Downtown Denville

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Event: Denville After Dark – August 14

We’re back with another Denville After Dark event this week. The fun kicks off at 5:30 pm on Friday, August 14th (rain date: 8/21), and we’ve added more ways to enjoy our beautiful downtown community. Broadway will be closed to cars at 5 pm, along with Center Street and part of First Avenue, giving ample space to keep your distance from others, but allow you to fully enjoy the festivities.

Here are some highlights:

  • Pure Barre is presenting a pop up class at 5:30 pm on Broadway in front of SmartWorld. Save ave your space by texting 973-664-9000 to sign up and reserve your free spot. Prana Yoga will be teaching a free 30-minute class at 5:30 pm as well, contact them for more details.
  • The Sugar Daddy Trio is back and performing live on the corner of Broadway and First Avenue, and Christy & Steve will be singing on Main Street by The Second Half.
  • Classic cars will be on display in the Denville Hardware parking lot from 6 pm on, and the Denville Sunrise Rotary will be selling ducks for their virtual duck race in September, along with 50/50 tickets.
  • Many of our downtown shops will be staying open late for shopping, and there are several choices for dinner, dessert, or drinks at the outdoor dining from our local restaurants.

As always, events like this take a great deal of time and money to put on, so we are very thankful to our sponsors, including Denville Strong, Saint Francis Residential Community, The Peer Hyatt Selling Team, the Sheeran Real Estate Group, GYM GUYZ, and Brad Resnick Photography. Donations to our Downtown Denville Relief Fund help us continue to put on community events like this, as well as provide needed funds for capital improvement projects and small business grants.

See you Friday night!

Open Your Business in Downtown Denville

The Downtown Denville Business Improvement District (BID) supports events, promotional efforts, outreach, and improvements in Denville’s downtown. As a vibrant, active community, Denville is the perfect place to open your business. The support of both the Downtown Denville BID, and a very active group of small business owners, keeps the community’s business, shopping, and dining local.

With its staff and all-volunteer Board of Directors, the Downtown Denville BID supports events, promotional efforts, outreach, and improvements in our downtown area. With a vibrant, active community, Denville is a must-visit NJ destination and a wonderful place to start or expand your business.

WHY DENVILLE?
Denville consistently lands on many ”top foodie destination” lists, and for good reason. Visitors come from all over to dine at The Pasta Shop, Hunan Taste, and Thatcher McGhee’s, and come back for return visits to check out our pubs, vegetarian restaurants, and, of course, Denville Dairy. The town truly has the perfect food option for every craving. Downtown Denville also has a great mix of retailers in our shopping areas, everything from unique one-of-a-kind boutiques and home decor stores, to gourmet food shops and full-service spas.

DEMOGRAPHICS
With approximately 20,000 residents and its distance to train lines and bus service, this haven is a perfect choice for both commuters and suburbanites. Several lakes, a golf course, playgrounds, and a top-rated school district continue to position Denville as an attractive selection for residents and businesses.

GET IN TOUCH
If you’re looking for a location to open up your business or to add an additional location for it, let us know. We can connect you with the building owners and real estate agents for the available space in town, and support you along the way. Whether you need a small or large space, or retail, restaurant, or office, we have a few options that may be perfect. Email us at bmesa@downtowndenville.com and we’ll help you discover everything that Denville has to offer you and your business.

Celebrate National Ice Cream Month in downtown Denville!

It seems rather fitting to celebrate the hottest of summer days with a dish of ice cream, but when better to do it than in July, which is National Ice Cream Month? And so, in the interest of research, we’ve rounded up some of our favorite of the sweet treats available in downtown Denville.

Whether you enjoy your ice cream outside at their bright orange tables or take it to go, the folks at Denville Dog & Grill have a delicious assortment of 32 Welsh Farms ice cream flavors to choose from. Get it in a cone, cup, or even milkshake form, but don’t forget their Pineapple Dole Whip! It’s the next best thing to hopping a flight to Florida for Disneyworld’s version!

Speaking of milkshakes, if that’s your pleasure pop into Weenies and check out all their crazy and traditional concoctions! They have everything from old fashioned Chocolate, Vanilla, and Coffee, to more unusual varieties like Maple Bacon, Frosted Flake, and Blue Cotton Candy. They’re open until 3 am for outdoor dining, to go orders, and delivery.

You might not think of Bubble in Paradise when you’re thinking about ice cream, but then you’d be missing out on their fun shaved ice and taiyaki creations! They have a wide variety of build-your-own shaved ice creations that you can top with ice cream, and they also offer made-to-order egg waffles and taiyaki topped with ice cream and your choice of toppings and drizzles. Still not enough? They even have traditional sundaes that you can top with non-traditional toppings like mochi, pocky, or red bean.

And, of course, no ice cream list is completing without mentioning Denville Dairy! In business for over fifty years, the Fine family has been serving up their homemade treats to customers far and wide. Milkshakes, cups, cones, pies, cakes, and even ice cream sandwiches! Tons of flavors and toppings to choose from, each one more delicious than the next, and sugar-free and fat-free flavors are available as well (and sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference!).

With just less than two weeks of National Ice Cream Month, you have your work cut out for you, but we know you’re up to the challenge! Indulging in ice cream around town? Share on Instagram and be sure to tag us – we’d love to see!

We’re Doing It Again! {Denville After Dark}

Join us for another fun night out downtown as we close down Broadway and First Avenue for our second Denville After Dark. Just like last time, there will be classic cars, good eats, fun shopping, and live music … but we’ve upped the ante by adding an extra hour to our evening, and an extra band!

The streets will be closed from 5 pm on, and there will be ample picnic tables and hi-tops throughout Broadway, First Avenue, and Main Street if you’d like to grab take-out from one of our many popular restaurants. Several of the restaurants also offer outdoor dining as well. Live music will be provided by Sugar Daddy from 6-9 pm near the corner of First Avenue and Broadway, and Christy and Steve, an acoustic rock duo, will be playing in front of The Frame Factory from 6-9 pm as well.

Stroll our shops along Broadway and check out their outside tables and pop inside to do a little retail therapy. Grab dessert at Denville Dairy, Denville Dog, The Pasta Shop, or The Tuscan Table, and perhaps a cocktail under the stars from The Second Half, Hunan Taste, or Thatchers? So many options, and you’ll have five hours to explore it all!

Hand sanitizer will be available at the common eating areas again, and masks are required, as well as social and physical distancing. While it is important to support our retail and restaurant during these challenging times, it is more important to keep everyone safe and healthy.

Lastly, please consider donating to our Relief Fund! It allows us to not only do these types of events, but to support our downtown community and community at large as well too. Full details can be found here.

See you Thursday!

How to Support Your Favorite Local Businesses

Customer support is crucial to any successful business, but there are a number of ways that you can support your favorite local business without even spending a dime.

  1. “Like” their Facebook page and “follow” their Instagram account. It’s a simple way to keep up with their events, products and news, and helps their business continue to build their audience and find potential new customers.
  2. Engage with their social media posts by liking their posts, commenting, and sharing. Not only do the businesses appreciate your interaction, the engagement helps their pages get seen by others who don’t follow them. More followers = more business.
  3. Leave their business a review on their facebook page, Yelp or Google. People read reviews, and good reviews are golden, and also help the business come up more during web searches.
  4. Share the business in a local group, whether it be a Moms’ facebook group or your favorite town page.
  5. Shop local. The small businesses in town are also the ones saying yes when you ask them to support the local sports teams or donate to your school’s Tricky Tray. And they say yes, because it’s THEIR community too. By you continuing to support them, they can continue to support you and the community.
  6. Give referrals. Word of mouth is a powerful tool, it always has been. When you see someone asking for your favorite place to buy something, give a shout out to your favorite local store and be sure to tag their facebook page while doing so.
  7. Drop them a note and tell them why you love them. Whether it’s a retail, restaurant, or service business, being a business owner in general is challenging, and a few words of encouragement or support can literally make their day. If you didn’t get one of our new Downtown Denville postcards, get in touch and we’ll get you one. They’re a great way to drop a love note in the mail to your favorite downtown business.