TOMS RIVER, NJ – Jersey Girls Ice Cream took the spot of the former Cherry’s Ice Cream and was a perfect one-two punch of pizza and dinner, located conveniently next door to Luigi’s Pizza in Jonathan Plaza on Route 9. In March, the business announced it was shutting its doors for good. Days before the Murphy shut down, the business cited increased wages.
“Unfortunately with rising costs and increased minimum wages, we find it unable to continue our business,” the company posted on March 15th. “Thank you to everyone who has been in our corner while we worked on making this dream a reality.
The message came on March 15th after New York and Pennsylvania governors shut down all restaurants. Murphy signaled he would make the decision that Sunday. On the 16th, Murphy ordered the statewide restaurant shut down.
“To our loyal customers, we thank you for your support over the last 4.5 years,” the message on the front door read. “At this time we have made the difficult decision to close our doors indefinitely. We appreciate everyone who has stopped in at some point and helped make our dream come true. We will miss you all.”
On March 17th, like tens of thousands of businesses across New Jersey, Jersey Girls was hit with Governor Phil Murphy’s new normal, an almost impossible task to run a business during a pandemic under very strict guidelines. It’s a tough proposal for your average restaurant but even more difficult for a business like an ice cream parlor.
The Jersey Girls were also a great hit at the annual Toms River Summer in the Street Festival, which used to be called the Toms River Ice Cream Festival.
