K Kakes Cakery in South Orange
It looks like it's permanently closed. The windows are all covered in advertisements to lease the space.
mrincredible said:
It looks like it's permanently closed. The windows are all covered in advertisements to lease the space.
safetyfirst said:
I don’t exactly like the nam. K K cakes. Too many K’s
They are looking for a new location after issues with the lease. and the "Ks" are their names.
Hope they find a new place. Great Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee and the scones were great.
jfburch said:
Hope they find a new place. Great Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee and the scones were great.
Don't know if it is related but Village Coffee has a coffee they call "Jamaica me crazy"
Jamaica Blue on a medium roast, is extraordinary. I have 20 pounds of green beans left from this season's crop.
Formerlyjerseyjack said:
Jamaica Blue on a medium roast, is extraordinary. I have 20 pounds of green beans left from this season's crop.
Agree completely. And am insanely jealous.
I have to say that while I think the importance of branding is often overstated, that name was awful at conveying what they offered. It wasn't until just before they closed that I learned that you can get a nice Caribbean meal there. I just assumed it was a cake store that served coffee. Since I'm not a cake person I had no interest. So, hopefully this new iteration of the business works, because I heard great things about the food and the people there.
max_weisenfeld said:
mrincredible said:
It looks like it's permanently closed. The windows are all covered in advertisements to lease the space.
safetyfirst said:They are looking for a new location after issues with the lease. and the "Ks" are their names.
I don’t exactly like the nam. K K cakes. Too many K’s
Issues with the lease? after all those renovations, etc, sounds like the issue was not paying the rent.
And the name made no sense --- even if related to their names.
I also heard they no longer live in S. Orange.
mikescott said:
max_weisenfeld said:Issues with the lease? after all those renovations, etc, sounds like the issue was not paying the rent.
mrincredible said:
It looks like it's permanently closed. The windows are all covered in advertisements to lease the space.
safetyfirst said:They are looking for a new location after issues with the lease. and the "Ks" are their names.
I don’t exactly like the nam. K K cakes. Too many K’s
And the name made no sense --- even if related to their names.
I also heard they no longer live in S. Orange.
I looked through the windows after they left and the store was a mess. Whatever happened between the landlord and K Kakes, it did not end well.
ctrzaska said:
Formerlyjerseyjack said:Agree completely. And am insanely jealous.
Jamaica Blue on a medium roast, is extraordinary. I have 20 pounds of green beans left from this season's crop.
See P.M.
as I noted in another thread on this place, I think there were 2 problems. First they over extended their offerings - my experience multiple times was that things were dry and not fresh. Secondly, really not customer oriented - never got a hello, welcome to our place, the owner never walked among customers asking how things were. Probably a very capable baker/cook, just not a good front of the house person?
I actually had some nice conversations with them, and I'm not particularly chatty with business owners etc. As said, a lot of it was bad positioning (making it look like a bakery when it really wasn't) and odd experiments like karaoke evenings which I don't think took off. And Blue Mountain coffee is good, but it's kind of a dated brand in the cafe world. It also didn't help them that Jackie & Son open shortly after they did. That neighborhood is developing - it gets a lot of foot traffic during train rush-hour, and a lot of people driving by, but is still far enough from town center that it doesn't have a ton of foot traffic. Most of the ProPets building has been vacant, so they also didn't have opportunity to draw customers from people going there. Maybe when the new Moon River place opens there that will draw more traffic and help whatever is across the street.
Unless you are walking, what’s the attraction on that part of valley? Are people going to walk over from the village? There’s absolutely no parking. It’s great to have mixed use buildings but there has to be some kind of allowance for parking spaces. It’s depressing to see that space empty. Also, where’s the parking for the new business across the street, a business that’s looks like a great place to browse and buy.
I don't agree there's "no parking," but it is limited and it's not all right in front of the space, so for a lot of folks it's just easier to keep driving by.
We need to be looking at improving walkability in town, not drivability. Everyone says that there is too much traffic, and then complains that there isn't enough parking when they drive around town. There is no way to ever have enough parking and lots of viable small businesses. We have to shift our emphasis to foot traffic.
Agree with Film Carp and there is shopper parking in the deck, and there always seems to be a space on Valley within 2 blocks. Most of us can walk a little.
The landlord needs to do a better job of vetting their tenants and making sure they have a business plan and proper finances to make a go of it. Everyone loses when a business goes under in the first few months they are open.
One would think that a business in a mixed use building would have a built in customer base!
FilmCarp said:
We need to be looking at improving walkability in town, not drivability. Everyone says that there is too much traffic, and then complains that there isn't enough parking when they drive around town. There is no way to ever have enough parking and lots of viable small businesses. We have to shift our emphasis to foot traffic.
Improve walkability, absolutely. But if I can’t park within a couple of blocks of my destination, my business (and that of many others) will go elsewhere. That is reality and needs to be part of our planning. Walking home from downtown is a long and uphill walk for me, and I don’t do it often (especially since a healed injury makes my ankle ache if I overdo the hill climbing)
FilmCarp said:
We need to be looking at improving walkability in town, not drivability. Everyone says that there is too much traffic, and then complains that there isn't enough parking when they drive around town. There is no way to ever have enough parking and lots of viable small businesses. We have to shift our emphasis to foot traffic.
Agreed! I try to walk when conducting business in the village, unless there is a reason I need my car.
I have always been able to find a space within 500 feet of a business when in South Orange.
That is a 3 minute walk. annoying in the rain, but hardly indicates a parking problem.
mikescott said:
I have always been able to find a space within 500 feet of a business when in South Orange.
That is a 3 minute walk. annoying in the rain, but hardly indicates a parking problem.
Agreed...I just get nervous when people push walkability as the full answer. We need walkability and parking solutions (and so far have been working on both, I’m happy to say)
What does "walkability" even mean? To me, it primarily means putting in sidewalks where they don't exist, which is not the case in this area. Many complain that it can be difficult to cross Valley in crosswalks, but I really don't see what the solution is to that. One thing that makes Valley, say from S.O. Ave. to Third, more walkable is to have more interesting businesses along the route. It does seem there's been progress there, but it's never going to be a stretch that is full of cool restaurants and shops. I don't know what rents are for the K Kakes space, but if the landlord is asking for top dollar, it's going to be difficult to retain businesses. I sense that can be the problem - landlords being too optimistic about how "hot" an area is.
"We need to ..." is everyone's favorite phrase, but at what point do we accept that a situation is what it is? S.O. seems to be drawing new businesses and there are very few vacancies.
We are living in fantasy land if we think parking is not an issue. Aside from the Sunday stroll into town, most people are rushing around in cars doing errands at multiple stops. If they want a scone or a chance to browse a new business, I’m willing to bet they are doing so while out and about doing some primary errands. If there’s no parking, they will go elsewhere.
annielou said:
We are living in fantasy land if we think parking is not an issue. Aside from the Sunday stroll into town, most people are rushing around in cars doing errands at multiple stops. If they want a scone or a chance to browse a new business, I’m willing to bet they are doing so while out and about doing some primary errands. If there’s no parking, they will go elsewhere.
Yes, but you keep using the phrase "no parking." There is parking for the 3rd & Valley building within a block or two, there's just not always going to be a space available directly in front of the building. 3rd between Valley and Academy is rarely full up, and it's free. Same in Maplewood village, some folks need to continually say there is "no parking" when there are hundreds of spaces.
The people who say there is no problem parking in Maplewood don't frequent Maplewood very often. Every day I drive to town and usually there are no parking places anywhere. I end up going elsewhere. Lunchtime is the worst so I avoid that. I think of all the businesses that lose customers every day. There has to be a solution! The Township Committee will never address this but I wonder if they shop in town.
The other very new place is K Kakes near the train station --
I stopped in for a bite and coffee, very good!
Space is nice -- tables as well as loungy sofas, chairs.
The surprise for me was there's a lot more than just cakes and sweets!