Woodbridge Owner Of Knot Just Bagels Talks To Patch

WOODBRIDGE, NJ — Development is a hot topic in Woodbridge and this week, the owner of a beloved local bagel shop — who was removed from her Main Street business home last summer so a new apartment complex could be built there — talks to Patch about Woodbridge's building boom.

Sharon McAuliffe has owned and operated Knot Just Bagels in Woodbridge for the past 17 years.

Knot Just Bagels used to be located at 10 Main Street, but they were forced to leave last summer when the property owner sold the land so it could be converted into a seven-story apartment building. All the stores in that block — Knot Just Bagels, along with a nail salon, a UPS store, a dry cleaner and Pino's pizzeria — had to close and relocate. (Pino's and the UPS Store have since relocated and reopened.)

"All of the tenants were upset at first," said McAuliffe. "Knot Just Bagels was the last tenant to close on July 12, 2020. Of course I am unhappy to be closed for this long. But really, all this construction and building that's happening in Woodbridge proper, I think it's going to be great for small businesses in town, I really do. I think it's going to draw a new demographic of people that will come to Woodbridge."

Knot Just Bagels is scheduled to reopen sometime this fall in its new home at 93 Main Street, which is currently an empty building with office space above it.

"We'll know better by the end of July when our reopening is," said McAuliffe. "And we're going to have some new surprises for everyone. We'll have the same menu, but some surprises. I don't want to give anything away!"

Knot Just Bagels is beloved in Woodbridge, known as not only a spot for bagels, breakfast sandwiches, pastries and coffee, but also a community mainstay, a place to greet friends and neighbors and catch up on local gossip.

"Believe me, I know people want us back. I had three emails just this morning: 'Sharon, when is Knot Just Bagels reopening?," she shared. "It was definitely hard to close, but I really think this will really be so much better for us. Plus, I'll own the building we're moving into."

10 Main Street, Avenue & Green and the old Woodbridge Hess site are all the new developments that have taken place by the Woodbridge train station in Woodbridge proper. Plus, there's all the development by the Avenel stop, and NJ Transit currently seeking a developer to build apartments at the MetroPark stop.

These are only some of the development that's occurred in Woodbridge in the past five years.

"I know not everyone likes all the new buildings, but in the long run I think it will help," said McAuliffe. "Let's say you have 500 new units, that's a potential for more than 500 new customers for all the Main Street businesses. I'm looking at it that way. Plus the Main Street of Woodbridge needed a little bit of a face lift. Woodbridge is trying to improve the downtown, helping small businesses and bringing new people to downtown Woodbridge."

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