Did Rita’s Close?
seaaaaasiiiiii 
Greg The Rita's on Rt.31 North Washington is also gone, their old building has been for rent for a few months now. The Rita's on Rt.31 South past Glen Gardner is still there, as is the one in Flemington. Hard business to make a living in without other food offerings in the winter beyond cold dessert based items. (trying to carry a rent cost while closed for the winter is hard on most business owners)
The Rhyme Animal 
Sher 
Bug3The Rita's in Washington is not closed for good, they are just relocating on 31 across from Suburban Propane.
Calico696 Bug3
I agree.
Keeping overhead low is key. It is going to become much harder for retail to continue with the increasing cost of local property taxes.
dodgebaal On March 1st, there was a post on the Hackettstown Rita’s FB page that said they were done hibernating and open again. It seems strange that they would open and then close permanently. Wouldn’t they have made the decision to close before they went through all the trouble of opening ?
Mariann 
Jim L That's good. Very odd, when I called the number this morning (twice) at 11:07AM, (908) 674-4694 the recording stated it was disconnected. I called now and it has a voice recording stating they are open from Labor day until early October. I think he meant Memorial Day however.
When I Googled Rita's Hackettstown this morning the info posted showed the Permanently Closed red banner over the contact info on the page. Now when I use the same search term, the Flanders location is what pops up. Who knows.
In any event It's good to know they are or will be open again possibly.
It's official the Rita's in Hackettstown on Stiger street is permanently closed.
The owner of the Flanders store purchased all of the remaining paper goods from Mark the now former owner of Rita's Hackettstown.
Drew Look at Rita’s FB page (Hackettstown location) ! There is a post on there for free Italian Ice on the first day of Spring ! Doesn’t make sense if it’s permanently closed !!
I agree. The voice message does not make any sense either. Nor do the hours of operation listed as well as the free Ice on the first day of spring post.
I spoke with the owner of the Flanders Rita's today and he confirmed that without a doubt the Hackettstown location is closed for good. He purchased all of the remaining stock as I mentioned.
Empty store fronts in Hackettstown are becoming a common sight. Does wonders for the look of the town. All those empty business campuses don't help either. Kind of looks like someone's failed idea, followed by another's failed idea.
Don 
Bobbob I always thought it odd that building owners would prefer empty stores as opposed to lowering rents to keep existing tenants. Is there a tax advantage somehow?
I like Rita’s though as stated earlier more of a warm-weather treat.
D-ManPV 
Mommyof3 It’s really too bad Rita’s closed. But how many food, dessert and ice cream places can we visit. I really wish there would be a great fitness center with a jacuzzi and swimming pool. Unfortunately doesn’t seem that’s ever going to happen in this area.
sunflower01 
LibertyThinker Hackettstown Ritas smelled so strongly of (Pinesol?) Cleanser . Could not enjoy eating ANYTHING while smelling that.
If they come back, maybe outside seating with big umbrellas could add appeal.
(I liked their custard and black cherry, but got it to go.)
Keri @sunflower1: don't give up hope: in the early 90s there was a fitness center with a large jacuzzi in Hastings Square.
OnTheEdge Keri
I ate there many times and have a pretty sensitive nose, yet I never smelled anything such as you mention. There was the smell of refrigeration and the bit of ozone from motors running almost continuously, but no strong odor of cleanser or Pine-sol. Believe me, "I know from Pine-sol" with how I grew up. That, Spic & Span, Comet and other cleaners were a part of life all the time and I never got used to the smell. I was often there several times a week and stayed, since at times I'd consme several servings of various items, one after another and no smells intruded on my enjoyment of them. I could always smell and taste the flavors quite well!
The several things I liked about the place was that Mark was quite a personable guy, but unfortunately had to deal with the high rent from Shop Rite, who owned that plaza, as well as the issues with the electrical system going out during one of his busiest times (4th of July). Of course the weather at the beginning and towards the end of the season really sucked.
He always employed nice local college and High School kids and I'm bummed for them that they won't have jobs. It was always great to eat in there when the weather outside was too hot and or humid/wet. The Flanders location has a couple of benches outside, but all there is there are two service windows, just like Cliff's or the old style Dairy Queens. You don't get to see the actual ice in the containers, as you did at the Hackettstown location. I'm bummed to see it go:-(
Phil D. Sad to read. We enjoyed that place although I always wondered about the location being sub optimal.
Friendly mcface If they are permanently closed why does their Facebook page state that they are opening for the season on March 20th with free small ice for all? It was posted just on March 1st
Pamela Yes Ritas is closed, I was there last week and all the ice cream equipment table and chairs have been removed, also all the phones. It is said! Also the small ice cream shop behind ruby Tuesdays and next to Starbucks also has closed their doors!
big sports fan 
maja2 maja2
Isn't the first day of Spring "Free ice day" just like it's "Free cone day" at the DQ on 57 today, as per the sign out front and the jam of people I saw about 1 1/2 hours ago trying to get in there with their vehicles.
Big Bobby 
Michael 
kiggles 
Bernie 
Ryan They used to use more real fruit and less “junk”, in their ices. Lots of chunks of fruit in just about every flavor. Slowly, over time, they reduced the fruit until they only had one or two flavors, that had a tiny bit of real fruit in them, like the black cherry...which they only served whilst in season. Places that serve any kind of food should know that once they “cheap out”, people notice. Look what happened with Hong Kong Palace. Jetto gone, place emptied out. Jetto came back and viola! They’re just as busy as ever. Didn’t Rita’s go public? If so, that would explain the reason for them switching their ices. My partner loves Rita’s custard...or whatever you call mayonnaise with sugar.
Guilty-Remnant The real reason Rita's closed is the world wide ice shortage due to global warming...then again maybe not
Htown Rita's is definitely closed but Das' Creamery in Budd Lake and Dalcourt's Desserts on 517 both serve Italian Ice if you need a fix!
WW Rita's Italian Ice & Frozen Custard (Washington, NJ)
January 1 at 2:39 PM ·
Hello, friends.
We have missed all of your smiling faces, this past season. During our hiatus, we have been diligently trying to secure a new, local site to call home. Our journey has landed us in Hackettstown. Our new location will be in Hastings Square Plaza, Unit 4. 480 Schooleys mountain road. Timelines and details will follow.
We thank all of our loyal customers who have made our time in Washington a tremendous experience. We hope you will all stop and say hello when you’re in The Hackettstown Area.
BLD 
Jo Best wishes and glad you're back! But it is on the far side of town for a lot of us. Many might just go to DQ. Herbie's building is still vacant, just sayin'. I love Rita's ices, but at $27 for four ices (and $3 tip), it's hard to figure out how it couldn't make it on Main St. But what do I know, it's been decades since my family owned a restaurant and certainly there are many more challenges today.
Reggie Voter Reggie Voter
Their location/franchise on Stiger Street had a relatively high rent (that plaza is owned by Ronetco, aka Shop Rite). They had to make enough in the months they were open to be able to pay for the rent when they were closed with no sales coming in, which was probably close to 1/3 of the year, as well as cover the regular utilities, salaries, franchise fees, etc.. Of course when JCP&L had the electrical issue on that strip during their busiest time of the year, the owner had a difficult time getting it taken care of and lost a good deal of business.
I take it that it's the Warren County Washington franchise that was moving into Hastings Square. I haven't noticed any sign up, but have been meaning to find where the location is to visit it once they are (hopefully) open.
Perhaps "BLD" can expand on that and correct anything I may have gotten wrong. I'm just going by the memory of my earlier discussions with the owner of the Stiger Street franchise.
Phil,
Unit 4 would place it right next to szechuan royale. Presumably to the right if facing the storefronts. I was looking forward to it but nothing seems to be happening. Hastings square website shows unit 4 as available but it does not seem like it is updated very often.
Scott We already had the discussion a long time ago about Rita's typical price. An every day large ice isn't even $3. You get a whole quart for $4. The $6 price is something like the blendini or gelati with a quart plus frozen custard.
The entire town of Hackettstown the long way is only two miles from one point to the other. Even outside town is the difference between 3.9 mi and 4.4 mi that much?
As a matter of taste you just either like the place or you don't.
GC True that GC!
Yeah, I have no problem going to the "other side" of town to get to Zbava's or Maria Bonita, or when Rita's was on "that" side of town, lol.
I was driving past Hastings Square the other day and saw advertisement signs for Rita's in one of the shop's windows. Is Rita's in Hastings Square open for business or is it preparing itself for next year's season? I knew they were going to be moving there, but haven't seen any signage since that was posted. Does anyone have any updates?
Ice Cream Lover
I hadn't seen them, but definitely a good question. I'd love to know too!
Long Valley Patch says opening this season at "Hastings Square Plaza, Unit 4. 470 Schooleys Mountain Road".
ianimal Leave a Reply
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