These Middletown-Area Businesses Will Simply Not Be Reopening

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — As New Jersey slowly reopens this summer, prepare yourself to see a different business landscape in Middletown and throughout Monmouth County.

Some businesses will simply not be reopening at all, permanently claimed by the coronavirus shutdown: Ocean Cafe in Red Bank, a popular lunch spot, is shuttering. Daza Subs & Deli in Keyport is closing down. Alfonso’s Pastry Shoppe, a family-run bakery on Broad Street in Red Bank, will not be reopening its doors.

“It was a good year, but we couldn’t sustain the strict requirements imposed on us,” owner Anthony Campitello wrote on the bakery's Facebook page. The Campitello family will still operate their original Staten Island location.

"Ocean Cafe was a significant loss in Red Bank," said state Senator Declan O'Scanlon (R), who represents this area. "It's heartbreaking that we're losing some of these businesses. For a lot of people this was their everything."

O'Scanlon is smack dab in the middle of his "30 Restaurants in 30 Days" tour, where he's dining at 30 Monmouth County restaurants in a month to support locally-owned businesses.

Modine's in Asbury Park won't be one of them. It permanently closed, effective June 3.

"Due to a loss in business caused by COVID-19, we can no longer justify continuing our operations at this time," said the restaurant in a Facebook post.

And although restaurants can reopen indoor dining (albeit at 25 percent capacity) July 2, local restaurateur Tim McLoone decided to keep CJ McLoone's tavern in Tinton Falls closed for the summer.

"We decided to 'furlough' it for the summer since that's the slowest time of year," McLoone told Patch. "We could also only put four tables outside. So it wasn't worth it."

"We will be reopening in the fall with a repurposed menu and some building improvements," he promised. His other spots, Rum Runner's in Sea Bright and Pier House in Long Branch, will reopen indoors at 25 percent capacity July 2.

Other local businesses are suffering under Murphy's "micromanaging and over-regulating," said O'Scanlon.

"Look at a place like 26 West," said the state legislator, referring to upscale fine dining spot 26 West on the Navesink.

"They have an upstairs area; it is substantially outside with a roof and two open walls. They wanted to open that for outdoor dining, but were told they could not," he said. "So instead they had to scramble to get tables out on the street. There was no reason for that."

Gyms have been particularly hard hit: Tilton Fitness is permanently closing all seven of its gyms in New Jersey, including its Hazlet location. Operated by Hackensack Meridian Health, Tilton had 20,000 members statewide and was in business for more than 30 years.

"Our facilities have been hit hard by the mandatory closures due to the coronavirus pandemic, forcing us to make this difficult decision," Sam Young, president and CEO of Hackensack Meridian Fitness & Wellness, said in a statement.

Other legislators are concerned COVID is causing even more vacant eyesores along the Hwy. 35 and 36 business corridors.

"You could have opened gyms earlier; you could have done it safely. Separated the machines, taken temperatures at the door," said Assemblyman Gerry Scharfenberger (R-Monmouth). "Their property footprint is pretty big, so all of a sudden when that square footage becomes vacant .... The problem is once you've been closed for so long you can't catch up. People who've been in business a long time are telling me they just don't have it in them to get restarted."

This may be just the beginning: Both O'Scanlon and Scharfenberger predicted more business closures at the end of 2020.

"All the shops and boutiques at Pier Village in Long Branch, they make most of their money before Labor Day. As the weeks go by, you can't get those numbers back," said Scharfenberger. "And 'curbside pickup' is ridiculous at a place like Pier Village."

"Outdoor dining could have started a month before it did," said O'Scanlon. "Jersey Shore restaurants only have 10 to 12 precious summer weekends. You cut out even one of those needlessly and you're going to kill the business. You'll see the reverberations in September and October when they see where they are with cash reserves. The decisions we are making now are life and death for these businesses."

"And by the way, a lot of business owners are not 'rich,'" O'Scanlon continued. "There are a lot of people in Little Silver who are a hair's breadth away from financial ruin. And business owners employ the dishwashers, the wait staff and the sales people. So what are we supposed to say to them?"

There are some bright spots: Keansburg's amusement and water park can fully reopen July 2. After first saying it would be drive-through only this summer, the Red Bank farmers' market is now re-allowing shoppers to walk through and browse for produce — masks on, of course.

Bayshore Medical Center in Holmdel opened its first-ever walk-through farmers' market on June 6. The market will run every Saturday, year-round from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. All the vendors will wear masks.

Monmouth Mall in Eatontown will reopen Monday, with temporarily reduced summer hours of 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. Shoppers must wear masks inside.

Related: McLoone Reopens 7 Restaurants: '50 Percent Capacity Won't Cut It' (May 13)

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