Bridge Kitchenware: Madison's Cookware 'Destination'

The holidays may be over, but that’s no reason to put the cooking utensils and recipe books away. In fact, if you’re looking to expand your inventory of cookware for any occasion, there is a store right here in Madison that probably has exactly what you need.

, located at 17 Waverly Place, hasn’t been in Madison for long, but has provided European imported cookware to amateur and professional chefs everywhere.

In business since 1946, Bridge Kitchenware was started by the late Fred Bridge in Manhattan. It remained there until 2008, until Fred’s son and current owner, Steven, decided with his wife to re-locate the business to New Jersey.

“We left New York City for a better quality of life for our family,” Bridge said. “I live in Florham Park and have two young children, and by commuting back and forth from the city, my wife and I were never seeing them.”

Bridge moved the business into warehouses in East Hanover, Roseland and East Hanover again and opened its retail location in Madison in September.

Bridge cites convenience and the bustling shopping district in the borough as reasons for deciding on a store location in Madison.

“There’s not a huge shopping section in Florham Park. We chose Madison because of customers who turned out to be our landlords. They said that they had some stores open here,” said Bridge. “We walked around and liked the town, and we shop here since we live on this side of Florham Park, so we come here often enough as it is.”

Bridge Kitchenware boasts utensils for all purposes, no matter the type of culinary project one wishes to undertake.

“We sell anything from a five-cent plastic mustard spoon to large pieces of cookware and several-thousand-dollar pieces of cookware,” said Bridge.

The quality of the kitchenware also keeps customers coming back, to the point where the business survives and thrives despite very little advertising.

“We are a destination; people find us by looking on a map or looking on our website. We get passer-by business, but Bridge Kitchenware is a destination business. We’ve been in business for 66 years; we’re in a lot of magazines, a lot of trade journals, and a lot of cookbooks. People look for us and they locate us,” said Bridge. “We have a following; we’re known for selling the best quality for a reasonable price. My name is on the company; I’ve got to sleep at night.”

As a result, Bridge has been met with very few complaints over the years. Many of Bridge Kitchenware’s customers have gotten a long life and plenty of usage out of their purchases.

“My customers, they care what they pay for and everything, but they’ll buy once and give it to their kids,” Bridge said. “It’s that kind of quality that’s going to last them forever and then some, and they don’t have a problem paying for that kind of quality.”