By Frank Sinatra, AAP Editor

Pennsauken Mayor Rick Taylor and Deputy Mayor John Figueroa helped cut the ribbon to officially open the new location of Restaurant Depot, a wholesale distributor to the food industry. Offering one-stop shopping for food, equipment, and supplies, Restaurant Depot caters to smaller independently owned, restaurants, caterers, and non-profits.

“Our typical customers are small restaurants, small pizzerias, small sub shops, and someone who typically works 18 hours a day to put the best food possible on the table,” says Larry Cohen, Restaurant Depot’s chief operating officer. “What we offer is a place where the small independent restaurant can come and be treated like the king that he is. That’s our business and they’re extremely important to us. They can walk around. They can choose their seafood. They can choose their meat. They can buy exactly what they need and pay a lot less money than they would through a distributor.”

Restaurant Depot, which has 112 locations nationwide, first came to Pennsauken in 2000, purchasing an almost 50,000 square-foot facility along Thomas Busch Memorial Highway. “It was our first store in this market,” says Cohen. “The appeal of Pennsauken is that it’s right outside Philly and lets you cater to a portion of the Philly market, but it also has many highways and a great infrastructure. So it’s very easy to get to from all parts of New Jersey and Philly.”

But as Restaurant Depot established itself in Pennsauken, the successful business experienced “growing pains” when it came to parking and space for goods.

“After a couple of years, we realized it was too small,” explains Cohen. “We started looking for a new location; at one point, we thought we were going to have to leave Pennsauken.”

While conducting a comprehensive search, the business realized that the answer was literally right next door: a 75,000 square-foot facility adjacent to their old property. “We looked at it and we knew we had the right place. It’s about 40 percent bigger and has better height in the ceilings.”

Restaurant Depot has invested millions into Pennsauken: purchasing the new location, rehabbing the building, fixing the floors, installing new lighting, as well as putting in giant refrigerators and freezers. On the outside, there is a brand new parking lot with a large overhang to protect customers during inclement weather.

“If you’re dealing with the retail public and it snows or rains, they don’t shop that day. But a restaurateur is open seven days a week,” explains Cohen. “Whether it’s raining or snowing, he needs his product. We’ve made a lot of investments that show our commitment to our customers.”

“Restaurant Depot not only made the initial investment here in Pennsauken in the year 2000, but they made a bigger commitment with their new building,” adds Pennsauken Mayor Rick Taylor. “It’s certainly a state-of-the-art facility for food and equipment. And it’s located right in the Mecca of restaurants and mom and pop establishments.”

During the ribbon cutting, Cohen took an opportunity to thank the Township for their assistance during Restaurant Depot’s move and renovation process. “We’ve worked with the Township throughout the years. It’s not always easy to deal through construction issues or business issues, but they’ve taken a common sense approach and they’ve worked with us through problems.”

“Having businesses and the community working together is one of the most important things we can do,” says Deputy Mayor Figueroa. “It keeps businesses happy; it keeps the Township taxes lower; and it creates jobs. It’s a big thing.”

Restaurant Depot’s new facility is located at 1070 Thomas Busch Memorial Highway. For more information, visit RestaurantDepot.com.