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HILLSBOROUGH: Owners pull Red Wagon back into business

By Audrey Levine, Staff Writer
   It was not a very merry Christmas this year when Shannon Garrity and Nadine Murtha, owners of Red Wagon Gourmet on South Branch Road, received news no shop owner ever wants to hear – the place was flooded.
   ”We were in shock and disbelief,” Ms. Garrity said of the call from a neighboring store owner that the fire sprinkler system in the unit above had frozen and broken, dropping water into the Red Wagon Gourmet.
   ”Of course, it happened to break right above us (and water came down) for about seven hours,” Ms. Murtha said. “We were told there was water in the building, but we found the store was trashed.”
   For Ms. Murtha, of Philadelphia, and Ms. Garrity, of East Windsor, this began a nearly eight-week process to redo the shop that had just opened nine months before in March.
   ”The store had to be reconstructed,” Ms. Murtha said. “There was a lot of structural damage.”
   But now, with the store having reopened Feb. 12 – and a grand reopening planned for March 7 to coincide with the shop’s one-year anniversary – things are looking brighter as regular customers have returned and business is still strong.
   ”We know most of our customers and, when we reopened, almost all the regulars came by and brought wine,” Ms. Garrity said. “People were telling us, ‘We had to cook (when you were closed), it was the worst!’”
   With the offers of fully prepared meals, Ms. Garrity said, the shop is especially good for those families that are often running around during the day to work, school and other activities.
   ”When there are parents with kids, it’s often a pain to eat the same thing every day,” she said.
   The shop, Ms. Murtha said, offers a variety of foods from chicken fingers and mozzarella sticks for kids, to prepared salads and other meals for adults. The meals, she said, are all prepared on site – including different soups, sauces and deli items – and they often like to invent new dishes as they go along, such as the Santa Fe Salad, with its mix of grilled vegetables, steak and chicken.
   ”We do a lot of ‘ad-libbing,’ a lot of originals,” Ms. Garrity said, as she greeted customers Monday who commented they were glad the shop had finally reopened. “If our customers like the original (items), we keep them.”
   One customer who enjoys the variety is Ray Clark, of Amwell Road, known fondly as “Everyday Ray” by Ms. Garrity and Ms. Murtha because, fittingly, he comes in each day for breakfast.
   ”We call him when he doesn’t show up,” Ms. Murtha said with a smile.
   For Mr. Clark – who said the shop is very convenient, being only two miles from his home – he enjoys the variety, as does the rest of his family.
   ”The variety and food is great,” he said, as he sat eating a shrimp salad that had just been prepared that morning. “I have orders to bring home dinner from here at least two times a week.”
   As the business gets back off the ground, Ms. Murtha said, they will be continuing to focus on catering work, as well as donating for events in town. For example, Ms. Garrity said, they have held auctions for the Hillsborough High School band, and donated food to the annual Walk for Autism.
   ”And we do Eating for Education,” Ms. Murtha said. In this program, she said, a dinner for four people costs $40, and $5 from each sale goes to benefit Hillsborough Elementary School.
   Despite having had to reconstruct the ceiling and other areas of the shop after the flood, Ms. Murtha said, they did not make many changes in the décor, aside from removing small wagons that had been placed on top of the tables because they used to roll off and break.
   The only real change, she said, is that they have expanded their selection of healthier and lighter foods to include more portions of low-calorie entrees.
   With the recent reopening, and despite the country being in the middle of an economic crisis, Ms. Garrity said they are doing well at the shop, and appreciate all the regular customers who returned after the place was fixed up again.
   ”This wasn’t the best timing (for opening), but we’re hanging in there,” she said.
   The grand reopening will be held March 7 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Aside from giving away a gift basket, guests will be treated to free coffee and pastries, as well as samples of the meals, and live entertainment.
   Red Wagon Gourmet is open 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. It is closed on Sunday.
   For more information, visit the Web site at redwagongourmet.net, or call the Red Wagon Gourmet at 908-371-9200.