Wine & liquor store expansion complete

When Tajel Patel bought the wine and liquor store at 97 Woodbridge Ave. in Highland Park three years ago, it was half the size, dark and not well maintained.

Today, Highland Park Wine and Liquors is a bright, spacious and organized store, where Patel is able to offer a larger variety of wine and liquor to his customers.

Patel said the extra space -- 1500 square feet increased to 3,000 -- means savings for his customers.

“We couldn’t buy in bulk before because there was nowhere to store it. Now we can pass those savings to our customers."

 

“We have more wines, liquors, kosher selections and a very large variety of beer” to better compete with the other liquor stores in Highland Park, he said.

 

James McCrone, executive director of Main Street Highland Park, the non-profit that promotes the businesses along Raritan Avenue, said the agency is "really excited, this is exactly the kind of thing we’re hoping to see more of, and we’re beginning to,” McCrone said. “We’re grateful for Mr. Patel’s initiative. He’s taken a visible corner and made it very attractive, so it’s an asset to Woodbridge Avenue.”

“Business has almost doubled since we opened the new space. New customers are coming in to see what’s going on,” Patel said.

Borough Council President Elsie Foster-Dublin said the improvements are “phenomenal . . . . It’s a new perspective to the entire area.”

The borough has also recently replaced outdated waste receptacles along this section of Woodbridge Avenue, added bike racks, and repaired curbs and sidewalks.

Foster-Dublin said next year the borough will plant more new trees along Woodbridge Avenue.