Maplewood Pool Concession Announcement

I am happy to announce that RS Foods Express won the bid for the Pool Concession this year .  They have years of experience running concessions  currently they operate the concessions at Seven President's Oceanfront Park and Cranford Community Pools  and have in the past been at the Summit Family Aquatic Center and the Clark Community Pool.    We welcome them to our community pool and look forward to them offering us a wonderful menu . 

The other bidders were SA Food Associates and Freeman's Fish. 

Please join me this summer in welcoming them and showing what a great town Maplewood is. 

Reminder that the pool opens Memorial Weekend, so if you have not signed up yet you still have time to take advantage of the early bird prices.

The Maplewood Pool Committee

Is there a projected menu you can post, I assume?

 Freeman's has been the best and is a local establishment! How can you even bother considering anyone else?  This new place better have the best freaking fish tacos and lobster rolls ever, or this is unacceptable.

I'm not kidding.

A local business that works well and they don't get the bid again ?  They ran the service well..the menu was widely appreciated by many ......why? Freeman's does a great job ...why turn them down and give business to someone you don't know ?

Very , very sad that the township cannot commit to supporting it's own when that local has proven to be respected and produced so well to its clients .

Just not nice and so unnecessary ..you do a good job ..you get it again ...simple ...

Yes, simple, but probably not in the way you intended... presumably they were underbid.

sharon said:

 Freeman's has been the best and is a local establishment! How can you even bother considering anyone else?  This new place better have the best freaking fish tacos and lobster rolls ever, or this is unacceptable.

I'm not kidding.

And their ketchup had BETTER be cold.  Just sayin'.  

icdart said:

A local business that works well and they don't get the bid again ?  They ran the service well..the menu was widely appreciated by many ......why? Freeman's does a great job ...why turn them down and give business to someone you don't know ?

Very , very sad that the township cannot commit to supporting it's own when that local has proven to be respected and produced so well to its clients .

Just not nice and so unnecessary ..you do a good job ..you get it again ...simple ...

 Just want to point out that the Pool Committee is not "the Township," but a group of hard-working volunteers.  I am sorry you are disappointed but I think your tone is quite unnecessarily harsh.  I am sure they would welcome your help next year, and then you can have both insight and influence into the decision process.

I want Highland Place to come back, as the pool concession. I want giant nachos to eat poolside. And I want the post office to share the space, over where the popsicles are sold, so I can get some stamps. Personally, I am excited about the new pool they've opened to accommodate all the swimming backyard chickens.

.

We've voiced this before. I don't feel like being more polite about this. I'm one of the members who is there almost daily and eat at the concession many times weekly.  I love having healthy seafood options. I love supporting a good local biz.
This sucks.

I miss "Larry's Place : the best snack bar at the pool."

I hope the revenue loss doesn't hurt Freeman's overall for their fiscal year.

is it time to update all the pool threads?  Maplewood no longer wins the concessionaire battle.

Will we get to see a menu soon? 

We used to live in Summit and I remember RS. Meh. Not sure how the vendor gets selected, so I won't attack the volunteers, but Freeman's Fish provides a MUCH better experience than RS, from my experience. Maybe next year. 

Village Green has the scoop on the menu, bid prices, etc.

http://villagegreennj.com/towns/government/funnel-cakes-churros-coming-maplewood-pool-goodbye-lobster-roll/

Also in the article is this:

Maplewood Recreation Director Keith Knudsen noted that the The Township Committee will be reviewing and approving the contract tonight at the Township Committee meeting (7:30 p.m. at Maplewood Town Hall)

So there's that, if folks want to go and see if they get to say anything before the approval.

will the tuna melts be made with line caught tuna? will the funnel cakes and churros be organic and whole grain? will the chicken tenders be free range?

hankzona said:

will the tuna melts be made with line caught tuna? will the funnel cakes and churros be organic and whole grain? will the chicken tenders be free range?

 Yes to all, and as a bonus all chicken tenders will be from locally-sourced, Maplewood chickens.

This is a total bummer.  Having a unique, local concession was one of the greatest selling points of pool membership.  We were members last year and it was the first thing I would bring up in discussion "you can get a lobster roll!"

Now?  Burgers, fries and hot dogs like everywhere else.

It's unfortunate but I guess we can't complain too much when Freemans ended up underbidding by $7500.

I agree it's disappointing, but as said, if the winning bidder outbid Freeman's by 50%, and offers up a pretty comprehensive menu, it's hard to fault the decision.

Plus somewhere a lobster is reading this and thinking, "phew, one less thing to worry about."

According to the article -

RS Food Express bid $22,500

SA Food Associates bid $18,000

Freeman's bid $15,000.99

I would call that underbidding (if that is not the correct term I apologize, but you get the point).

overbid

I don't care. Go back to Freeman's and come to a compromise. I'm really disappointed in the board that approved this rather than making it work.  They knew residents loved Freeman's.   I see a lot of processed crap and uninteresting salads from this new vendor. Way to look out for the members and a local business.