Throggs Neck business leaders are celebrating more than the holidays.
They’re also celebrating the opening of four new and one relocated businesses along E. Tremont Avenue, a sign that the community is strong.
Business is on the upswing along the shopping strip, said Throggs Neck Merchants Association President Steve Kaufman.
TNMATreasurer John Cerini organized a series of “grand opening” celebrations on Saturday, Dec.14 for the new businesses and relocation of a fifth to the community from Waterbury-LaSalle.
Some of the businesses had been open for several weeks.
“I am excited about the fact that we have a variety of different types of stores opening up,” said Cerini. “It is not like they are all restaurants or retail.”
The new businesses are Sprint’s new store at 3825 E. Tremont Ave. near Schley Avenue; Burger Bar at 3841 E. Tremont Ave. in what had been the Latin Kitchen; Smart Vape, 3825 E. Tremont Ave.; Vito’s Pizzeria at 3579 E. Tremont Ave. in what had been Ronnies Pizza, and American Balloon Time at 3548 E. Tremont Ave. at Lafayette Avenue, newly relocated from further up the avenue in Waterbury-LaSalle.
The new businesses all have something to offer, said Cerini.
Burger Bar offers 20 varieties of burgers with a soul food twist, he said. Sprint is one of the best carriers for cell phone service in the business, he added. Smart Vape offers smokeless cigarettes that can be used to help wean people off cigarettes, said Cerini.
“They have 70 different flavors of vapor cigarettes,” he said, adding the Vito’s Pizzeria will bring the Elia family family, who run Vito’s Deli in Pelham Bay, into Throggs Neck.
“I am happy to have the Elia family join us,” said Cerini.
“I feel that fact that these stores are opening show that business is on an upswing,” said TNMA President Kaufman, “and we have to continue in that direction.”
Kaufman said trying to convince people to skip the malls and shop closer to home is key.
For American Balloon Time, one of the benefits of reopening their 30-year-plus business further down on E. Tremont Avenue is the increased foot traffic, said co-owner Susan Di Girilamo. The decision to keep the business in the Throggs Neck area was an easy one for her and husband Gerard.
“We have always been on E. Tremont Avenue,” she said, “and we are not going to look for another location off Tremont Avenue.”
