What's Filling Verona's Bloomfield Avenue This Fall, and What the Zoning Won't Let In

"Discourage uses that generate high-volume, episodic attendance or simultaneous arrival and departure of large groups." That line comes from the purpose statement of Verona's Town Center zone. The zone covers Bloomfield Avenue from Park Avenue to Fairview Avenue. The same sentence also promotes "active street-level commercial uses" and "neighborhood-scale retail, services, dining, offices, and mixed-use development."

If you've walked the avenue since summer, you've seen the empty windows and the new signs. That sentence explains most of them. Party and event businesses have been leaving or going before the zoning board, while counters that serve a steady stream of walk-in customers are moving in. This fall's changes follow that pattern almost address by address.

Five Addresses, One Pattern

Here's where the central stretch of the avenue stands in mid-October 2026, based on local reporting from July through early October.

These five aren't the whole list. In July, MyVeronaNJ also listed Palmetto Venues and The Specialists Entertainment among the recent Town Center closings. The same report noted that the old Verona Opticians space had been empty since that business moved several years ago, and that there's been an empty lot by Learning Express for more than a decade. The report counted 14 commercial spaces for lease across Verona, four of them in the Town Center zone. It also said commercial rents in Verona run about 30 percent of what comparable space costs in Montclair.

Low rent explains why owners keep looking at these storefronts. The zoning decides which of them can actually open.

The Juice Counter That Replaced a Juice Counter

The simplest change is at 532 Bloomfield Avenue. Montclair Girl reported on October 5 that Tiki Bowls, a Nutley-based shop selling açaí bowls, smoothies and fresh juice, is taking the space Green Point Juicery left. Green Point had said on social media that its Verona shop would close September 27. Its Maplewood location closed earlier this year, and its Morristown store at 28 Speedwell Avenue is still open.

Verona will be Tiki Bowls' fourth location and its second in New Jersey, after the shop at 206 Franklin Avenue in Nutley. The other two are in Tannersville and Allentown, Pennsylvania. As of the October 5 report, no opening date had been announced. The company pointed people to a Tiki Bowls Verona Instagram account for updates.

A food counter replacing a food counter matches what the code allows. The Town Center's permitted uses include "full-service restaurants, cafes, bakeries, and similar food service establishments, snack and non-alcoholic beverage bars." A smoothie bar fits that description exactly.

The Cafe Waiting on a November Date

Bella Princess Cafe at 555 Bloomfield Avenue, on the corner of Lakeside Avenue, opened in 2023 and is known for princess-themed parties. Event spaces aren't a permitted use in the center of town, and MyVeronaNJ has followed the cafe's zoning process since spring. Under an agreement with the township, the cafe is operating with set weekly hours for the public and for parties while it seeks a use variance. According to MyVeronaNJ's October 7 update, the owners submitted a complete application on October 5, and the Board of Adjustment hearing is set for November 13. Until then, the cafe is open.

The same outlet reported that in 2025, the Board of Adjustment denied a use variance for Palmetto Venues, an event space across the avenue. It also said use variances are rarely granted in any Verona zone. The code doesn't ban private parties outright. At addresses where food service is approved, a business can host private parties as an accessory use. What the code limits is a business whose main draw is a crowd that arrives together and leaves together.

The One Event Hall That Was Here First

Only one event space operates legally in the Town Center today. That's The Richfield Regency at 420 Bloomfield Avenue, which opened in the early 1960s and is grandfathered under the current ordinance. Its website still promotes the hall for weddings and parties.

Its likely future fits the same pattern. At the February 23 Town Council meeting, H2M Architects+Engineers lead planner Sanyogita "San" Chavan presented a plan for the site. It calls for ground-floor retail and up to 65 apartments on two upper floors, with parking under the building and on the Claremont Avenue lot the Richfield now uses for overflow. MyVeronaNJ reported the mix as 52 one-bedroom units, nine two-bedroom units and the rest three-bedroom, with 10 units set aside as affordable housing. This is a smaller plan than the one tried for the same acre in 2019, when the zoning board voted down a 92-unit assisted living proposal.

The August 17 council agenda included a resolution authorizing a redevelopment agreement for 420 Bloomfield Avenue. The reporting reviewed here doesn't say how that vote went. In February, there was no estimate for when construction would start.

The site is on the north side of the avenue between Park and Cumberland avenues. Dolce Marie and The Collective Bookstore sit at one end of that block, and Voltaire Cycles and American Dry Cleaners at the other. A bakery, a bookstore, a bike shop and a dry cleaner are the kind of neighborhood-scale retail the purpose statement describes. If the plan goes ahead, the block's last large-crowd use would be replaced by more storefront space at the same scale as its neighbors.

The Two Bank and Restaurant Spaces Still Unaccounted For

Two of the larger spaces don't have a confirmed next tenant yet. Chase said in July that it would close its long-standing branch at 566 Bloomfield Avenue on October 6. A spokesman said the bank hadn't decided whether to sell or lease the building. Banks are a permitted Town Center use, but drive-in banking isn't.

At 605 Bloomfield Avenue, Aroy-D the Thai Elephant served its last day on July 31 after 12 years in town. MyVeronaNJ reported that the owner had sold the restaurant to new owners planning a new concept, but the successor hasn't been named. The space is already set up for a restaurant, which puts it in the zone's most clearly permitted category.

Once a Year, the Township Brings the Crowd Itself

The one time this fall that the Town Center is meant to fill up at once is a township event. Verona's Fall-O-Ween is on Saturday, October 24, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Civic Center, 600 Bloomfield Avenue. The first half hour is sensory-friendly. Trick-or-treating at Bloomfield Avenue businesses follows from 2 to 4 p.m. The township's event listing includes pumpkin painting, inflatables, a costume parade and goodie bags. Patch credits the Verona Public Library and the Junior Women's Club of Verona with helping put it on. The description text on the township page says "Saturday, October 25th," but the event record and Patch's October 6 report both give Saturday, October 24.

Twelve days later, the same building hosts Verona's Diwali Celebration on Thursday, November 5, at 5:30 p.m. at Town Hall, 600 Bloomfield Avenue. The township listing says more details are coming and links to the Multicultural Inclusion and Accessibility Advisory Committee. The Board of Adjustment hearing for Bella Princess Cafe follows eight days later, on November 13.

During the two-hour trick-or-treat window on October 24, you can see the whole avenue at once. That includes the businesses that have held their storefronts for years, the newer counters, and the storefronts at 566 and 605 with no new tenant announced.

Whether you're curious about what might open at 566 Bloomfield or thinking about how a block like the Richfield's could change over the next few years, we're glad to talk through what we're watching on the avenue. The Liz + Vikram Team can tell you what we know, so feel free to Contact Us.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.