Home Care In West Berlin, NJ

Sonic Drive-In and Buffalo Wild Wings GO were approved for Berlin Township in June, and the effort to rebuild the former Arby’s property on Route 73 into two units has recently started. In my visit just a few days ago workers had stripped off the outside facade.

The new restaurants will be located at the corner of Deangelo Drive (and Rt 73). This is the front corner of the Walmart parking lot. An IHOP restaurant is located directly next to the building where the two new restaurants are being developed.

42Freeway first wrote about the plans for Sonic and Buffalo Wild Wings GO (BWW GO) back in early June of 2023, when the project was heading to Berlin Township Planning Board for approval.

On June 13th the Mayor of Berlin Township Phyllis Magazzu shared an announcement on her Facebook page that the project was approved, and she also offered additional details on the project. A month later Berlin Twp passed a resolution for the approval, with more details around the requested variances.

The remodel effort will split the 3,000 sq ft building into two equal halves, with Sonic on the left (facing the front) and BWW GO on the right.

While the squarish building shape itself will remain unchanged it will see significant remodeling to convert it into two distinct restaurants, each with their own signature designs and signage.

Sonic will offer the full Sonic experience with a drive-thru, order pickup, and also feature their signature drive-in dining aspect. As is standard for the brand, there will be no indoor dining for Sonic.

Buffalo Wild Wing GO will offer a small indoor dining area for 14 customers, and will also support (walk-in) takeout. This new “GO” version of BWW is smaller fast-food like experience focused on their amazing wings, tenders and French fries. To be clear, it is not a full menu restaurant that most of us are familiar with, and this Berlin Twp location will not serve alcohol.

While it may seem like an unique pairing of the two restaurants, it turns out two brands are owned by the same corporation, Inspire Brands. Inspire is also the company behind Arby’s, and Dunkin’ Donuts!

For the local Berlin Township franchise location, the upcoming Sonic and BWW GO are owned by the same franchisee, but each of the two restaurants will be operated as completely separate businesses.

Sonic Drive-In Berlin Township

Sonic is an American drive-in fast food chain which opened its first location in 1953 under the name Top Hat Drive-In. Today as Sonic they have almost 3600 locations!

A signature aspect of Sonic is their drive-in dining experience, where you drive into designated parking spots, each which have their own dedicated menu signboard. You place your order from your car while parked in the spot, and when your food is ready a Sonic employee will bring it out to you.

You can then stay right there in the same parking spot, eating your delicious meal or treat inside your car!

It’s harkens back to the drive-ins of the 1950s… right out of the Happy Days Tv show!

Another iconic aspect of that classic drive-in experience was the “car hop” employees who would bring out your order, would wear roller skates. This is something that is still marketed as part of the Sonic experience, but honestly I don’t know how prevalent this is in the South Jersey locations!

Sonic also offers a traditional drive-thru window ordering experience, if you just once you grab your food and go.

They do not offer indoor dining. If you want to eat your meal on site, well that’s what the drive-in aspect is all about.

The Sonic menu features all of the American classic casual food items such as juicy hamburgers, delicious hot dogs, tender chicken… as well as a large menu of ice cream based treats such as milkshakes, sundaes and Sonic blast.

Their commercials are regularly seen on television and the brand is constantly inventing new and interesting seasonal menu items to bring customers in to try the latest delicious offering.

For the Berlin Township Sonic drive in, as mentioned they will be on the left side of the former Arby’s closest to Deangelo Drive.

They were approved to add eleven of their drive-in parking spaces (with the menu boards) situated along the Deangelo Drive property line. Those parking spots will have a 1,500 square foot overhead parking canopy to protect from precipitation when ordering or receiving your food.

Other South Jersey Sonic locations are located in Audubon, Cinnaminson, Millville and Hainesport

Buffalo Wild Wings GO

The Buffalo Wild Wings Go will be opening on the right half of the shared building, and will feature a small dining area with 14 seats, as well as offer takeout orders. There will be no drive-thru for Buffalo Wild Wings GO in Berlin Twp.

So as mentioned at the start of the article, this is not a full Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant like the ones on Cross Keys Rd. Gloucester Township, or outside the Moorestown Mall.

The GO version of BWW is focused on fast service of their delicious Buffalo wings, chicken tenders and French fries..

The best way to understand the BWW GO concept is.. they are in the same category as the popular Wingstop restaurants.

It’s a smart move for the Buffalo Wild Wing brand, because if you consider other competitors like Wingstop who have built successful national restaurant chains from the smaller wing/tender/fries menu… well obviously Buffalo Wild Wings has a strong reputation in those same food categories, so why shouldn’t BWW create their own smaller and faster version?!

A Buffalo Wild Wings GO location was also approved for Voorhees NJ almost two years ago. In my most recent visit over the summer it did not appear that construction had started there, but I’ll be back soon to check up on it

Links and Location

Sonic Drive-In and Buffalo Wild Wings GO (proposed) 299 Route 73 North Berlin Township NJ

Berlin Township Mayor’s Facebook Message (June 2023)

WEST BERLIN, N.J. (WPVI) -- A unique gym in South Jersey is helping student athletes get in top shape.

It involves conditioning and also flexibility exercises - all designed for each individual student and designed to help prevent injuries.

For some, it may be the off-season. For others, they're gearing up to go back on the field.

This isn't your typical gym, nor are these typical athletes. Many are elite student athletes in middle school, high school and college with some even hoping to go pro.

They're working on speed, strength and also mobility.

Keith Scott is owner of Impact Training and Fitness in West Berlin, New Jersey. He combines his sports medicine background with sports performance.

"If you are in a sport and trying to up your performance, this is where you come do it," he said.

Everyone here works out together, but they're following their own specific program.

Exercises are tailored for different sports and even different positions.

19-year-old Mike Vasturia is a college baseball pitcher. He says Impact Training helped him throw faster and safer which is helping him prevent any injuries.

"Just like going to games longer too and the next day, I feel better because I am better conditioned and healthy," said Vasturia.

But they don't just cater to baseball.

"It's a full gamut here. We train field hockey, lacrosse - both boys and girls, basketball, wrestling. We have a big football population," said Scott.

20-year-old Christine Etter used to play lacrosse and soccer. Now in college, she's wants to stay in shape.

She says she wasn't very strong when she started. But now, things have changed.

"It's a really good thing for your confidence and I just feel better overall, like mentally and physically," she said.

Scott says everyone starts slow by learning proper technique and although many kids here compete during the school year, at Impact they're on the same team.

"That's one of my favorite things about coming here. The whole impact family vibe we have," said Scott.

And he also says younger kids start out just doing body weight exercises. Every student starts with a full assessment.

They also have a program just for baseball. And he runs bootcamps for adults as well.

For more infomration on Impact Training and Fitness, CLICK HERE.

Monaco Indoor Electric Go-Kart is coming to Berlin NJ’s former K-Mart property on the White Horse Pike.

The business is owned by two South Jersey businessmen who also own the popular Crust N Fire artisan pizza restaurants… with pizza shop locations in; Mt Laurel, Voorhees, Medford, Haddonfield… and nearby West Berlin!

So yeah, NJ.com does a short story about the Berlin Indoor Karting facility yesterday which ends up all over the internet.

This is a classic “42Freeway Mark Bonehead Move” where I’ve known about this for many months (last year?), have visited multiple times and have even been inside the facility… but hadn’t posted on it yet.

It gets worse because NJ.com based their story off of a Facebook post by lighting company DFX several weeks ago… which loyal 42Freeway readers tagged me in!

I hadn’t posted because I wanted confirmation from the owners of an expected opening date, and from DFX to use their Facebook images. Heck I even spoke to the leasing agent!

Well honestly looking at my photo timestamps I have been at the Monaco Berlin track four times this year going back to April… and never posted. ugh.

If you really want the early scoop on new new e-karting facility go check 70and73.com coverage of the planning board meeting from last year. He has the submitted track plans! Coincidentally that article is from exactly one year ago today.

But of course I have my own details to add. Well I already told you who the owners are!

Keep scrolling and reading!

Monaco Indoor Electric Go-Kart

The new indoor go-kart facility is owned by Giovanni Taccardi and Giovanni Visceglia.

The go-kart business seems like a longtime dream for Taccardi, as back in 2014 he applied to Gloucester Township to open a facility in the former Metrologic plant on Coles Rd. I don’t think they even opened, and today that building is now home to the Revel Nail company.

As mentioned they are now under construction in Berlin, and the new Monaco Karting facility is taking over a large portion of the former K-Mart shopping center.

The segment with the front sidewalk covering will be the go-kart track, and the left 1/3 where the garden center was located is available for rent.

The 70and73.com coverage of the Berlin Planning Board meeting from a year ago today provides the following details on the project.

The Monaco facility will be 62,000 square feet. It will include 24 electric karts, kids’ sized cars, a track-side cafe, party rooms, an arcade and play zone plus a VIP Club lounge.

At this time I do not see a website or Facebook page for the new Berlin Business.

Opening date is unknown at this time also, which is why I was trying to catch up with the Giovannis!

Well 42Freeway will definitely have more details as they get closer to opening.

Berlin Shopping Center Rebirth

The Monaco facility is exciting news for Berlin, as that entire large South section of the Berlin Shopping center has been abandoned for years.

K-Mart there closed in 2014. An Acme supermarket closed in the 2000s, and in one of the smaller shop windows you can see a sticker for the former Radio Shack.

Two years ago the Berlin Shopping Center was sold to a private investor and developer.

They same entity also at that time purchased the former Kingsway Learning Center Building in Haddonfield.

The family ownership of this investment company has several properties and business in the New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York tri-state area.

The family clearly is looking to upgrade the Berlin NJ facility and bring it back to life, spending 100s of thousands on parking lot upgrades.

Jackalope Cider House was previously developing a location in the center, but announced in March that they had to change their plans and are not coming Berlin Shopping center.

As we learn of more tenants and additional development at the site, 42Freeway will be the first to publish.

If you are a interested in becoming a tenant at the new Berlin Shopping Center, reach out to Corinne Giletto at Vantage Commercial. Details and contact information are here.

Links and Location

Monaco Karting308-328 South White Horse PikeBerlin NJ 08009

The new/relocated Burlington store in Turnersville Washington Township opened a few days ago, and I stopped in yesterday to see what the smaller-format store was like.

An all new location for West Berlin NJ opens on November 11th 2022.

Burlington Corporate had previously announced they were going to double the number of locations to 2,000, but in a smaller store format than what their shoppers were familiar with.

Along with the growth in the number of locations, it seems they are also looking to reduce the size of the original larger format stores, where leasing terms allow.

This move seems to bring Burlington in-line (size) with competitor store experiences. As a comparison of the size, the Marshall stores in Turnersville and Audubon are a similar size at 23,000-25,000 sq ft.

For Turnersville this meant moving from their former 90,000 sq ft location at the Washington Plaza which opened in 1999, to a 23,500 sq ft location two miles up the road in a former OfficeMax property (which is attached to Target).

The Burlington Grand Opening page lists 38 new store openings in November!

I’ve covered this story a few times for Turnersville and West Berlin as they were proposed and developed so not going to be too wordy here. But since this is the first smaller format Burlington store I’ve seen, I thought I would share.

The Deptford Burlington store was opened in 2015 and was developed as a 60,000 sq ft store. They currently still operate the Burlington store there but use a reduced amount of the space.

Burlington was originally know as The Burlington Coat Factory, and decades ago the larger stores really did focus a majority of their space on coats, at discount prices.

Today they are a more well-rounded fashion-focused retailer offering merchandise at up to 60% off other retailers’ prices, including women’s ready-to-wear apparel, menswear, youth apparel, baby, beauty, footwear, accessories, home, toys, gifts and coats

Burlington Store in Turnersville Smaller Format

So a big driver for the smaller stores is to reduce the number of inventory items maintained, which then reduces overall costs.

But honestly this inventory change had already happened locally. as for both the Deptford store and the original Turnersville store, Burlington has previously started to use a much smaller portion of the large buildings.

So this is more about making the store building fit the merchandise inside.

While I am not an accomplished Burlington Store shopper, it seems they still carry the same categories of products… just not as many in the store.

So they they still carry the same category of products in the store, just maybe not the same broader amount of choices as before.

Remember looking across a sea of winter coat racks in the old Burlington Coat Factory stores? Well they still have a huge selection… but maybe a lake instead of a sea!

Overall it’s still a large store

Prior 42Freeway coverage on the new stores

Links and Locations

Burlington Turnersville – Now Open!3921 Route 42 (Black Horse Pike)Turnersville, NJ

Burlington West Berlin – Opens Nov 11Berlin Circle PlazaRoute 73 & Walker AvenueBerlin, NJ 08091

Website

Two new Burlington Stores are coming to the 42Freeway area, in West Berlin and Turnersville. The latest information from them shows a November opening.

They are now hiring for both locations!

These new stores are being developed in a new smaller format store. Burlington has modified their model to develop significantly more stores across the country, but in a smaller format (with lower per-store inventory costs).

The West Berlin location is completely new for that area.

The Turnersville location is effectively a relocation of a store already in Washington Township. It’s a 3 mile move down the Black Horse Pike.

42Freeway previously reported on the plans for these locations. Back in January we shared the news of the Turnersville store relocation, and then in February we covered the all new West Berlin location plans.

With the Turnersville store exterior looking “ready to go” I’ve been getting questions on the expected opening.

Burlington Stores New Growth Plans

In 2021, New Jersey based Burlington Stores announced they will focus on doubling their current number of locations to 2,000, while moving to a smaller format store to reduce operating costs.

Last year Burlington stated new store locations would be targeted at currently available spaces within good quality shopping centers… simply, moving into locations of other closed stores

It’s an interesting and exciting strategy given that it seems most retail stores are at risk of reducing locations! And in the case of well know K-mart and Sears we all know they have sadly vanished!

But clothing is something that many prefer to look at, feel, and try on. Burlington believes there is still a large retail market for people to visit their discount clothing stores, just not supporting 100,000 sq ft sized faciliites.

The new plan will bring the stores closer to even more people… who are willing to drive to shop, but maybe not too far!

Burlington Turnersville

The new Burlington store in Turnersville is taking over a former OfficeMax store which is connected to Target. The address is 5901 Route 42

With this move they are going from a 90,000 square foot store to 23,500! This is basically 1/4 the size of the existing Turnersville Store.

The color schemes for both Target and Burlington is a rich red, so it makes for an interesting consistent look across the large building.

Many have asked “Why would Target and the landlord allow Burlington to move there?”

Well while the two properties are connected, they are individually owned properties… similar to how townhomes are connected but individually owned.

The Office Max has been up for sale for years, and Burlington simply went in and made a deal.

Currently there are five different job position types posted (link)

Burlington West Berlin

The Burlington Store for West Berlin New Jersey is moving into a store location which was last home to a Modell’s Sporting Goods.

This fits right into the Corporate plan of finding existing empty stores, in good shopping centers to develop new location,

The shopping center is Berlin Circle Plaza which is located at 200 Route 73. This is very close to the “Berlin Circle”… hence the name. Ha!

The center houses a popular ShopRite supermarket which recently expanded their liquor store into an adjacent storefront.

A Marshall’s store opened not too long ago, and there is another store coming that I will post about soon.

For West Berlin they have 6 different job postings (Link)

Links and Locations