On East Ridgewood Avenue, a Plant Shop Sits Between the Sundaes This Fall

"We have now 11 barbershops in town," Joan Groome, executive director of the Ridgewood Chamber of Commerce, told NPR in August. She was standing on one block where, she said, three ice cream cafés had opened and a milkshake shop was on the way. NPR used downtown Ridgewood as its national example of a Main Street shifting from stores that sell things to businesses that sell services and food. It counted over a hundred eateries, dozens of coffee shops, spas, salons and a stretching studio.

That milkshake shop opens this Saturday. Once it does, much of downtown's fall will sit on two short stretches of East Ridgewood Avenue, one in the 50s through 80s and one in the low 200s. The merchants NPR interviewed were clear about what decides whether a downtown like this holds together: whether people who come for food keep walking.

The 50s Block, Address by Address

A single caption in NPR's story named MilkShake Factory, Maroons Creamery and Hey Yogurt among downtown's dessert shops. Their addresses show how close together they are, and they show which business sits in the middle.

Maroons Creamery opened in February 2024. Its website lists Saffron Kulfi and Ube Cookie Dough among its flavors. Hey Yogurt, a few doors up at 80, was reported that same February as set to open within the month.

Sunroom Plants sits at 59, between Maroons and the new MilkShake Factory. The business started with pop-ups in Ridgewood in early 2023. It opened its first storefront on October 5, 2025, and today it offers consultations, repotting, maintenance, installations and local delivery along with its plants. On a block that now leans heavily toward dessert, it is a store that sells things and teaches classes in the room where it sells them.

Saturday, October 10, at Number 63

According to Jersey Newsroom, MilkShake Factory's grand opening runs from noon to 4 p.m. this Saturday. It offers buy-one-get-one-free shakes, sundaes and molten cups, free T-shirts for the first 100 people through the door, a gift basket for the first person in line, and a DJ with prizes through the afternoon. Penn and Tara Miller-Jones own and operate the franchise. They became regulars at the brand's Forbes Avenue shop in Pittsburgh.

An opening like this brings a crowd to one doorway for four hours. The question NPR's sources kept returning to is what that crowd does next. David Logan, store manager at Bookends, described the risk directly:

"Because there's not as much retail, people are basically coming in just to go to the restaurant, and they may not necessarily walk around town."

The same story also explains why the mix shifts on a downtown block in a way it may not in a mall. In a downtown, a new eatery or gym usually replaces a shop, so more services tend to mean fewer stores. On the 50s block, that makes the shop at 59 the one to watch. It has a fall calendar of its own. Sunroom Plants is holding a Pumpkin Succulent Centerpiece workshop on Thursday, October 22, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Guests plant a ceramic pumpkin with fresh succulents and fall toppings. The price is $65 with all materials included, plus small bites and drinks, and seats are limited. On November 14 and 15, the shop will mark one year since its grand opening with two days of events.

The 200s Block, Where a Bakery Fed a Bookstore

The second stretch runs about a block and a half east and works in a different way. Tatte Bakery & Café is at 222 East Ridgewood Avenue. It opened in May 2025 as the chain's first New Jersey location. Bookends is at 211 East Ridgewood Avenue. NPR reports it has been open since the 1980s. Hot Jewelry Box is at 201.

Logan told NPR that the new bakery across the street has brought Bookends new business. "People walk out of there, and I've got my door open, so they see we're open," he said. He said many people go straight from the café to the bookstore, often parents with young children who stay in the kids' section with activity books and Legos.

A few doors down, Gina Jeon has her own way of getting people to walk in. She makes jewelry by hand at Hot Jewelry Box, lets shoppers choose their designs, and rearranges one section of the store every day so people have a reason to come back in person. She told NPR she is unsure whether a downtown moving from boutiques toward food and services gains value or loses it. One shopper NPR followed came back two days in a row for a second version of a necklace.

So the 200s block runs on traffic going both ways, with the café sending people toward the shops. This fall, Bookends adds a large author calendar on top of that. Its homepage lists events including:

• Levy Rozman, Thursday, October 8, 6 p.m.
• Lisa Vanderpump, Wednesday, October 14, 6 p.m.
• Terry Bradshaw, Thursday, October 15, 6 p.m.
• Jane Leeves, Tuesday, October 20, 6 p.m.
• Jeff Garlin, Saturday, October 24, 2 p.m.
• Henry Winkler, Monday, November 2, 4 p.m.
• The Boy Meets World cast, Monday, November 9, 6 p.m.
• Gary Sinise, Tuesday, November 10, 6 p.m.

The listings do not give a venue for every event, so it is worth checking the details before going. At least one event takes place off-site. Caroline Manzo's October 23 appearance at 6:30 p.m. is listed at Sycamore Community Church in Ho-Ho-Kus.

October 24 Puts Both Ends of the Avenue to Work

One Saturday this month stacks three downtown draws into a few hours:

1. 10:30 to 11 a.m. The Ridgewood Public Library holds its all-ages Halloween Puppy Parade, according to its fall newsletter.
2. 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Chamber of Commerce's Halloween Haunted Harvest fills Memorial Park at Van Neste Square, with a kids' parade at noon and a pet parade at 1 p.m.
3. 2 p.m. Bookends lists Jeff Garlin.

On a day like that, the gap between the 50s block and the 200s block is the short walk Logan and Jeon were talking about. Each end gets an afternoon of foot traffic, and the shops in between benefit as much as the walk does.

How the Season Runs Out

The rest of the fall keeps the same structure. The Chamber's farmers market at the train station runs on Sundays through November 1, according to Village Council minutes from July. That same Sunday, the library holds a Plant Swap from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Library programs are being held in other rooms this season, because the auditorium is closed for a renovation fully funded by the Friends Foundation. The library expects it to reopen in early spring 2027.

Mid-November brings Sunroom Plants' anniversary weekend on November 14 and 15. Bookends lists Teresa Giudice for Sunday, November 15, at 1 p.m. On Saturday, November 21, the Ridgewood Guild's Winterfest returns to Memorial Park at Van Neste Square from noon to 3 p.m., rain or shine, with music, ice sculptures, storytelling, Santa and food trucks.

For an evening stop off the avenue, Felina at 18 Prospect Street fits the same story. It is one of the conversions NPR described: a former bank, with its vault and deposit boxes kept, now an Italian-inspired restaurant. Felina opened in 2019, and its rooftop bar opened in August 2022. The rooftop, La Terrazza, is listed as open Wednesday through Saturday from 5 to 11 p.m. and Sunday from 2 to 11 p.m. Service depends on the weather and seating is first-come, first-served, so cooler fall nights decide whether it opens. Prospect Street also lost a long-standing table this year. Village Green, at 36 Prospect, closed after its last service on June 6, after the owner said lease talks with the building's new landlord did not succeed.

Seen together, this fall's dates follow the line NPR described. The new arrivals bring food and services to East Ridgewood Avenue. The workshop at 59, the author nights at 211 and the daily rearranging at 201 are how the remaining shops give people a reason to walk between them.

If you own on or near the East Ridgewood Avenue corridor and want to understand how changes in the downtown storefront mix connect to your own property's value, Catherine Bossolina is available for a private consultation, shaped around your street and your timing.