Mara's closed??

I hear maras was unexpectedly closed today? Anyone know anything as to why and whether it's temporary or permanent?

From Facebook over the weekend:

Bob Zuckerman Peter - my understanding is that the landlord is trying to get the franchisor or another franchisee to take it over. Hopefully that will be the case. I will keep everyone posted as soon as I know anything.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/SOMabusinessfriends/search/?query=Maras

Ugh, already??

That place flat-out sucked. No surprise that such a dated, poorly executed place would fail in our area in 2016. We deserve--and demand--better.

Is that really necessary? This is somebody's investment/business.   

imonlysleeping said:

That place flat-out sucked. No surprise that such a dated, poorly executed place would fail in our area in 2016. We deserve--and demand--better.

I admit I never went there... cafés and coffee shops are just not in my wheelhouse. But I'm disappointed there's another empty storefront so soon.

I know a lot of people didn't like the food and /or the service at Mara's, but to close in five months is just a horrible reflection on businesses in the town. I really don't know what to do about downtown South Orange--with a few exceptions, it is a mish-mash of bad restaurants and mediocre chains, and doesn't seem to be getting any better.  

If they're not improving, which they're not, then better to leave.  My last experience there was beyond awful. It's gotten worse not better - both the food and service.m there is one young woman there who was great, she was the exception.  But the food was always awful, except for the gelato.

I went there once, just last week in fact.  I got a French toast to share with my toddler since there was only one lonely muffin in the display case.  It was adequate--nothing I couldn't have made myself, but I guess I didn't have to make it myself so that's nice.  The fruit was good.  My own review to my kid as we were walking out, "That was okay but I don't need to go there again."  Unfortunately I'm guessing that's how a lot of people felt about it.  I'm sorry for the business owners, I hope they didn't lose too much on this.  

Did anyone ever see the owners?  I always found that odd. 

afa said:

I went there once, just last week in fact.  I got a French toast to share with my toddler since there was only one lonely muffin in the display case.  It was adequate--nothing I couldn't have made myself, but I guess I didn't have to make it myself so that's nice.  The fruit was good.  My own review to my kid as we were walking out, "That was okay but I don't need to go there again."  Unfortunately I'm guessing that's how a lot of people felt about it.  I'm sorry for the business owners, I hope they didn't lose too much on this.  

I try to support business in South Orange.   I went maybe 5 times.  I always felt I was paying too much for what I was getting.  

It's a tough area with a lot of established competition.  A new business has to find some way to get  established - superior service or quality or some specialty like the waffle place.

This makes me sad, if it's true. I tried to support Mara's as much as possible, but the service was really bad. My food was ok, albeit overpriced. I would often walk in and there was no one at the counter for quite some time. And when someone did appear they were goofing with their friends and not engaged with me at all. I never saw anyone who appeared to be an owner after the 1st week.

Running a food business is hard. Many fail in the first year. Sounds like the owners just weren't up to it.  Rockin Joes in Millburn is on its third owner. 

Mara's is a chain with several other locations. It's not like these were newbie locals living out their dream. It just wasn't good, and everything about it was 20-plus years out of date. That's okay if it's a local institution, but a brand-new spot in a shiny new building needs to offer something distinctive and at least slightly interesting. Boring food that's badly executed isn't going to work here.

I wonder what the Mara's numbers were and how/why they fell short of projections.

The coffee/bakery/light bites landscape is quite competitive right around there with Ashley, DD, C&A's, Grid Iron all just a stone's throw away. Mara's had the advantage of being part of the new residential development, but I guess that didn't offset still being on the wrong side of the street as far as the critical foot traffic to the train. 

I went there just a few times and liked it enough, coffee and vibes were good and the space was nice. I had chicken caesar salad there once and it was pretty decent. I did hear some weekend-brunch service horror stories from a friend though.    

Not to mention Cedar Ridge in Maplewood which is really just a stone's throw away on Ridgewood

Actually, they were franchisees, so they probably were newbie locals....

imonlysleeping said:

Mara's is a chain with several other locations. It's not like these were newbie locals living out their dream. It just wasn't good, and everything about it was 20-plus years out of date. That's okay if it's a local institution, but a brand-new spot in a shiny new building needs to offer something distinctive and at least slightly interesting. Boring food that's badly executed isn't going to work here.

Just wondering what did you find to be 20+ years out of date? I didn't get that impression, in fact the space itself seemed pretty modern.  

imonlysleeping said:

Mara's is a chain with several other locations. It's not like these were newbie locals living out their dream. It just wasn't good, and everything about it was 20-plus years out of date. That's okay if it's a local institution, but a brand-new spot in a shiny new building needs to offer something distinctive and at least slightly interesting. Boring food that's badly executed isn't going to work here.

Well, deconstructing the demise of a local business can have its merits if somehow it helps other potential business owners who are considering starting something up. Otherwise it's just stomping on someone when they're down.

That being said, a few thoughts for anyone else who think they could make a go of this.

The food was nothing special but it also wasn't bad. I think it was priced accordingly.  I had no problem with the decor, but I am not a trendy arbiter of taste like imonlysleeping appears to be. 

I think the biggest problem the establishment had was the service quality. My experience is similar to that which others described above. It would take a while for someone to appear at the counter. The pastry displays seemed understocked. The basic food items seemed to take far too long to prepare.

I spoke to a young woman who was, if I remember correctly,  the daughter of the owners. They are not experienced restaurateurs. I never saw them. I think that's a huge problem for starting up a restaurant in a competitive environment like South Orange.

It's too bad. If the service had been better I would have considered it for a number of situations. Taking a lunch break from the pool during summer. Quick inexpensive dinner before a movie. Informal dining out option with our kid (and other families). Late evening dessert and coffee spot. 

I hope something else goes in soon and whoever operates it will overcome some of the challenges faced by the previous franchisees. At the very least I liked that the spot was bright and generated some foot traffic on that side of the tracks. 

Service was awful.  Food was mediocre.   I saw one of the owners once.  She was as clueless as the employees. 

And with plenty of decent options, there was just no reason to keep going there.  I am sure someone will be happy to take over the space.  

I didn't think Mara's was a terrific restaurant, but the daughter of the family that owned Mara's was extremely friendly and I had a lot of goodwill towards the place.  I think Mara's really wanted to be an asset for SO, for example, staying open late and having a really nice outdoor dining space.  

I know that the family did invest A LOT in setting up the restaurant (like, enough to buy a large house).  I understand why Mara's closed, but I'm saddened anyway.  

It's a shame. They just seemed woefully disorganized.  I found the location very convenient for getting coffee before catching the train, since I walked past it every day.  Too many times they were out of product, didn't have simple things such as to go paper bags, didn't have coffee ready or worse, no one at the counter to handle customers.  This is at 8am. I wrote in complaints a few times.  While not everyone that comes through early is in an NYC commute rush, but having a location right next to the train station should indicate a large segment of the customer base just wants to get in and be quickly on their way. Like I said, they just seemed disorganized. I did like their croissants. 

I do like to support SO businesses in town. Too bad. Perhaps they should have called in this guy. 

phenixrising said:

I do like to support SO businesses in town. Too bad. Perhaps they should have called in this guy. 

He was just here in December for a show at Mayo Performing Arts Center. He could have just popped over!  

JBennett said:

I didn't think Mara's was a terrific restaurant, but the daughter of the family that owned Mara's was extremely friendly and I had a lot of goodwill towards the place. I think Mara's really wanted to be an asset for SO, for example, staying open late and having a really nice outdoor dining space.

I know that the family did invest A LOT in setting up the restaurant (like, enough to buy a large house). I understand why Mara's closed, but I'm saddened anyway.

That's sad. As a rule, I don't dine out (not even for coffee or snacks), so I never visited, but I feel bad when a new business closes so soon after opening.

The question is, what should go in there?

A retail business consultancy.

BubbaTerp said:

The question is, what should go in there?

A craft store. Somewhere that sells arts & craft supplies so I don't have to trek all the way to Michael's on Rt. 10

We ate there a few times. While it wasn't quite heaven on a platter, some of the negative responses here are a bit much. Every place in the area is pretty much guilty of the same problems that Mara's had. They all tend to be inconsistent and service can vary between 'acceptable' to 'why do they even bother'.

What they did have which was a plus, was they served sweets late night. That came in handy a few times.