Miller's Ale House Oct 2021 "We do not have any current plans of opening a location in the Deptford area."

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The property is “cleaned up”. The construction fencing and materials out back are gone. And the “Coming Soon” sign is down.

The on again, off again, and then on again Miller’s Ale House location for Deptford NJ… appears to be OFF again, and seemingly this time it’s permanent? We reached out to Miller’s, our contact at Miller’s, Sobelco (property owner), Deptford Township… and the only solid answer we could get was a general customer service email reply.

Thank you for reaching out! Unfortunately we do not have any current plans of opening a location in the Deptford area. We hope to have the opportunity to serve you at one of our House’s in the nearby future!
Miller’s Ale House: Customer Service Reply

But let’s remind readers that back in August 2020 they told us basically the same thing… well at least then they seemed to acknowledge they had something in Deptford, but just weren’t moving on it.

From Aug 2020 “At This Time… No Specific Plans To Open Deptford”

But then in January 2021 Miller’s reached out to 42Freeway saying the project was on!

So who knows? But yeah.. now it’s dead. Well it seems dead.

And my apologies to the countless number of people asking about the status that I didn’t reply too, but my delay on reporting on the project is simply… Miller’s and Sobelco are private companies and they don’t have to tell me their plans… and I tried to get information.

I still don’t have that Executive level quote from Miller’s which makes it very clear what happened at Deptford. I don’t think I am ever going to get that, and since I get asked multiple times a day… rolling with what I know

That being said, I am sure in a few days one of the other area news outlets will contact Miller’s and I am sure they’ll give ’em a full quote.

I think the obvious response on hearing this news is “of course they aren’t coming. Restaurants cant hire workers, can’t get food supplies, and construction materials are expensive.” Yet, right now they list three southern locations as coming soon!

Two of the locations are in Florida which is a strong State for Miller’s so maybe the revenue per store is higher. Plus let’s be honest… Florida is one of the more relaxed states regarding Covid protocols and closures.

This project started up just a few months before Covid arrived and it’s quarantines took effect… and despite some positive statements earlier this year, all evidence now is that the project is not happening.

Miller’s Ale House Building In Deptford. Well it WAS to be Miller’s

Miller’s Deptford Catch-up

Later in the article I lay out all of my efforts to get a clear answer on the status of Miller’s Ale House in Deptford. But first a step back; Miller’s Ale House describes themselves as “We are a casual sports restaurant and bar with freshly-made food at an incredible value.”. They are a growing chain of casual eateries with alcohol, and the closest locations are in South Philadelphia and Mt Laurel NJ. Beer plays a big role in the offerings as they advertise “over 75 varieties of local craft, seasonal and domestic beers”!

They had an agreement to take over the closed Don Pablos building in Deptford NJ, which sits in front of the Target.

In December of 2019, demolition started on the interior of the building… basically leaving the walls up.

Materials started arriving on-site, such as duct work for a new heating and air conditioning system.

Then Covid and it’s shutdown happened in March 2020. Basically across the Northeast all of these projects and restaurants stopped operating.

In January of 2021, 42Freeway heard from an Miller’s Executive…

This is a portion of the message I received back on January 8th, 2021

I wanted to let you know we will be opening our Deptford location this year, but that is all i can say right now. I am actively advertising for mgmt positions. Wouldn’t it be great if you could mention this and direct people to apply for the mgmt position on our website? www.millersalehouse.com. I would appreciate it
January 8th Message From Miller’s Ale House. Note this project appears to not be happening

I even got a thank you! “WOW amazing article thank YOOUUUU so much. Of course your first meal is on ME! keep in touch”

And a sign popped up announcing the location as a future Miller’s!

I even found this “Tri County Joint Insurance Fund Meeting agenda” from February 2021, listing Miller’s Ale House Deptford. (PDF)

But then… nothing. Literally the property for a long while was an abandoned wasteland.

Just saying… you can’t fault 42Freeway on this one. Miller’s WAS clearly coming 🙂

What We Tried to Find Out

Miller’s Corporate

We of course started back with Miller’s.

I reached back out to my same contact who in January said they were coming this year.

On August 14th the message had changed

Hi there. There is no live job post. I have no information on Deptford. Sorry
Miller’s Ale House.

I then contacted the real estate division at Miller’s Ale House.

The Real Estate division lists a phone number on their website. It’s disconnected. Go look, ha! As of 7:30am this morning they still list the number and it comes back with that phone company “This is not a working number” message.

So I sent them an email on August 16th.

No reply.

Next I called Miller’s Ale House Corporate.

The receptionist was very nice. Stated they were short staffed and she herself was doing multiple jobs and that the folks I needed to talk to were at another number. I left a message. No reply.

Sobelco Corporate

Sobelco is a Florida based real estate company which owns many commercial properties in the USA including the Deptford Center (which houses Target, BJ’s and the Don Pablos buiding)

In late August we also called Sobelco.

The receptionist was kind enough to listen to my story about the property and project. Put me on hold a few minutes as she went to talk to someone about who I should speak to.

The answer back was along the lines of “We have no comment on any of our properties:

Deptford Township

Recently I reached out to Deptford’s Mayor Medany, who also sits on the town’s Planning Board.

My questions were; Do you know the status? The sign is down. The property was looking “ratty” before and is cleaned up now, was that the town’s involvement?

The Mayor’s response in summary…

The town considers the project (unofficially) “dead” also.
The Mayor himself has emailed “them” several times and they have not replied!
The liquor license is still owned by the property owner.
The town code office did contact the property owner regarding how bad the property looked, and they did clean it up.

When the Mayor said he didn’t get an email response from “them” I didn’t clarify if it was the property owner Sobelco or Miller’s. If it were Sobelco… eventually they’ll be back to the town for another project approval at their site… My personal (42Freeway) opinion is it seems like a better business move to be polite to the Mayor and Planning Board Member of a town where you have millions invested!