DUI Lawyers in Pitman, NJ

George’s Family Restaurant has opened in Pitman NJ, taking over a free-standing building across from Alcyon Lake… offering a smalltown diner cafe experience with a large menu for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Located at 466 W Holly Ave, the building was previously home to a Mediterranean restaurant, and over the prior years was a variety of pizza shops and delis.

I stopped in today to catch up with owner George who has a 50+ year career in the South Jersey diner industry, which has had him owning and operating diners in Deptford, Collingswood, Rio Grande and more!

George realized retirement wasn’t the thing for him, and wanting to stay busy took over the cozy restaurant space which seats about 30 people.

Closed on Tuesday, they are open the rest of the week 7am to 9pm! (Hours may adjust due to customer feedback)

The 1940s era building sits in the center of the paved lot, with parking around the perimeter.

Inside the restaurant, George’s Family Restaurant offers a smalltown comfortable dining experience with tables seating two and four persons (can be combined). Everything is updated… but yet it still has that small town “local café” vibe… it just feels like George’s has been a thriving part of the community for years!

George’s is the kind of restaurant that the kids and families will feel at home in, but if you bring Grandma in for Sunday breakfast, she’s going to fall in love with the place!

The menu at George’s is somewhat extensive especially considering it’s not a full size diner.

The day starts off with a breakfast menu including three egg omelets, breakfast sandwiches and griddle items such as pancakes and Belgian waffles.

More casual lunch items include delicious 8 oz burgers, a variety of George’s famous hoagies, grilled and Italian sandwiches including chicken cutlets and Italian sausages… and of course cheesesteaks!

While it seems the entire menu is available all day, larger entree portions for a evening dinner include Roasted California Turkey, New York Strip Steak, Breaded Chicken Cutlet Parmesan and even a selection of seafood items including Golden Fried Flounder.

I asked George what were some of his recommended dishes were and he went true classic South Jersey diner by suggesting the French Dip and Monte Cristo sandwiches… as well as the Greek Gyro Platter.

For my lunchtime visit I went with something from the daily special menu, a meatball parmesan sandwich with fries. Delicious house-made meatballs with marinara… and without prompting our server provided a extra portion of marinara to add in if I chose.

George is using Deluxe bakery for the rolls and it was an incredibly fresh and soft roll, perfect match for his seasoned meatballs and mozzarella. Delicious!

They even have you covered for dessert… ice cream and milkshakes, cakes and pastries… and of course freshly brewed coffee!

For those that have been visiting South Jersey diners for decades, George shared with me his very interesting history which starts with the Deptford Diner in the New Sharon section of Deptford!

Today the property on Delsea Drive where his original diner stood is now a convenience store (was developed as a Wawa).

Later on George took over a diner in Rio Grande… also calling it the Four Seasons. Sadly in 2013 the Rio Grande Four Seasons Diner experienced a devastating fire.

While I did not fully catch what George has been up to for the last 12 years or so… he said he is not a man who can simply relax around the house and was eager to get back into the restaurant business… and Pitman is luck he chose the quaint town as home for his George’s Family Restaurant.

I enjoyed my visit chatting with George, server Kristin and the rest of the team.. I’ll be back soon!

Links and Location

George’s Family Restaurant466 W Holly AvePitman NJ

856-221-4911

Closed Tuesday

An instant success with their opening three years ago, women’s boutique Chosen in Pitman has moved across the street to a significantly larger space offering an improved shopping experience with more products, more dressing rooms… and more space for customers to comfortably move around.

And as their customers would expect, Stephanie and her team have done an amazing job making the new location absolutely beautiful and even more inviting to shop in… and they are now open an extra day each week, Tuesday through Sunday. (Note this opening week they are also open Monday 4/7)

Inside the new location customers shopping at Chosen will immediately see the benefits of shopping with all of the new space… which offers a larger selection of women’s clothing, accessories, jewelry and more with new items added every week.

The original location was narrow and tight on space for merchandise (or customers, at times!). But with the new location, Stephanie has the room to create a mini department store with defined sections for all of her product categories including clothing, gift products, jeans, and beautiful jewelry including an area dedicated to Stephanie’s own jewelry line… Golden Leopard.

With the larger space, for the first time Chosen has been able to fit in round clothing racks which she has filled with fashions based on size, making it easy for customers to find the perfect outfit for them.

I caught up with owners Stephanie and David on Saturday as they prepared for that evening’s grand opening celebration in the store that is likely 3 times larger than the prior.

As Pitman based vendors The Candy Box and Mama Marie’s were bringing in food and treats for that evening’s celebration… I was able to grab a few minutes of the couple’s time to learn all about the new store.

The new design was the vision of Stephanie but it was beautifully constructed by Damon of local contractor “Built 2 Perfection”. Damon was also the craftsman behind the remodel of Palmisano’s in Washington Twp.

Chosen – Innovative Marketing

While there are many successful woman’s boutique stores, Chosen has a few unique aspects that have helped them become very successful

Each week, Stephanie and the team are bringing in a significant amount of new inventory which is frequently based on special one-time buys… Which means a customer who is interested in something either buys it now or they may miss out!

With an ever-changing inventory Stephanie needed a way to let customers know what was new to the store that week… So she regularly has livestreams on Facebook where many thousands of customers get to not only see Stephanie highlight the new products, but she also models the “just arrived” dresses and other fashion items.

But the general vibe of the livestreams is a very casual and personal conversation… It’s a live fashion show where sure… the goal is to sell merchandise but the livestreams can also be similar to a fun morning television show, or being invited into the personal lives of the Fosters!

Overall it’s an interactive customer focused experience with Stephanie even answering questions such as if the sizes “run large” or asking for local recommendations “A few customers flew in for the opening! What’s a good suggestion for dinner?”

The last piece of the successful marketing puzzle is Chosen has an online store and smartphone app, which have become very popular ways for customers to purchase from the store. The online store also features final product closeout sales when it comes time to free up space for next week’s new arrivals. (Apple, Google)

Chosen – Innovative Store

The new store is a fitting tribute to the success of Chosen… a brand that has created incredible loyalty with the customers who at times will wait in line for the store to open to purchase items they’ve seen highlighted online.

Everything you’ve loved about Chosen is still there… just bigger, more beautiful and more room for customers.

The benefits of the new location is noticeable even before you enter, with the store’s significantly wider front facade and large glass windows… the openness connects Chosen with the very popular Pitman Uptown commercial district.

Once you step inside you realize how the spaciousness of the new location really changes and improves things.

While the original Chosen was narrow and deep (and the natural light didn’t seem to make it to the rear of the store)… this new location is more square and open, and with the large glass windows in front it just feels more inviting. Plus it’s definitely easier for customers to move around with all of the new space!

An aspect that Stephanie is very excited about that may not be readily apparent to customers is the location of the employee register area which is now in the direct center of the store.

It’s like a friendly command center for the staff who are always close by to greet and assist customers.

As her livestreams show, Stephanie has built her brands on having a deep connection with her customers and realizing that the register area is homebase for the staff… by positioning it in the center of the store her employees will be right there to welcome customers as they walk in the front door.

If you have a question, that center console has the staff only a few feet away to assist! And even the dressing rooms are very close by.

That center staff area also features a bar like counter to make it easy for customers to sit and review their potential purchases, particularly the jewelry products.

And speaking of dressing rooms, Chosen has now doubled the number of dressing rooms to four.

And be happily warned that as part of that customer connection aspect at Chosen, as you exit the dressing room wearing that new outfit you’re trying on you’re likely to be greeted by Stephanie or her staff “oh that looks amazing on you!”

And as already mentioned there are very thoughtful dedicated areas to all of their product lines with the new size oriented round clothing racks, a dedicated jean area and the Golden Leopard jewelry space.

I’ve always been impressed by the couple’s innovation and drive for new features to add to Chosen.

As Stephanie is showing me different pieces from her extensive Golden Leopard jewelry line the thought hit me ”wait, you mean you designed these pieces? And then had someone custom make?”

Well not only did Stephanie design many of the pieces of her Golden Leopard jewelry line, they traveled regularly to their jewelry manufacturer in Georgia… and many of the pieces have direct personal connections to people in her life or customers!

Other more operational but yet important changes with the new Chosen are a customer bathroom located right off the main retail floor… even if you don’t have to “go” you should pop into check out the design!

And behind-the-scenes in the staff areas where customers likely won’t ever see, the larger building offers completely new features there also.

An actual large backroom area offers inventory storage space with room to unpack and prepare products before it goes out on the retail floor. There are also two desks for employee use.

Plus with a big focus on the livestreams, for the first time they have a dedicated video room which allows David to also be part of the commentary… which customers seem to really appreciate!

Stephanie and David look forward to seeing the excitement of their customers seeing the space for the first time.. as well as new customers drawn in by the inviting front windows which give a preview of the store to those walking by.

Links and Location

Chosen Pitman35 S BroadwayPitman NJ 08071