Those who have been doing some spring cleaning over the past few months now have a place to take the gently-used, trendy clothing and accessories that no longer have spaces in their closets—they can bring those items to a different closet instead. That closet is Plato’s Closet, a new consignment shop in the Raritan Mall which features trendy items for teens and 20-somethings. The franchise is owned and operated by Beth Weissman, a former accounting professional who decided to go in a different direction after 30 years. “I needed a change, I didn’t know what I was going to do,” she said. “I …

It’s fair to wonder if the old adage, "slow and steady wins the race," applies to the growth of a business. According to Time After Time, a watch sales and repair shop in the Bridgewater Commons Mall, it does. In fact, that’s been the company’s entire approach that has helped it to steadily grow for more than 21 years. “We don’t go into malls, try them out for a little while and leave. Every mall that we’ve been in, I don’t believe that we’ve ever closed a store,” said Mark Pliner, executive vice president of store operations with Time After Time. “It’s not the irresponsible growth of …

Aside from Allergan coming to Bridgewater in the next few months, several other pharmaceutical and technological companies are making their homes in town in the near future. Howard Turbowitz, economic development officer for the township, said the Life Cell Corporation will be coming to Bridgewater, after having initially been based in Branchburg. The company is involved with skin, making biological products created from skin tissue, and used for regeneration and restoration. Turbowitz said the company is coming to 95 Corporate Drive, and will take up about 118,000 square feet in the building…

Prom season typically means the busiest time of year for limousine rental services across the country. Teens want to arrive in style to the pinnacle of their high school careers, and companies like Raritan Limousine & Car Service, on Morgan Lane, are more than happy to fulfill that need. This year, however, business has been uncharacteristically slow for Raritan Limousine. In fact, this may have been the slowest prom season yet for the company. “You’re not generating anything,” said Danny of Raritan Limousine, who declined to give his last name. “I’ve been in business for 28 years, and it’s …

The Bridgewater Commons Mall is abuzz with the impending arrival of the Microsoft Store, which will be holding its grand opening event on May 19 at 9:30 a.m. The store is planning for weekend-long event to celebrate its opening in Bridgewater. The weekend's events will be highlighted with an appearance by two-time New York Giants Super Bowl-winning quarterback Eli Manning on Sunday, May 20th, who will be on-hand to play Kinect for Xbox 360, one of Microsoft's flagship devices, with members of the community. Manning will be joined by Grammy Award-nominated band OneRepublic, who will be …

Farm markets are usually saved for rural areas off the main drag. Towns like Bridgewater, which feature a more suburban setting, usually are not the type of place to host a market like Melick’s Town Farm. And yet, the farm decided to expand its business into Bridgewater seven years ago. It all started with an opportunity the Melick family saw to expand beyond its two Hunterdon County locations. “A lot of the [original] farm was sold off for development [by the owners], but they kept the farm market because they really liked being involved with agriculture,” said Rebecca Melick, of Melick’s …

Eastern Mountain Sports shares the same strip mall as the Bridgewater Modell’s—but what sets the two stores apart is the type of product each offers. “Modell’s actually sells totally different stuff. They’re more geared toward organized sporting-type things. They’re going to carry [equipment for] baseball and basketball,” said Lauren Ayers, assistant manager at Eastern Mountain Sports. “We cover biking, kayaking, climbing, hiking, running and traveling. If you’re going abroad or just within the United States, we’ve got tons of travel stuff. You can pretty much outfit for anything.” This sort …

Summer is approaching, and Gotta Dance—a Somerset County-based dance studio with locations in Martinsville, Warren, Basking Ridge and a home base in Branchburg—is preparing for its usual slate of summer programs. The studio, which has been operating for 21 years since studio owner Jana Belot opened the Branchburg location, offers programs for young, dedicated performers looking to reach their dance potential over the summer months. “For the young campers, our goal is for them to have fun and sort of ignite this joy of dance and this excitement of dancing, singing and being artistic,” said …

Bridgewater's “Readers' Choice” winner in the Best Deli category prides itself on being a true-to-form, classic delicatessen experience for its customers. The deli in question is Steck’s Delicatessen, which, for more than 50 years, has served generations of hungry Somerset County residents. “It’s a German-oriented deli," said Keith Swann, owner of Steck’s Delicatessen. "We have an abundance of varieties of ethnic foods from Germany and Holland. The main focus of our business is the delicatessen, which just doesn’t happen anymore. People who appreciate a good delicatessen flock here.” It would…

Big things are happening in Martinsville at kate!!!designs, whose owner, interior designer and artist Kate Curran, is preparing for its five-year anniversary at its location on Washington Valley Road. Curran said the studio will be hosting “An Evening of Art,” an art show that will feature works from a variety of different mediums to commemorate the showroom’s unveiling of a new, custom-label furniture line. “We have a lot of botanicals, we have some contemporary pieces and we’re doing some fine art. she said. “We’re doing mixed media, really, so it’s going to be really cool. It’s going to be…

With spring now in full swing, more people will be taking on home improvement projects as the weather continues to warm up. For those in the middle of re-modeling, there’s a well-kept secret in Martinsville by the name of Renaissance Tile. Renaissance Tile has been operating quietly in town for 16 years under the ownership of husband and wife team Charles and Suzanne Niven. The store manages to keep a small profile on Washington Valley Road. “I’ve been here for 16 years, and I still have people in Bridgewater say, ‘I didn’t know you were here,’” Charles Niven said. Renaissance Tile prides …

Advertising through new forms of media and smartphone technology is becoming more prevalent in society by the day—you name it and, chances are, somebody has created an app for it. Now, one company based out of Bridgewater has created an app focused on making it easier for businesses to advertise their promotions. PromoVerse, a free-to-download, location-based application launching exclusively in Central New Jersey, was created by the Areli Group and its CEO, Steven Chiocchi. The app will allow local businesses to promote special deals, all while keeping in touch with their customers and …

In recent years, budget cuts in school districts across the nation have seen arts and creative programs be some of the first to fall by the wayside. But that does not mean there are no avenues for those who desire to learn about art, and one happens to be situated in Martinsville. The Martinsville Studio, owned by professional painter and art instructor Jamie Lindholm, was opened after Lindholm and her husband started a family and moved to Martinsville from New York City. “We did not want to raise [our son] in the shadow of all those tall buildings,” she said. “He needed grass and trees.” …

Players of fretted instruments throughout Somerset County have had no need to fret since 2008—because that’s when Guitar Hut opened in Martinsville. Since then, local guitarists have been taking their instruments in for tune-ups, repairs and, of course, lessons. In fact, lessons are how Guitar Hut owner Evan Simons first got into business. A musician and guitar teacher by trade, Simons got the idea to learn about guitar repairs after a large number of his students expressed a need. “My students starting having these problems with their instruments,” he said. “After a while, I started thinking…

In a world of television shows and other media where the focus is on salons like the one featured on the Style Network’s hit program "Jerseylicious," often lost in the shuffle is the traditional barber shop, where an old-school atmosphere and an emphasis on a crisp, clean cut still reigns supreme. In Martinsville, a local barber shop is keeping that spirit alive and well. Martinsville Barber Shop, on Washington Valley Road, offers a laid-back atmosphere without too many of the new-age frills seen in salons. Owned by Gani Barakaev, the barber shop specializes in men’s haircuts, including skin …

Bill Vince’s Bridgewater Acura, on Route 22, is nearing the completion of its renovations to provide a more comfortable and friendly sales and service experience for customers and dealership employees alike, according to Jared Leibowitz, the dealership’s director of e-commerce. While no definite timetable has been provided on the full completion of the project, Leibowitz said that there is still some interior work to be done. “There’s still a lot of interior office work that’s being done in the service department,” he said. “There’s still a lot of work going on.” Additionally, the dealership …

With the value of gold and silver seemingly increasing by the day, one local business is looking to help customers cash in on the trend while it’s hot. American Coins & Gold, located just outside of Bloomingdale’s on the middle level of the Bridgewater Commons Mall, opened in its current location in August 2011 after starting out in Colorado. “I’m from New York, we just tried to move around and see how it works out,” said Teyelle Sebbera, co-owner of American Coins & Gold. “At first, we were a gold-buying kiosk, then we started finding out about coins and learning about coins. It started to …

A pharmacy with a deli inside? You don’t see that every day. Yet Easy Pharmacy and Surgicals contains both within its Bridgewater location on East Main Street. The pharmacy, which boasts a Manville location and expanded to Bridgewater in 2009, is owned by Kiran Parvatrao, a licensed pharmacist who decided to expand the business to Bridgewater in order to have a location closer to the Somerset Medical Center in Somerville. “I wanted to expand and get more business closer to the hospital to get more exposure,” he said. In addition to medications and deli goods, Easy Pharmacy serves customers …

For Somerset County residents looking for a nearby luxury car dealership, the wait is over—they need look no further than BMW of Bridgewater, on Route 202/206. “Customers have been waiting for us to get here for quite a while, so they’re pretty excited that we finally made it here,” said dealership owner Gailon McGowen. “People that live in this area now have a local BMW dealership.” And Bridgewater residents have had one since Nov. 7, when the 30,000-square-foot facility first opened its doors to the public. Since then, business has increased for the dealership that used to be known as …

Web Express, Inc., one of the world’s premiere web hosting and IT companies is quietly functioning right in Bridgewater, and has been since 1996. Joyce Lin, the owner and operator of Web Express, Inc., is a Bridgewater resident who housed the company at 672 Route 206 before moving it to its new location along Route 22 in May. “I live in Bridgewater, so it’s much easier to start a business in your neighborhood,” she said. Web Express, Inc. began providing its varying Internet services in the mid-1990s to a wide range of customers, ranging from local government and library systems to a …