Coping with Ft. Monmouth closing: Eatontown businesses suffer major losses

Customers used to wait in line all day for the 11 hours the local barber shop was open. Now, the shop’s business has dwindled and fewer customers come in and have little to no wait for a haircut. 

Across the parking lot, the local pizzeria has seen its lunch crowd drop off and its transactions shrink. Each week, the food shop sees fewer customers. The local dry cleaner next door has seen its business decline by 20 to 25 percent. And the local diner has seen its breakfast and lunch crowd decrease tremendously.

The reality of Fort Monmouth’s closure is now facing local businesses. With the loss of the soldiers and base workers as customers, and severe declines in their revenues, local businesses are looking for ways to cope.

For the past decade, John Burnett has worked at the barber shop on Main Street, less than a mile from Fort Monmouth’s main gate on Route 35. His mother purchased the shop and kept its name as John’s Barber shop since that was her son’s name. Last year, a new owner took over and renamed it Ruben’s Barber Shop. But Burnett still works there as the store manager.

Over the past 10 years, Burnett has seen his business landscape change from a cutomer base that "was very populated with army soldiers and civilians.” But in the last three or four years, he described the decline in business as “severe.”

Burnett said the shop used to be busy for the 11 hours it was open each day, with  customers waiting on lines for haircuts. Now, “there have been dribs and drabs of customers.” The business is finding that is surviving with its few local customers for now, but “it’s a big step back financially.” Burnett said that as much as 60 percent of the shop’s business came from the base in the past.

For Guido’s Famous Pizza on Lewis Street, about 25 percent of  business comes from Fort Monmouth, according to co-owner Tony Couzo. For 20 years, Couzo has been in business and has seen it evolve with the changes at the fort.

He remembers when the Base Closure and Realignment Commission (BRAC) first proposed closing the base 15 years ago--and ultimately didn’t--and now the recent closing based upon a decision six years ago. “The rationale for why they closed was beyond everyone,” Couzo said, adding there was no “reasonable explanation” given for closing the base as it is “integral to the security and support for our troops overseas.”

“The fact is, they are closing. And it is slowly, but severely, diminishing our business, ” Couzo said. He is struggling with the painful decision right now of cutting hours for staff. Guido’s has nine employees: two full-timers and seven part-timers. In the past six months, “business really started to diminish. Maybe people put off making the move, but now there seems to be a mass exodus.”

Operations at the fort have been moved to Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland and both military and civilian workers have been slowly relocating south. 8,000 government employees are from Fort Monmouth to Harford County.

Down the road, the Cobblestone Diner on Route 35 has seen its customer base shrink and its business decline approximately 30 percent, according to co-owner Minos Rigopoulis. For 25 years, the diner has been in operation and Rigopoulis said that this is “the first time, it’s been this slow.”

“People are leaving every day. A lot of people depend on Fort Monmouth. I don’t know what can be done. I can’t really replace that business,” he said, adding that they have started running more specials. Rigopoulis said that a lot of businesses are dealing with the impact from the base closure. “We are all feeling it, it’s everybody,” he said. “It’s taking a big chunk out of our business.”

For Hyun Paik, owner of Customer Cleaners on Lewis Street, it's the same situation. “We have lost customers, many of our customers have moved to Aberdeen (Maryland),” he said. Paik estimates that about 20 to 25 percent of his business has come from the base. He and his wife, who run the store, are now offering shoe repair services to try to generate more sales.

"Who knows when and what will happen," said Rigopoulis at the Cobblestone. "Some of us can’t wait forever—I’m 68 years old. We will stick it out and hopefully, something will happen.”