Posted by admin on Oct 30, 2010 in
New Jersey
Seems like there’s a 6th Guy in town!
FiveGuys is no longer the only new greasy burger joint in town.
If you drive just 10 minutes down from Livingston Mall on Columbia Turnpike, you’ll find a bunch of new strip mall development happening. One of them houses the latest Smash Burger restaurant.
We decided to check it out this Saturday night – seems like everyone had the same idea. Lines the length of the store from counter to door. Loud and crowded, we waited a good 15 minutes to order, and then got seating and waited another 7-8 minutes for our food to be delivered.
Yelp.com reviews and others give it a so-so rating. We do the same. . . Read more…
Tags: florham park, nj, restaurant, restuarant, review, smashburger
Posted by admin on Oct 29, 2010 in
New Jersey,
basketball
Last year, we took the kids to see the NJ Nets a couple of times at the IZOD center. Good times.
This year, the New Jersey Nets have moved homes, albeit temporary, to The Prudential Center in Newark. Downtown Newark has been on an upswing lately, and “the Rock” Prudential Ctr is one of the reasons – great venue. The Nets must be happy.
We were happy when we grabbed some tickets as a part of a 2-for-1 ticket promotion. Sitting 1st row in the upper section in “Kids Country” for $25. That comes to $12.50/ticket. Nice.
Parking is $25 right around the Prudential Center. If you’re willing to walk just 1 block, there’s a couple of lots for $20 for the night. And if you’re willing to brave the chilly night for 3 block, parking can be had for as low as $8.
Food concessions offers a variety of options – the usual hot dogs and fries ($10 for both – Nathan’s), hamburgers, pizza, etc. Beer will set you back 9 bucks. Popcorn $5. Medium soda $3.75. They also have gourmet sandwiches and some other fare to choose from.
The two-for-one ticket promotion is sponsored by McDonald’s actually. Various games are labeled different tiers. So you can get two seats for $20 all the say up to $180 depending on section and game schedule.
The nice part about Nets tickets through this promotion is that there’s no service fees like the $7.50 ticketmaster tacks on each ticket. But there is a one-time $10 shipping fee for the tickets — which arrived via UPS overnight.
If you’re looking for a decent night of B-Ball with the kids, give Kyle Dudley a call in “INSIDE SALES” (201) 935-8888. Tell him Kenny at FingerClickingGood.com/livingston sent you!
Tags: basketball, discount tickets, nba, nj nets, prudential center
Posted by admin on Oct 28, 2010 in
New Jersey
The South Mountain Recreation Complex located at South Mountain Reservation houses the Turtle Back Zoo, Codey Skating Arena and now the brand new Safari Miniature Golf Course.
Adults are 7 bucks
Kids are 5 bucks.
You get 19 holes of Safari adventure, complete with jungle themed landscaping and acoustics.
The people are coming out in droves apparently to hit the links because the gate attendant shared with me that there’s over 300 people per day that go through the course usually if the day is decent. And on a fine fall day like it was when we went — attendance topped 500 people already and it was early evening on a weekend night.
Last time we went, it took us 35 minutes to get through. Tonight it took over 1 hour – because the course was full. On a dollar value basis, you could argue that’s really cheap ($5 for over 1 hour of entertainment!).
It’s worth heading out to the Safari MiniGolf course before it gets too cold out. Say hello to Frankie the Elephant for us when you do!
Tags: essex county, recreation complex, safari mini golf, south mountain, turtle back zoo, west orange
Posted by admin on Oct 28, 2010 in
New Jersey Looks like Papa John’s on Mount Pleasant Avenue closed down. Seemed like they were doing good business – don’t know why it closed.
But who cares? WHY?
Because Papa John’s Pizza just opened up in the UPS Store strip mall on South Livingston Avenue (184 S. Livingston Avenue to be precise). It’s across the street from TD Bank (the old Commerce Bank).
Apparently, it’s under a new franchisee owner. Don’t worry, you don’t have to change your speed dial just yet. The new owner took over the old telephone number for Papa John’s on Mt. Pleasant Avenue, so it will ring through just fine. But they got a new number too.
Here’s the new telephone number for pizza delivery:
PAPA JOHN’S PIZZA
973-533-1300
Tell them FingerClickingGood.com sent you!
Gotta love their $12 XL Pizza deal with multiple toppings.
QUESTION: What’s your favorite pizza topping at Pappa John’s Pizza? Leave your favorite in a comment below!
Tags: delivery, food, papa john's, pizza, restuarant, take out
Posted by admin on Oct 12, 2010 in
New Jersey,
turtle back zoo,
west orange,
zoo Here’s the math: 19 holes of miniature golf costs $800,000 to build out.
And this is only the beginning. Because it’s part of a $4.8 MILLION development project at South Mountain — including the packaging and rebranding of the Turtle Back Zoo + Codey Arena into the “South Mountain Recreation Complex”. Next-up? Restaurant on the lake… (perhaps like the one on the lake at Verona Park but not operating anymore besides that small snack bar inside?)
Anyway, that’s about $42,000 sunk into each hole on the minigolf course. Essex County is expecting revenues of at least $250,000 per year on the golf course alone. If the sales projections are correct, that means the county will make their money back within 4 years. And supposedly all revenues will be going to the Turtle Back Zoo itself (which you can get to on the free shuttle trolley that cost $180,000 itself).
Woa. Can this really work? Was that massive elephant overlooking Northfield really worth its weight in revenues?
Well, the early results are in, and since the opening day on the rainy September 16th, the Safari Minigolf course apparently took in approximately $37,000 up to the first week in October. That’s about $15,000 per week. Of course you can probably discount that a bit since it’s a brand new facility and there’s a lot of press and those tall flying air-blown tubes in front of the entrance corner on Northfield and Pleasant Valley Way (wonder how much those are costing per day?).
It looks like peak days when all things are going well, the course can handle between 875-975 people a day. About 1,000 rounds of golf at $5 or $7 per person.
Time will tell if the revenue targets will be a hit…or miss.
There are of course, tons of lost opportunities here that one can see immediately — many that are simply low hanging fruit, if someone at the E.C.S.M.R.C. (Essex County South Mountain Recreation Complex) paid any attention. Here’s a quick back of the napkin list of ideas that are missing out of the gate:
- If this is truly a part of the Zoo, why isn’t there cross-selling marketing collateral at each venue? Why not a combo ticket? Or a discount offered at the other place with admission receipt?
- Pre-paid multi-ticket booklets for families — or even an unlimited safari pass? The zoo offers an annual membership, the miniGOLF course should too!
- Birthday parties. Book ‘em at $250 a pop.
- Safari gear – every zoo needs a gift shop. You already have the labor, why not install a small gift shop with safari-themed educational toys, games, etc?
- Adopt an endangered safari animal wall – give a chance for kids and families to donate money for a name plate at each of the 19 holes in honor of a given animal in need.
- Corporate sponsored balls. That’s a no-brainer. Sell annual branded sponsorship opportunities on the balls, give them away at the end of the year, and get new sponsors or returning sponsors to buy brand new equipment each year. 6,000+ people could have been handling some company’s logo for 1/2 an hour each already.
- Discounted “2nd chance” rounds. $5 child $7 adults for the first round, let them go around again for $3 each. You already have the customer there, now take more money from them.
- This is a NON-revenue related item, but there should be more “kodak moment” photo opps inside and outside the golf area. For example, that huge elephant is a wasted photo opp far behind the fence. If you designed some of the animals so that the “Safari miniGOLF” logo was in view, the photo opps would turn into free advertising as customers show off their photos to friends and family.
- Add a $1 option for animal conservation at the zoo for each admission. “Would you like to add $1 to your admission today to help care for and save the animals?”
There’s tons more ways to generate extra value and hence extra revenue with this same venue. Just my $0.02.
Tags: essex county, safari minigolf, south mountain recreation complex, turtle back zoo
