Businesses That Came—And Went—In 2011

Hopatcong got the business in 2011. But it lost some, too.

Like the rest of America, the borough stumbled through another rough economy. Some business owners survived the drought. Others closed their doors, moved or even opened new locations, hoping recovery is around the corner.

Here's a look at Hopatcong businesses that came and went in 2011.

HELLO
SEE YA Gellar's Automotive, Grafe Small Engines
Affordable Automotive owner Robert Iannaccone moved into the Lakeside Boulevard location when Gellar's Automotive left for Byram and Grafe Small Engines jettisoned for Stanhope. Iannaccone, who owned a Jefferson shop through the 1990s, said he planned to base his location around low rates, even if that meant a smaller business, after investing about $8,000 into renovations.

HELLO
SEE YA Quick Chek
Hopatcong residents when, in a matter of hours, a borough staple was replaced by a similar-looking business in November. That's what happened when Quick Chek, after a 30-plus-year run, left Hopatchung Road after a dispute with its landlords over a raise in rent, making way for QuickStop, a convenience store much in the mold of the old place, right down to the lime green sign. QuickStop's owners—a group from India who have run several Krauzers stores in Bergen County—said they hoped to with borough residents. But Quick Chek hasn't totally left the borough. Business officials say its Lakeside Boulevard location, which features gas pumps, has thrived.

HELLO
SEE YA Parkside Cafe & Grill
After Parkside owner Frank Ferraro closed for good in late 2010, , the Hopatchung Road store sat empty for almost six months. Then came Roy Malmendier, Collette Malmendier-Ioffredo, Linda D. Frazier and Lynn LoPorto. The four opened Thyme Out Grill, hoping to pick up where Parkside left off after a 10-year run.

HELLO Sabretti's
SEE YA Nothing
Sabretti's moved into the place vacated when it moved to a different spot in the borough and opened up in July under an interesting premise, in a borough with a history of Italian restaurants. Rohan Shetty's business, which he said he dreamed of opening since he was a child, has also contributed products to a few borough events.

HELLO Nothing
SEE YA KaBob's
Bob Winegar, president of Hopatcong's Business Association, shut down KaBob's after five years when its lease ran out on Nov. 1. Winegar, who also runs , shifted his focus to a new year-round bar—Junction 46 in Roxbury. Winegar said renewing KaBob's lease wouldn't have been smart, citing $30,000 a year in property taxes and a summer-only crowd.