Bayonne will soon get a blast from the past – a scene almost straight out of the movie “American Graffiti,” when Sonic Restaurant opens for business, complete with drive up service.
Although Sonic has been around since the 1950s helping to shape the classic image of waitresses on roller-skates carrying orders to waiting cars, the first Sonic didn’t open in New Jersey until 2007, and the Bayonne store will be only the second in Hudson County.
This is one of the reasons why the Santarelli family decided Sonic was right for them.
“We wanted a franchise that was not a flash in the pan, but a food business that didn’t already saturate the area,” said Dina A. Santarelli, a former commercial real estate broker who grew disenchanted with market conditions and wanted to find a new avenue as an investment. “We wanted to find something in the food industry.”
“People grow up in Bayonne and many of them stay there. I really liked that.” – Dina A. Santarelli
________
“We didn’t know Sonic at the time,” she said.
But a short time later, they discovered the company was seeking to open new stores in New Jersey and, in fact, they had two areas left still, Hudson and Essex counties.
She said family members flew out to the corporate headquarters in Oklahoma, and then later, the corporation notified them of a possible location for a store in Bayonne, noting that she, her father, and her brother, Anthony Jr., are all involved in the Sonic project.
Impressed with Bayonne
“I had never been to Bayonne,” she said. “I knew a few people from Bayonne, but when we went there I was blown away. I was very impressed by the place. It was a real community. I grew up in Montvale, which didn’t have anything like that. People grow up in Bayonne and many of them stay there. I really liked that.”
City government, she said, was extremely helpful, with local officials asking what they could do to help.
“When we went the first time, the mayor wasn’t available. But he called us later to ask what he could do to help us,” she said. “I was very impressed with how open the city was for us.”
Mayor Mark Smith, when contacted later, said this was a policy of his administration – to open up Bayonne for possible investment.
“We want to encourage businesses like this to come to Bayonne,” he said.
A big part of bringing businesses to Bayonne is job creation, and the Santarelli family met with Bayonne school officials about offering jobs to students.
“They have a work study program at the high school,” she said. “We set up in a section of the library for about four hours and interviewed between 40 and 50 kids. I think we hired about 30 of them.”
The store, which is located on Route 440 at New Hook Road, is expected to open in early December, and will feature roller-skate service to parked cars and tables, something straight out of the 1950s era.
She said once the store opens, she and her family intend to become part of the community, too, hoping to get involved with local organizations and to sponsor local sports teams.
She and her brother recently attended the Bayonne Chamber of Commerce installation of new members, and she said the chamber’s chairman, Matt Doran, has been very helpful.
She said she and her family are very excited about the new store and believe the location on Route 440 and in the Bayonne Crossing Mall will generate a lot of business.
“Lowe’s and Wal-Mart are big draws,” she said.