Business & Tech
DeLorenzo Closes Temporarily To Add On-Site Pot Shop
They are expected to reopen sometime in late September or early October.
MERCER COUNTY, NJ - A legendary Mercer pizzeria is embarking on a business transformation. DeLorenzo's Pizza, located in Hamilton, which has served customers for nearly nine decades, announced this week that it will temporarily close as renovations are underway to become a joint pizza, weed shop.
The family-owned establishment revealed through social media that the closure is part of an ambitious plan to reinvent itself as a first-of-its-kind establishment combining traditional pizza service with a licensed cannabis dispensary.
“DeLorenzo’s Pizza on Sloan Ave. is temporarily closed while renovations are underway to convert our building into a combination pizzeria - dispensary! Looking forward to seeing you soon at our exciting new venture,” the pizzeria posted on their Facebook page.
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They are expected to reopen sometime late September or early October.
The renovation project will reconfigure the historic building to accommodate both food service and retail cannabis operations under one roof.
Find out what's happening in Lawrencevillefor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The temporary shutdown marks a bold pivot for the beloved pizzeria, as it prepares to merge New Jersey's pizza culture with the state's expanding legal marijuana market.
Back in April, Patch reported that to ensure the long-term survival of the restaurant, which has been at its current location for 12 years, the owner is pursuing a plan to share the building with a cannabis dispensary.
Vision Cannabis was previously approved by the Hamilton Township Planning Board.
In March this year, DeLorenzo Pizza was seized by the state for non-payment of taxes.
With help from a GoFundMe campaign the pizzeria reopened again.
The first DeLorenzo Pizza shop opened around 1938 at the corner of Hudson and Mott Streets in Trenton.
In 1961 they opened a location on Hamilton Avenue in Trenton. They then moved to Sloan Avenue in Hamilton in 2013.
Separate Delorenzo family pizzerias opened in Robbinsville, Levittown, and Yardley, PA, but are not affiliated with the one in Hamilton.
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