial arts, which led him to weight training and conditioning, he says.
He says he decided to open a new gym in Plainsboro because the village center was up and coming and says his business is doing well. What led him to the Snap Fitness franchise was the convenience and 24-hour access, family-like atmosphere, and that patrons are “not just a number” when it comes to their interactions with the staff. “We like getting to know the person and being able to help them.”
With six employees, including three personal trainers, Malik says the gym is doing well. He says Snap Fitness offers personal training, ab classes, one-on-one personal training, and group personal training, in which members also get to congregate in the park for exercises. The gym also features cardio equipment, including treadmills, bikes, and cross trainers, which are similar to elliptical machines. It also contains strength training machines and free weights.
The gym also offers student and senior citizen discounts and will be doing discounts for college students during the summer. While the gym is open 24 hours to its customers, who gain access by swiping their members cards, staffing hours are from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday to Thursday; 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Fridays, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekends.
Snap Fitness, 5 Schalks Crossing Road, 609-799-7800. www.snapfitness.com/plainsboronj.
A&G Deli
A&G Fine Foods Italian Deli, which opened in November, 2007, 2, is managed by Anthony Gramaglia, who owns another of the deli’s locations in Fords. The business itself has been family-run since 1971, and Gramaglia says he and the deli’s proprietor — Gino Iannuzzi — hope to continue that friendly business model here.
Gramaglia and Iannuzzi are originally from Brooklyn, but now Gramaglia lives in Warren, and Iannuzzi in Monroe. Gramaglia’s father and uncle started the business in the northern part of the state, and the list of locations grew to include Warren, Fords, Middlesex, and Somerset, before they made their way here.
The deli does catering and specializes in a variety of Italian dishes. Gramaglia pointed to the homemade Italian sausages, fresh mozzarella, paninis and focaccia, to name a few. It also has a selection of imported and domestic Italian cheeses and other specialty cut meats, extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegars, capers, anchovies, and pasta. The bakery features artesian breads, cannolis, sfogliatelle, homemade gelato and a variety of biscottis.
“We got a good tip on the township,” Gramaglia said in reference to what led the two to open another location in Plainsboro. “Everything was right for us to come here. Plainsboro needed something like this.”
Gramaglia said that patrons to the store will notice that “it’s like shopping with family all the time,” and that they will be able to find items that they won’t be able to find in chain food stores.
A&G Fine Foods 6 Market Street, 609-275-9090. www.agfinefoods.com
Wireless and You
Tony Sethi, a Plainsboro resident, first opened his business in the Plainsboro Village Center three years ago, under the name TF Communications. Since then, he has changed the name to Wireless and You only because the franchise is no longer in business. Wireless and You, however, which is an authorized Verizon Wireless dealer, is doing so well that Sethi has opened a second location in West Windsor next to First Wok on Princeton-Hightstown Road.
Originally, Sethi, who has been in business since 1994, operated a computer repair and maintenance business on Roszel Road in West Windsor. He had also previously operated a computer repair and maintenance business in Metuchen.
At the Wireless and You store, Sethi also helps customers with technical and billing issues and even helps them obtain rebates. “I haven’t lost a single rebate yet,” he says. “We do everything. We don’t want our customers to go anywhere but here.”
Wireless-n-You, 11 Schalks Crossing Road, 609-799-9300. www.wirelessnyou.com.
Susan White Kitchen and Bath
Opening her business — a full-service kitchen and bath showroom including everything from design to custom installation — in October, 2007, Susan White chose Plainsboro Village Center for the foot traffic and proximity to the center’s restaurants. The building’s natural light to her storefront is also ideal.
A Cranbury resident, White, who is a member of the National Kitchen and Bath Association and is a licensed home improvement contractor with the state, previously worked 10 years for another kitchen and bath showroom. Before that, she designed kitchens and bathrooms for custom homes. Eventually, she went back to her own designing after her children went away for school.
A lot of her business comes from referrals, and she has built a loyal following. She says she is not the most expensive and not the least expensive out there, but “I’m all about service.”
Susan T. White Kitchens and Baths Inc., 4 Market Street, 609-275-0488.
Positano Grill
Ciro Capuano opened the restaurant in July, 2007, and has found much success. Capuano, who also owns another Plainsboro business, Romeo’s, which is a typical pizzeria and family restaurant, says he wanted to do something more upscale with Positano’s.
Entrees include Filet Mignon Saporito, Risotto Pescatore — hard boiled rice with shrimp, baby clams, calamari, and mussels in a white wine sauce — and NY Strip Steak. The restaurant also makes its own sauces. The restaurant also has a large outdoor patio, which can seat up to 100 people.
“We’re been in this town for a long time,” says Capuano, who, along with his brother, Massimo Capuano, co-owner, is originally from Naples, Italy. “We want to be here.”
Positano Mediteranean Grill, 5 Schalks Crossing Road, 609-799-8900.
East Asian Fusion
In operation since June, 2007, this restaurant is run by three families scattered throughout New Jersey, mostly Central, like Pennington, and Lawrenceville, where they own other similar businesses.
Terri Fong, who is one of the family members, says the restaurant offers a full line of Japanese and Chinese cuisine, as well as new Thai dishes. Attracted to the development’s village feel, and the lack of commercialization, the family, who is traditionally Chinese, is into many types of food.
The owners are thinking about adding outside seating for the summer months. Like many other business owners in the Village Center, Fong says she believes the new library will bring more foot traffic to the area.
East Asian Fusion, 5 Market Street, 609-750-3278.
Other Retail Shops
C Sea Spa, 7 Schalks Crossing Road, 732-543-6288.
Cold Stone Creamery, 5 Schalks Crossing Road, 609-897-1027 www.coldstonecreamery.com.
Great Clips, 9 Schalks Crossing Road. 609-750-0020.
Plainsboro Cleaners, 9 Schalks Crossing Road, 609-799-7133.
