A new multi-building development is being planned for the heart of Millville’s thriving Route 47 Commercial District, and according to the development team it is set to include a new Raising Cane’s Chicken Finger restaurant as well as a Starbucks with drive-thru!
Other buildings are also in the marketing brochure but only Raising Cane’s and Starbucks are being broadly promoted as signed on and in the highlighted pitch to “Join” the center.
This Cumberland County project would take over the last undeveloped corner in the popular retail/restaurant district of Route 47 at Cumberland Crossing Blvd.
Many would recognize this as the property where LIDL grocery had plans to develop a new store. Sadly, in January of 2019 the Daily Journal confirmed that those grocery store plans were not happening.
I also recently wrote about Union Lake Crossing Center (across the street) who are adding five new tenants! Millville Rt 47 is booming!
For the new project, the information comes from Paramount Realty, who are promoting the development on their website.
Paramount is looking for additional tenants, particularly for a 3,500 sq ft space which is part of the building which will have Starbucks on one end.
We exchanged emails with a representative of team bringing this project together, who had positive comments to say about its prospects.
The marketing brochure and site plan available at the website also indicate a car wash is in the plans as well as another interesting retail store… although neither one of those are labeled in the brochure and likely not as far along in the approval process.
I believe this is the first time that folks are getting of hear that these two very popular businesses are coming to Millville and I’ll reiterate it is very early in the process.
There are no Planning Board hearings scheduled, and no reference to the project at the Township website.
It also appears that LIDL still owns the property… but it is very common for development land purchases to have approval contingencies. Simply, a contract can be written that says “We have an agreement to purchase the property, and will close on the property sale if the proposed development is approved”
Additionally, Raising Cane’s has been getting significant media attention the last few months with their first New Jersey location opening just last week, and none of the responses from Raising Cane’s identified Millville as an upcoming location.
I have reached out to a contact I have for Raising Cane’s to see if they can offer any details.
Millville Development – Raising Cane’s and Starbucks
The development property is at the corner of Route 47 and Cumberland Crossing Boulevard.
This area is a very popular commercial district with the thriving Union Lake Crossing shopping center on the other side of Route 47, as well as a Walmart on the other side of Cumberland Crossing. And of course the Cumberland Mall is up the road just a bit, on the other side of Route 55.
Adding Raising Cane’s and Starbucks to the one undeveloped corner is a huge win for the area, which further solidifies it as a mega-retail shopping space due to having so many retail and restaurant options. Honestly I don’t think many outside of the Cumberland County area really understand the how thriving the area is!
For the new development, Raising Cane’s will be positioned in the corner (at the intersection) and the retail building featuring Starbucks will be developed behind it along Cumberland Crossing.
There is space for two additional buildings on the property, which in the concept drawings appear to be a car wash and another retail building… but they are not identified in the marketing brochure by name so I’m going to hold off on going deep on them.
Likely news of these two businesses coming to Millville will get a very positive reaction from many in the area… but at the same time people will identify that both Raising Cane’s and Starbucks are incredibly popular to the point of having fanatic customers… and the drive-thru experience could be challenging.
That being said the property they are being developed on is large, and the concept plans available at the paramount Realty website show that both businesses are being developed to support a large number of customer vehicles in the drive-thru lanes.
Raising Cane’s utilizes a dual lane drive-thru where the employees actually walk out to your car so that they can maintain two full lanes all the way through! The site plan shows 17 vehicles within the drive-thru lane space.
Starbucks is being developed as part of a larger building, taking the left end unit of 2,240 sq ft. This positions the popular coffee retailer to have a drive-thru lane which circles around the back of the building. The single lane implementation is also designed to support 17 cars.
Readers will likely note that there already is an area Starbucks over in the Cumberland Mall complex, but that location does not have a drive-thru. I don’t know the plans for that location.
With Starbucks being positioned at the back of the property there is an extended entrance drive roadway to access the building, which if needed I assume cars could extend even further back… Although I’m sure no one would want to wait in the line that long. Would they?
I think everyone understands what Starbucks is about as they are one of the top coffee retailers in the United States and the world,
I remember several years ago when it felt like you had to go to Cherry Hill or Marlton to grab a Starbucks, but in their large expansion the last few years they are adding numerous Starbucks locations including licensed deals… which put Starbucks locations within other retailers such as Target or even large universities.
A few years ago Starbucks built a full free-standing building in Deptford on Rt 41… but the last few I’ve visited that have opened recently (Mount Laurel, Cherry Hill Short Hills), were developed similar to what is proposed for Millville..as the left-most unit of a larger retail building. Not sure if that is just a coincidence or a new direction for the coffee retailer.
Raising Cane’s – Caniacs!
Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers on the other hand is new to the Philadelphia marketplace, and in fact the very first New Jersey Raising Cane’s location just opened last week in Burlington Township (Burlington County)
Raising Cane’s has a really neat eclectic restaurant design which even features mirrored disco balls!
I was at the Burlington Township location a day before the opening, and put together a preview look for readers of 42Freeway. I share a few photos here but you can check out that prior article for more detailed look.
Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers is aptly named… they focus on offering one main product which is delicious and tender store-made chicken fingers.
They fill out the menu with delicious sides which include French fries, coleslaw, and their garlic Texas toast… Which to many is almost as important to the meal as the chicken fingers are!
Their signature dipping sauce is called “Cane’s sauce” which is promoted as the only option. That being said I’ve learned they do typically offer a few other choices when you ask for them such as a hot sauce (which is amazing when mixed in with the cane sauce), as well as I’ve been told you can get honey mustard, but i need to confirm that.
So in South Jersey we’re not really familiar with Cane’s and their popularity, but in other parts of the country they have a wild following who call themselves ”Caniacs”
While we are just now being introduced to the full Raising Cane’s experience, it’s my understanding that we can expect to see a popularity equal to Chick-fil-A!
In South Jersey, as mentioned they just opened a location in Burlington Township, and opening in the next few weeks and months are locations in Marlton, Cherry Hill and Deptford
Additionally they are targeting locations for Glassboro, Washington Township, and Lawnside.
Links and Locations
Millville Development – Raising Cane’s and Starbucks
Route 47 and Cumberland Crossing Boulevard
Millville NJ