"There is a new tenant preparing plans and specifications for township review."
Mayor Ana Duarte McCarthy said that at the Township Committee meeting on July 28, as New Jersey Hills reported. It is still the most detailed public statement about what will fill the Stop & Shop space at Lyons Mall. Staff were told the store would close Oct. 28 or 29. Nobody has named the replacement, and its plans haven't reached a township board. Bernards Township is about to go without a supermarket inside its borders, and so far nothing on the public record shows when that will change.
A Mall Built Around One Big Store
Lyons Mall at 553 S. Finley Ave. has always had a grocery store as its anchor. New Jersey Hills reports that Grand Union opened there in August 1970 as the first tenant to lease space in the mall, and that Stop & Shop took over in January 2001. In TAPinto Basking Ridge's account of the announcement, the mayor said her husband, Mike, went to the Grand Union ribbon-cutting in 1970.
The landlord, Lyons Mall, Inc., owns and manages the center and lists it at 66,000 square feet on its own site. Everything else in the mall is a smaller storefront: a pharmacy, takeout, a cleaner, a tutoring center, a martial arts school. The supermarket was the reason most people made the trip, and the smaller shops got the foot traffic.
According to New Jersey Hills, the mayor said Stop & Shop's government affairs liaison told her about the closing on July 21. She said the decision came out of a comprehensive financial review and lined up with the end of the store's lease. The same paper notes that the Massachusetts-based chain had announced 32 store closings in 2024, 10 of them in New Jersey. The Basking Ridge closing comes after that wider cutback, and the lease ending here set the timing.
The Last Day Is Still Approximate
The exact final day hasn't been confirmed. New Jersey Hills reported that staff were told the store would close Wednesday, Oct. 28, by one source's account, or Thursday, Oct. 29, by another's. In a statement to the paper, Stop & Shop said only that it intended to operate the store "through the early fall of 2026." If you want one more stock-up trip, plan it before Oct. 28 rather than counting on the last days of the month.
A few other details from the summer coverage tell you what to expect inside the store before it closes:
- Food donations. TAPinto reported the mayor's statement that Stop & Shop plans to work with regional food bank networks during the liquidation so that usable food is donated.
- Familiar faces. All employees will be offered transfers to nearby Stop & Shop stores, including Berkeley Heights, Madison and Watchung.
- Same chain, different town. New Jersey Hills lists Berkeley Heights, Morris Plains, Madison and Watchung as the closest other Stop & Shop locations.
Where the Replacement Stands on the Township Calendar
The mayor's July statement said the new tenant's plans were headed for township review. So far, that review hasn't shown up on any meeting agenda. Here are the most recent agendas for the two boards that hear land use applications in Bernards Township:
| Board | Meeting date | Lyons Mall item on agenda |
|---|---|---|
| Planning Board | Aug. 18, 2026 | None listed |
| Planning Board | Sept. 8, 2026 | None listed |
| Board of Adjustment | Sept. 9, 2026 | None listed |
| Planning Board | Oct. 6, 2026 | None listed |
| Board of Adjustment | Oct. 7, 2026 | None listed |
| Planning Board | Oct. 20, 2026 | None listed |
Plans can be in the works long before they're ready for a public hearing, and some kinds of changes may not need a board hearing at all. Until something is filed, the public has no way to see what is proposed. In July, New Jersey Hills reported there was no information on whether the space would go to another supermarket or to some other use. Barbara Mackes, the mall's owner, told the paper an announcement would be coming. That announcement hasn't been made publicly yet.
If you want to follow it, the Planning Board and Board of Adjustment agendas are posted on the Bernards Township website before each meeting. When an application is filed, it will appear there.
A Bagel Shop Is Coming to the Other End of the Lot
The anchor space is emptying, but Lyons Mall is also getting a new tenant. Gabe's Bagels is moving into the former Dunkin' space at 450 S. Finley Ave. TAPinto reported that it will be the business's fifth location, after East Hanover, Chatham, Fair Lawn and Martinsville. The company has been around for about 20 years and specializes in hand-rolled bagels. The same report says Dunkin' closed there at the end of March.
TAPinto's Aug. 14 story estimated the opening at "approximately three months" away, and Patch quoted the owner on Aug. 11 as hoping to open in about three months. That points to sometime around mid-November. It's an estimate, not a confirmed date. If you live in Martinsville or drive through it, you may already know the shop.
The rest of the mall is a familiar list. The landlord's tenant page includes Walgreens, Select Vintage Wines, Subway, Mathnasium, Atlantic Medical Group Primary Care, Taste of Thai, Siena Pizza Gourmet, The UPS Store, Master Yoo's Martial Arts, Hunan Chinese, Lyons Cleaners, Carefree Cruises, Dream Nails, Allstate and Dental Care Basking Ridge. That page still lists Dunkin' and Stop & Shop, so call ahead before you plan a trip around a particular store. For the next stretch, these businesses are what keeps people coming to the lot.
Where the Weekly Grocery Run Goes Now
New Jersey Hills called Stop & Shop the township's only supermarket. Every full-service grocery option after the closing is across a town line. These stores list their addresses on their own websites:
- Kings Food Markets, 450 Hills Dr., Bedminster, the Route 206 store in the New Jersey Hills list.
- The Fresh Market, 75 Washington Valley Rd., Bedminster, in Pluckemin.
- ShopRite of Stirling, 1153 Valley Road, Stirling.
- ShopRite on Route 202 in Bernardsville, named by New Jersey Hills as one of the area's other supermarkets.
- Trader Joe's, 315 Promenade Blvd., Bridgewater.
- Whole Foods Market Bridgewater, 319 Chimney Rock Rd., Bound Brook.
Farmers markets have a few weeks left this season. The Bedminster farmers market at River Road Park, 3055 River Road, runs through Dec. 5. The Bernardsville Farmers' Market runs on Saturdays.
For anyone who walked or made a quick drive to South Finley Avenue for milk and bread, these options mean a longer trip. The closest choice depends on where in Basking Ridge, Liberty Corner or Lyons you live: Bedminster for some, Stirling or Bernardsville for others. That will hold until a new tenant in the Lyons Mall space is named, reviewed and open for business.
Karen Boose follows the township agendas and the changes along South Finley Avenue as part of keeping up with Basking Ridge, and she's happy to share what she hears as the Lyons Mall space moves toward its next tenant. If you're wondering how a change like this fits into your plans for your own home, Karen Boose - Coldwell Banker Realty is glad to talk it through. Let's Connect.
