By Mel Fabrikant    Friday, February 10, 2012, 03:49 PM EST   

To Celebrate the Grand Opening of CUPS Newest Location in Bayonne, New Jersey. CUPS Frozen Yogurt, the beach-themed self-serve fro-yo concept, will open its third location at 11 am on Tuesday, February 14 at Bayonne Crossing Way Space #904, Bayonne, New Jersey.

In celebration of the Bayonne opening, all three CUPS locations in Clifton, East Hanover and Bayonne, are giving out a free $10 iTunes gift card with a $10 purchase on Valentine’s Day. The iTunes gift card is a great way for couples to create a personalized playlist this Valentine’s Day. As part of Bayonne’s grand opening week, the first 100 customers at the new Bayonne location on Saturday, February 18 will receive a $10 CUPS gift card. Additionally, CUPS Facebook fans (www.facebook.com/cupsfrozenyogurt) can download and print out a coupon for free four ounces to be redeemed at the new Bayonne location. The coupon is good from February 14-29.

Since opening the first CUPS in Clifton, New Jersey in November, 2010, CUPS has taken the Tri-State area by storm, becoming the local hot spot for teenagers and adults alike who make their own fro-yo concoctions choosing from 24 yogurt flavors and over 50 different toppings and three sauces.
CUPS, however, is much more than great frozen yogurt. According to Rick Barbrick, President and COO of The Briad Group, and CUPS co-founder, CUPS was designed around the experience.

“It’s more of a nightclub experience. We have loud dance music with lighting and murals that give us a little bit of an edgy vibe versus a normal yogurt bar or ice cream shop,” said Barbrick. The Bayonne CUPS will be open from 11 am to 10:30 pm, Sunday through Thursday and from 11 am to midnight on Friday and Saturday. For more information, call 201-858-3500 or visit www.cupsfrozenyogurt.com  .

About CUPS Frozen Yogurt:
Marry the beach party and bikinis with 21st century contemporary and you have CUPS Frozen Yogurt. This fun loving environment takes you back to the yellow polka dot bikini and beach party theme with a play on “cups” in a slightly suggestive, irreverent, yet modern way. Guests are charged by the ounce so no matter how you fill your “Cups,” you will always get a tasty treat at a great deal. CUPS frozen yogurt products are Kosher certified by KOAOA Kosher and are made with live and active cultures, so they’re good for you too.

“After three or four years, we’re finally seeing the final development down here,” Smith said minutes after the ribbon cutting. “It’s a great addition to the Crossing project and we’re proud to have them here.”

Full story from The Jersey Journal:
Bayonne mayor cuts ribbon for new New York Sports Club facility in Bayonne Crossing shopping center
Published: Friday, December 02, 2011

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2011/12/bayonne_mayor_participates_in.html

Long lines at all of the 17 cash registers and a 400-space parking lot filled to capacity were the result as Hudson County’s fourth Walmart opened at the shopping center at Route 440 and New Hook Road.

Shoppers from Bayonne, Jersey City and Staten Island gave the store high marks for customer service, choice, prices and convenience.

Bayonne resident Eileen Palomino, 30, a regular customer of Walmart in Secaucus who was shopping for clothes with her 3-year-old and 15-month-old daughters, said she is excited to have a new Walmart in the city and was happy with the service.

“Every time I needed something, somebody was there to help me,” Palomino said.

“I am tired of going to Secaucus or Kearny. This is just a two-minute ride in the car.”

Judy Whalen, of 44th Street in Bayonne, who was loading shopping bags into her car trunk, said she enjoyed the experience of “one-stop shopping.”

“It has everything you need, food, clothes and electronics. It’s excellent. This is just what Bayonne needs,” Whalen said.

“I am glad they opened on a weekday. It was crowded, but not unbearable.”

Evelyn Addison-Laurie, 59, of Greenville in Jersey City, said she was impressed with how organized the store was on opening day.

“I was expecting it to be extremely crowded and disorganized,” Addison-Laurie said. “I was pleasantly surprised.”

Iliana Sanabria, 39, of Staten Island, came to buy baby products, but ended up filling her cart with groceries, children’s toys and other spontaneous purchases.

“We are excited because it’s close by,” Sanabria said. “I came here for baby items and got more than I came in for.”

Walmart officials said they received a “big welcome” from Bayonne and the surrounding area and had extra staff on duty to cope with the rush.

“It’s been an eye-opener for us,” said co-manager Givoanni Ambrosia, 30, who commutes to the store from Connecticut.

“This is great for the community. We help the customer save money and live better. That is what we are here for.”

By Charles Hack/The Jersey Journal

© 2011 NJ.com. All rights reserved.

Wal-Mart plans to build a store in the $200 million Mission Gateway development, a decision that’s expected to give the long-delayed project and its saltwater aquarium attraction the boost to begin construction this spring.

Developer Tom Valenti of the Cameron Group of Syracuse, N.Y., said Tuesday that Wal-Mart had signed a letter of intent to put a 150,000-square-foot store in the project, which was first proposed in 2005. That’s when the former Mission Center was demolished at Shawnee Mission Parkway and Roe Avenue.

“We now have the rocket fuel to get the project off the ground,” Valenti said, referring to Wal-Mart.

Wal-Mart officials could not be reached for comment.

The announcement that the big discount retailer will be the major tenant necessary to get the project off the ground is accompanied by a bit of déjà vu. An earlier plan in 2004 to tear down the Mission Center and replace it with a 203,000-square-foot Super Wal-Mart was opposed by Mission.

The city wanted a more pedestrian-friendly project to be the gateway to its shopping district on Johnson Drive, which is a mix of mostly small businesses. It even proposed rules to regulate the size and scale of large-scale discount stores. Mission residents collected more than 1,970 signatures opposing Wal-Mart.

At the time, Wal-Mart planned to close its store in Roeland Park, about a mile away at 5150 Roe Ave., if the Mission deal was approved.

Wal-Mart went away, and the property was bought in 2005 by Valenti. The developer announced he would take down Mission Center and replace it with a mixed-use development in the new-urban style.

In 2008, with the help of $63.2 million in STAR bond financing from Kansas, a 70,000-square-foot, 2.5 million-gallon aquarium was added to the project to help make it a regional draw. However, the onset of the recession combined with the special challenges associated with mixed-use developments stalled the project.

The huge property, rather than being a classy gateway to Mission off busy Shawnee Mission Parkway, became a community embarrassment, a wild pasture overgrown with weeds and even small trees.

Though he had lined up a significant number of tenants for the project, Valenti ultimately turned to Wal-Mart to achieve the critical mass needed to move the development forward.

“This is the best development announcement to occur with this project for a long time,” Valenti said.

Mayor Laura McConwell of Mission said the revised project still retained the key elements her city wanted for the massive development tract.

“We’re happy all the mixed-use elements remain, and we’re staying true to our community’s vision,” she said.

Besides Wal-Mart and the aquarium, other elements of the 26-acre development include an additional 150,000 square feet of retail; 300 apartments; 150,000 square feet of office space; 3,000 parking spaces; a 35,000-square-foot movie complex; and a 45,000-square-foot fitness center.

The project will have several levels, Valenti said, and the Wal-Mart will be on the ground level with access from Johnson Drive, Roeland, and Roe.

“You’re not going to realize it’s a Wal-Mart,” he said. “They’re committed to doing something special there.”

Architectural details are still to be worked out, but Valenti said the revised project “will have some height to it” and the apartments might rise eight to 10 stories.

Sharon Miller, head of the Mission Merchants Association, welcomed the announcement that the project finally was poised to begin construction.

“Wal-Mart is a good store that will bring lots of business, and it will tie into getting that project completed,” Miller said. “It’s an eyesore now, but it is such a step to get something like that through, and then the economy had its own problems. They needed a good strong anchor.”

Miller added that businesses along nearby Johnson Drive were mostly specialty firms that would not be competing with Wal-Mart but would benefit from the increased traffic.

In a letter to Mission residents, McConwell said the Gateway project should become an economic engine for their community.

“I truly believe this development will serve a major draw and an economic benefit, not only for all of Mission and northeast Johnson County, but also for areas outside of our Kansas City metro, thanks to the inclusion of the Kansas Aquarium, a museum-quality aquarium.”

By KEVIN COLLISON and JOYCE SMITH
The Kansas City Star

A new architectural design for the second office tower has been completed for the Gateway project. The new layout places the hotel between the two office towers, which allows office workers to take advantage of the roof top amenity deck and restaurant.

The operator of the 2.5 million gallon tunnel aquarium and the Cameron Group were approved by the State of Kansas to utilize Star Bonds to support the development of this regional attraction.

More than $16 million worth of underground infrastructure is now complete, making the Gateway site ready for new construction. The work included all of the water, electric, storm, and sewer improvements needed to support the 900,000sf development.