Business Buzz
Summer is flying by and Labor Day weekend will be here before we know it, but there is still plenty of time to check out some of the businesses and services new to our area. Whether you take a new beach yoga class or maybe need some help with physical therapy, these new businesses have you covered. Make sure you also stop by for a stack of pancakes and check out the renovations at an iconic Avalon breakfast spot. We caught up with local businesses for all the business buzz this month.
Maggie Fossett, Casey O’Hara, and Jill Thompson of Uncle Bill’s Pancake House
Uncle Bill’s Pancake House
3189 Dune Drive, Avalon • 609-967-8448
304 96th St. Stone Harbor • 609-368-8129
unclebillspancakehouse.com
Uncle Bill’s Pancake House in Avalon received a makeover in the form of a major renovation that gives its customers the opportunity to choose indoor or outdoor seating.
“After COVID we got to a point where we were able to do outdoor dining, but the kitchen was not able to keep up with what was going on. So, we were limiting what we were doing in order to keep the quality where it was,” says Casey O’Hara, owner of the Avalon and Stone Harbor Uncle Bill’s locations.
When O’Hara’s parents bought Uncle Bill’s in 1978, they rented out half of the building to a candy store so they could afford to pay the mortgage. Decades later, the block wall that divided the two businesses has been taken down, allowing Uncle Bill’s to extend its kitchen.
The extension of the kitchen allowed for an additional 13 feet of grill space. Now the eatery can put up more food and service more tables. But with this influx of service came a need for a bigger staff. On a typical busy day before the renovation, Uncle Bill’s could manage with 15 waitresses and eight cooks. That number has gone up to 20 waitress and 10 cooks.
O’Hara finds himself going back and forth between his Avalon location (3189 Dune Drive) and Stone Harbor location (304 96th St.) on a regular basis.
“I definitely have had to have more focus up here [Avalon] just because it is new to everybody, so I have been trying to obviously keep my hands on the pulse,” he says. “I have a great staff down there [Stone Harbor], so they hold the fort together.”
For O’Hara, the key to balance is the right staff. He’s fortunate he has such a committed staff and his sister, Tiffany Penza, helping him run things in Stone Harbor. (There are seven Uncle Bill’s locations, all in Cape May County and all run by O’Hara family members.)
“There was a break during COVID where I wished I could split myself in two and be in two places at once,” he says. “Operationally, I was waiting on tables or cooking, at either place.”
The renovation is still something the staff is continuously adapting to. However, Casey notes that the timing could have not been any better: “I think with Brian’s [Waffle House] closing too – we didn’t know that, but we already anticipated the plan to redo the kitchen, and this was like a bonus because now we are actually able to handle that influx of business.”
As a third-generation Uncle Bill’s owner, O’Hara looks forward to keeping it going. Staying in business, providing families with the same quality food, now in a slightly bigger atmosphere.
“I still have the energy to do it so,” he says. “As long as the next generation maybe wants to do it eventually, then we keep it rolling. If not, we figure it out then.”
Both the Avalon and Stone Harbor locations are open daily from 7am-1pm for dining and takeout.
Karen Hepp and Lizzie Lange of Pure Pony Yoga
Pure Pony Yoga, Beach Yoga of Stone Harbor
82nd Street Beach, Stone Harbor • pureponyyoga.com • @pureponyyoga
Pure Pony Yoga, owned and operated by sisters Karen Hepp and Lizzie Lange, started as a passion project in the pandemic, combining their love of yoga and the beach into a small woman owned business that’s gone from just Karen teaching weekends on the beach, to class every day, with multiple teachers and times.
“Pure Pony Yoga is beach yoga for everybody and every body,” says Hepp. “We teach mixed level classes everyone can do, and where everyone is welcome. We regularly have whole families with kids, to octogenarians living their best lives. We want everyone to feel good, and share the joy of watching the dolphins, feeling the sun on their face, and breathing in the ocean breezes.”
Karen is a morning Tv Anchor for Good Day Philadelphia on Fox 29. She and her husband Brian Sullivan, and all 3 boys compete in the many running races and triathlons on 7-mile island. Lizzie is a partner in the law firm, Faegre Drinker. She and her husband Chad have an adorable beach baby Charlie who loves the ocean and a fur baby chihuahua Ollie. As sisters, they are inseparable; they have homes on the same block in Avalon, and same neighborhood outside Philadelphia and now we’ve launched a business together from scratch. When the pandemic hit, Karen was in yoga teacher training. They had come up with the idea of beach yoga as a lifestyle brand to elevate health, nature, and positivity.
“We got the contract with Stone Harbor recreation to teach on the 82nd street beach 3 years ago- and have grown every year since,” says Hepp. “We are so proud of our excellent experienced yoga teachers, who lead classes every day of the week. It’s great to move differently, during the summer when we’re wearing flip flops, playing pickleball, running, and biking. Our beach yoga is the perfect way to sooth and release sore muscles, and minds. There’s nothing like practicing on the beach surrounded by free treasures everywhere- salt air you can taste, the sounds of waves crashing and children’s laughter, and finding your Drishti on a shell or silly sea gull footprint.”
Classes are held at 9am daily, Tuesday and Thursday at 7:30am and Friday Happy Hour class is at 5:30pm. All you need for class is a large beach towel, mat and water. Pure Pony Yoga also hosts bachelorette parties, wedding weekends, girls’ weekends, beach birthday parties, and corporate events. Customers can take advantage of the 5-class pack for $90, and a 10-class pack for $180 when you buy online. Sign up for a class online at pureponyyoga.com.
Colleen Goodwin and Rob Hicks of Rehab Excellence Center
Rehab Excellence Center Powered by Twin Boro Physical Therapy
108 N. Main St., Suite 2, Cape May Court House • 609-957-5333 • rehabexcellencecenter.com/7MT1
Rehab Excellence Center, which recently opened its sixth location in Cape May Court House, specializes in physical therapy needs such as general orthopedic, sports medicine, spine, arthritis, pediatric care, and vestibular and concussion rehabilitation. Rob Hicks, original founder and CEO of Rehab Excellence Center, grew up in Stone Harbor.
“I opened the original location back in March 2001 in Pennsauken, and so this sixth location is a logical extension for our business,” says Hicks. “We now provide physical therapy services in Camden, Burlington, Gloucester, Cumberland, Ocean, Atlantic and now Cape May County.”
Last fall, Rehab Excellence Center merged business operations with Twin Boro Physical Therapy, whose CEO, Andrew Lotsis, is a longtime colleague of Hicks.
“The most southern facility Twin Boro had was in Egg Harbor Township,” Hicks says, “and with this merger we had the opportunity to blend and expand our South Jersey footprint to 14 locations to better meet the needs of our physical therapy patients. Today, we provide 51 locations across 17 New Jersey counties.”
At the Cape May Court House location, clinical director Colleen Goodwin is a familiar face, having served the community for more than 23 years. Goodwin holds a master’s degree in physical therapy from University of the Sciences in Philadelphia. Rehab Excellence Center in Cape May Court House is offering a complimentary screening for new patients and no physician prescription is needed for this screening.
To book an appointment, call 609-957-5333.