I have a great business idea and a plan in the works but of course the only limiting factor is the finances. So I assume when im financially ready there will be no more local vacancy. Any investors out there want to talk ?

Full service bakery - fresh bread daily, birthday cakes. GameStop, craft store, gourmet cheese shop, health food/vitamin store, pharmacy, book store. I would love to see Fanwood have a small two screen movie theater somewhere in the down town area to attract people to come for a movie and hang out for a bite to eat or do some shopping.

Where will all the people park, if you put in a nice restaurant or coffeehouse, etc. You could use a nice bakery in town.

Yes to a movie theater, especially if it's got at least one screen dedicated to arthouse fare like the Roberts Cinema chain. A cheese shop would be nice but Enchante couldn't survive in Millburn and I doubt one could survive here unless bundled with a bakery. Fanwood already had Pyramid Books and I'm afraid bookstores are a dying breed: the Raconteur in Metuchen is closing this month, and I don't know how the Town in Westfield stays alive. A health food store would have to compete with Scotch Plains's, which is pretty established in the area.

We all have our dreams, but in this economy the most successful businesses are those that can count on regular, repeat customers. With a bakery just down the street in Plainfield and Swiss Shoppe in Scotch Plains struggling to stay open, can another bakery really survive? As for all of the "gourmet" type shops, is that for those "occasional" times you might want something special and then you'll fine the prices a bit out of reach? I think the kinds of retail places that survive do so because as consumers that's how we shop....one stop at any of the mega supermarkets covers so much that it's hard for the boutique business to survive. Ask yourself....how many of you shop at any business currently in town - from Norman's and Enchantments to Double Dipper or Fabio's at least once a week? once a month? And as far as a theater goes....have you been to a movie lately? I have been to 4 since Christmas and to say they were all only 25% full is being generous (and that includes Westfield, Cranford and Mountainside). Nice ideas....just can't see it happening. So, at the end of the day....we'll get the kind of businesses that we support and at the moment it appears to be health and beauty.

A larger Flannery's.

A wrecking ball. Building is way too high and too big. Completely out of place for the town.

Foot traffic can be created by installing a learning center of sorts for kids/teens, tutoring, karate, dance or something that would allow parents to drop their kids for the duration of the class and take a stroll through the other shops while waiting. BTW, awnings or generous overhangs promote walking when weather doesn't cooperate.

butcher shop-then tie in the bakery and produce .

^ Red Ketchup - love the Whole Foods idea!

Only one corner is left to create an intersection where traffic might flow in an easier and safer manner. Can't move the Fanwood Clock.Can't tear down Fanwood Crossing.
Can't alter the unsafe entrance/exirt @ Dunkin Donuts. Fanwoodians can rarely see the larger picture, except if to make Terrill Road a four-lane, limited-access road using only Plainfield properties for the upgrade.

Whole Foods is the perfect fit, but I think it would be more feasable to put in a Trader Joe's, the business model seems to like smaller spaces than what a Whole Foods would need.

I'd put a wrecking ball to it. What a hideous monstrosity!

I agree. This building is way too big and looks ridiculous where it is! I still can't believe the town let this go through. I guess the builder is a friend of the mayor.

If you really want foot traffic, then someone ought to contact Apple and get an Apple store there. It would be the first of its kind in a small suburban setting and it would draw both adults and children alike and help bring attention to the downtown. Additionally, the Whole Foods market is a great idea........if its to replace that A & P, that is!!! As for restaurants, a nice sit down family Italian place would appeal to most people. No more nail salons please or banks. A nice coffee house like Rockin Joe's could round out the retail area and a small diner with a 50's theme or similar to the small diner in downtown Westfield would be perfect as it would be directly across from the Fanwood station and allow commuters to get breakfast before boarding.

Truth be told, I think the building does look out of place - it looks too big for the down town area and I think the real push was for extra luxury residental rental space. I hope that the first floor biz/retail space can get rented and put to good use, but in this ecomony, who knows for sure? Actually, a building of that size would have looked more appropriate on the old Dean Oil site - I guess that property isn't going to become residental property due to environmental issues? What an eyesore that lot is.

Here's another question for all- what would you prefer, a national chain or franchise (i.e. Whole foods) or more local businesses?

Local merchants who have a vested intrest in our town. How bout a tattoo shop ?

Emily - a nice mix of both local and national. I think a balance is important.

You love what Flannery's has done but you've never been there ? Local private owned not coorporate or publicly traded. Our country has lost that and the coorporations/banks are killing this country as well as small businesses. Been to a hardware store or one of the local pharmacies lately ? No cuz there's none left. Just an example.

"Been to a hardware store or one of the local pharmacies lately ? No cuz there's none left."

None? I hope that no one tells Baron's or Tiffany or Westfield Lumber or Homeowner's Heaven that they don't exist. Googling turns up this 177-page document giving a list of independent pharmacies in the US, including a little more than 200 in NJ. I didn't look for a similar list of hardware stores.

Has anyone ever shopped @ Whole Foods? Think you might notice the SIZE of an operational WF? Geeesh c'mon people. Yeah and sure lets put another Trader Joes 1.5 miles from the one in Westfield. A movie theater with one bare able to survive in Westfield? A bakery when several in the area already struggle. Maybe we need a bar/resturant (not a chain) and a bar /lounge where you could see bands, comics, and dance in a casual atmospher. This would to attract people from town as well as out of towners that can utilize the train station. for transportation. No banks, no pizza, no bakery, no nail salon, no gourmet anything. Think about it, do we need another coffee place steps from DD?

I would like to see a retail chain that would attract a younger crowd like a Hollister or Abercorombie.. you have to go to the mall to get to these stores. I also would like to see something like a Melinda lane in Westfield type of boutique clothing store for girls, or a justice. It would also be nice to have something like a Build a Bear or some other type of similar concept store where kids could have b-day parties.

I would love to see a small book store/cafe in downtown Fanwood. Students are always looking for a place to meet up with clubs, study groups or a place to get outside reading books before taking the trip all the way to Barnes and Noble. Dunkin Donuts may offer coffee across the street, but couldn't compare to a laidback atmosphere of a hometown coffee lounge.
Plus, my friends and I are always talking about how we just don't have a place to meet up other than a friend's house, just to have a chat for about an hour.

I would love to see a full service bakery too! A diner would be great I either have to meet friends at Vickki's or Scotchwood in other towns would love to meet my fanwodians friends in our own town diner! Pharmacy is a great idea as well!

Since I try not to patronize Dunkin Donuts [as far as I know, it has done next to nothing to support its local school activies and programs, this despite the fact that it the kids and families of SPF that keep that store afloat], I would also like to see a gathering place, a nice family local-owned restaurant/pub (a new location for Flannery's?). I hope the project turns out to be a home run for all -- the town and the businesses that move in.

As I recall, there once was a locally owned pharmacy, bakery, and bookshop in downtown Fanwood, and all closed. I don't know the reasons they closed, whether it was lack of foot traffic, competition from chain stores like CVS and Barnes & Noble, or what.
The delicate balance of finding a "destination" store that would draw people to Fanwood, hopefully producing customer who would then get a bagel or an ice cream cone or buy birthday cards, is so difficult to achieve. While I'd like a Crate & Barrel type store, I don't know why Crate & Barrel would find Fanwood desirable. That's where leadership from the Mayor, the Borough Council, and local business leaders comes in--to present the borough as a place to put down retail roots.

Hey Everyone! Check out the update to this story here http://patch.com/A-qXcP