Downtown Denville

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Event: Denville After Dark {6/26}

Downtown Denville has been hard at work behind-the-scenes to plan a fun and safe outdoor event downtown, designed to bring the community together (while we stay socially and physically distant ofc!) and enjoy live music, a mini classic car collection, outdoor dining, retail sales, and more.

Please join us this Friday night, from 5-9 pm, as we close down Broadway from top to bottom and open it up to pedestrian foot traffic only.

Many of our retailers will be staying open later than usual, and will be putting tables out on the sidewalks to showcase their wares.

Outdoor dining available at several downtown restaurants, including The Second Half, Mara’s, Beignets, The Pasta Shop, The Tuscan Table, Thatchers, Denville Seafood, Hunan Taste, and more, and additional seating by way of hi tops and picnic tables will be placed down the center of Broadway. Additionally we still have parklets with picnic tables for overflow seating for your take-out orders down along the new stone wall at First Avenue, the area in front of A&R Interior Design, and in McCarter Park, across from Denville Dog and Il Torrente.

You will be able to check out a small collection of classic cars (and meet their owners!) in the Denville Hardware parking lot from 6 pm on.

Denville’s own KickStart band will be playing live in front of A&R Interior Design, also from 6-9 pm.

The street will be closed off from 5-9 pm, so we encourage and invite you to come down, eat and shop local, and enjoy gorgeous summer weather … all while following the state’s requirements of wearing masks and practicing social and physical distancing, please. Hand sanitizers will be located on the various tables around downtown and portable ADA-compliant restrooms will also be located on Broadway.

Thank you for continuing to support our downtown businesses and Downtown Denville events – see you Friday night!

Denville Outdoor Dining Opens Up

In what can be described easily as a breath of fresh air, both figuratively and literally, New Jersey restaurants received the green light to begin the outdoor dining phase of our re-opening plan, and downtown Denville restaurants immediately rose to the challenge.

They worked hard to implement new outdoor dining areas, or reconfigure existing ones, and have done everything in their power to create warm inviting spaces while still keeping their staff and guests safe.

Restaurants like The Second Half and Tuscan Table are hosting guests in beautiful outdoor areas, while Thatcher McGhee’s (and soon to follow, The Pasta Shop) have expanded their footprint into parking spaces directly in front of their establishments.

While taking advantage of some restrictions being lifted, give a quick read to these suggestions from NJ.com if you choose to partake. Restaurants will continue to offer take out and curbside pick up as well. As always, continue to do what makes you and your family feel safe and comfortable… wear a mask when going out, wash your hands frequently, and maintain social and physical distance.

See you downtown!

Reopening Day!

Today the ban on non-essential stores being closed was lifted, and many of our downtown merchants happily threw open their doors to let customers back in. While there are still many restrictions like masks, capacity, and social distancing in place, it was nice to make one small step back to what our new normal will be.

Butter & Velvet, Sisters, and Shoe & Sneaker Barn, among others, were welcoming customers today, and several stores that are typically closed on Mondays (Dash of Thyme and Faith & Begorra, for example) opened up as a show of support for their fellow store owners. That’s what a community is all about.

As plexiglass partitions go up and store capacity comes down, the stores will face many challenges as they navigate how best to operate their business during these unchartered territories. Many will still be selling their wares online, in addition to in person sales, and look forward to an upcoming summer season. Do seek out their social media channels on Facebook and Instagram to keep up with new store schedules, promotions, and more. Additionally, Two Girls Media has updated their retail directory with store information.

Today also marks the reopening of outdoor dining, and you’ll notice many of our restaurants putting out tables and colorful umbrellas and getting ready to serve customers in a whole new way. More on that to follow later this week.

As always, our downtown is only as good as its support, so do what you can to welcome our retail and restaurants back into the fold, and continue to eat, shop, and discover your local community.

What We’re Doing Now

The Downtown Denville Business Improvement District has prepared a series of steps to help our businesses plan for a re-opening strategy based on updates from the Governor’s office of the State of New Jersey.  While developments are ever-changing, we have outlined strategies as a guideline, as well as the steps we are taking as a downtown district. Once the executive order and state shutdowns began, all of us were scrambling as business owners and professionals.  As a district, we hope you were able to take advantage of the resources we were providing. Here is what we’re working on right now.

Outdoor Dining Parklets
We have been working very closely with Mayor Andes and his Administration to establish a few areas to encourage shoppers to dine outside safely.  Cafe tables, wipe dispensers and other accommodations will be added to make for pleasant seating environments and will be opening shortly in the below designated areas:

  • Along First Avenue by the new decorative stone wall
  • McCarter Park
  • A few parking spots on the East side of Broadway will be blocked to allow for a small dining area
  • Potentially Center Street. We have the ability to occasionally block off Center Street after banking hours as we have for the Summer Block Party and other events, if desired, by working with the Township and Denville Police

Outdoor Shopping
The Mayor and his Administration via Township Executive Order will allow our retailers to put tables and outside retail to sell directly in front of their storefronts, similar to the way it is done during Sidewalk Sales. 

NOTE:  This can only be done when the Governor allows for non-essential businesses to open up.  When this happens, a path for pedestrians to walk must be accessible on the sidewalk.

Relief Fund
As we’ve shared, we created a Downtown Denville Relief Fund in hopes to raise money for grant relief and the additional items needed to adapt from the pandemic’s impact. We are grateful to all the support residents and businesses have given to the community thus far and hope the generosity will continue.  We have also contributed $10,000 to the fund. More details can be found on our website, including an FAQ.

As we gain more insight from the State on how stores and businesses will open, we will continue to share more of our plans and strategies moving forward.

What Have We Been Doing?

Once the Executive Order and state shutdowns began, all of us were scrambling as business owners and professionals.  As a District, we started sharing resources as soon as they became available, and more as we learned about them.  

COVID-19 Resources

We put in place a regularly updated section of our website specifically for every available resource from the state, county, and more, in addition to holding several public Zoom meetings. 

Promoting Available Businesses    

In addition to actively promoting on social media, we shared whatever essential businesses and eateries were offering during this time.  

Logistic Support

We logistically supported a citizen-generated GoFundMe campaign, Denville Strong, that was organized to purchase meals, products and services from local Denville businesses and, in turn, provide those products and services to front-line workers, volunteers and first responders.  Our office administrator was essential in lining up interested businesses to make purchases from and coordinating those efforts.

Relief Fund

We launched a Downtown Denville Relief Fund to hopefully raise enough money to provide grant relief for some of our businesses.  Additional portions of the fund will also help support some of the accommodations we will make and provide for heavy promotion to get people back into downtown once we fully re-open.  The grant application process will begin shortly and will be distributed by an independent sub-committee with a detailed application review. 

Restructuring the Organization

The financial impact of the global pandemic has affected us all.  Our 3 strategic imperatives have always been focused on promoting commerce in the downtown, recruiting the right businesses to our district and funding to support both of those.  The administrative and coordination of those strategies were orchestrated by our full-time Executive Director, Ryan Gleason. Ryan was instrumental in setting up our organization and providing the building blocks for future success, but we are unable to maintain that full-time position.  Instead our resources and finances need to solely focus on immediate support for our businesses now with marketing efforts, relief efforts, re-opening accommodations and continued investment in our downtown experience.  Ryan is working closely with us to transition to this new phase.  Additionally, the Downtown Denville Business Improvement District’s Board of Directors, all of which are district business owners and volunteers, are dedicating tremendous effort and time fulfilling many responsibilities.

As always, our Board of Directors, our volunteers, and our downtown businesses remain committed to continue moving our community forward to maintain its vibrant foothold as a popular Morris County go-to destination.