South Jersey Tourism Corp.

From today's Inquirer, "More than the Shore," by Tom Belden, an article describing the South Jersey Tourism Corp.

Her little-known three-year-old agency is charged with attracting visitors to the Camden waterfront, the Pinelands preserve, burgeoning retail development, and dozens of historic sites and quaint towns in five southern New Jersey counties along the east bank of the Delaware River.

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For history buffs, the tourism agency this year created a tour of Camden landmarks associated with its most celebrated 19th-century resident, Walt Whitman. The agency points out that two river towns, Burlington City and Salem, which have their own tourism-promotion efforts, were founded before Philadelphia was in 1682 and offer tours of their historic districts.

Betsy Ross Moves to Jersey

According to the May 28, 2006 Life magazine:

Annin & Co, in Roseland, New Jersey, is the biggest flag-maker in the U.S., churning out more than 10,000 types of flags and related products.

A Walk Along the Delaware River

Lately I've been walking two afternoons a week with a friend. We stroll down to the river and up along the riverwalk, past the fisherman, the aquarium, and the battleship. The red brick provides a path to follow. The river has been beautiful in different ways on different days, some days dark and choppy, others glass and calm. There are gulls all along the way, and crowds of schoolchildren by the aquarium and the battleship. If we need to stop for a minute there are benches here and there. A water fountain in the battleship gift shop provides refreshment. It is a lovely way to exercise and get some fresh air.

Rutgers Camden Women's Softball NCAA Division III Champs

The Rutgers Camden Lady Raptors are the 2006 NCAA Division III champions after defeating two-time defending national champion St. Thomas on May 22nd. Details and photos here.

Restaurant Review: Ron Do's Kitchen

Today I stumbled across a new eatery in Camden, Ron Do's Kitchen (319 Friends St.), right across the street from the parking lot by the Business and Science Building on the Rutgers Campus. The menu features seafood, chicken and turkey, and ribs, as well as side dishes and individual servings of what looked to me like homemade cakes and pies. They have lunch and dinner specials of the day. There is outdoor seating. Hours extend to 10 p.m. Monday - Thursday and later on Friday and Saturday nights.

I had a lunch special, 3 chicken wings and 2 sides, plus a soda, for a little over $5.00. The wings were fabulous, a light seasoned breading so you have some crispy crunch but not too much, and enough taste to be interesting but not overpowering. The chicken itself was good. They cook it to order, though, so be prepared to wait a few minutes or call ahead and order.

For the sides I had macaroni and cheese and potato salad. The mac'n'cheese was not my preferred style. It was baked and the chef uses the small elbow noodles. The potato salad, though, was very good. Most restaurants will serve up tiny pieces of potato smothered in mayo. Here, you have potato pieces big enough to taste, seasonings, and assorted other finely chopped vegetables to round things out. Not a midwestern potato salad, not a cajun potato salad, but an excellent potato salad in its own right.

The roll that came with the meal was not perhaps the best but including it is a sign of class. They remembered the fork, too, which some places don't with carryout.

A co-worker has been there twice and recommends the turkey wings. She agreed with me on the mac'n'cheese but highly recommends the collard greens.

The indoor seating area is nicely decorated, with some interesting architectural features. One part of the main wall has been pulled back to the brick and is framed by molding. There are magazines neatly arranged if anyone wants to read and a tv if you care to watch. (Trivia: John Cleese is a lemur supporter and has had a kind of lemur named after him -- "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" or whatever it is called now, was on while I waited for my chicken.)

I will be going to Ron Do's again.

Reunion on the River

This Saturday, May 20th, Rutgers Camden alums will be attending the Reunion on the River 2006: "Carnival on Campus."

The year 2006 will mark an exciting change in the Reunion schedule. Activities and events will be held throughout the day and will include speakers, performances, exhibitions, tours, and receptions, leading up to the evening party and traditional festivities.

For the first time in several years, Reunion 2006 will be held on our beautiful campus and under connected carnival tents, adding to our campus-wide tradition of Commencement - Reunion Week.

details here.

Restaurant Review: Crossroads Cafe

Right across from the Adventure Aquarium, at 2 Riverside Dr. is the Crossroads Cafe. It is a cafeteria style restaurant. You can select from the salad bar, soups, featured entree, hot grill, and pizza, as well as cold sandwiches (tuna and egg salad, for example). There are also desserts and beverages available. The pizza is especially good but the salads and soups are as well. All of the featured entrees I've had (or friends have had) are excellent. The rolls that come the soup/salad are HUGE! Pizza and a soda will run you around $3.00, the featured entrees (often ethnic in nature) are more expensive. In seasonable weather there is outdoor seating. It is not open on weekends at present, though this may change.

Rutgers Camden Women's Softball

From Rutgers Camden:

During the past weekend, the women's softball team made Rutgers-Camden history by winning the NCAA Division III East Regional title and advancing to the NCAA finals with a 5-0 victory over second-seeded Rowan on Sunday, May 14.

The Scarlet Raptors, now ranked third in the nation by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association, will face off against Ramapo College in the first round of the NCAA finals at Peace College in Raleigh, NC, at 11 a.m. Friday, May 19.

Read details here.

Stained Glass Window Tours

On May 13 and June 10, you can take a tour of downtown Haddonfield churches with a noted stained glass expert. Meet at 10:00 a.m. at the Baptist Church on 124 Kings Highway. Might make a nice Mother's Day activity......

They'll Stop Harping On It This Sunday

The grand finale of the Ritz' Theatre Company's three part "Master of the Celtic Harp" series is this Sunday, May 14, at 7 p.m., at the Ritz Theatre, 915 White Horse PIke, in Haddon Township. details.

Mall Decor and Its Effects on Spending

Maureen Morrin, as associate professor of marketing at the School of Business -- Camden and Jean-Charles Chebat, professor of marketing and chair of retailing at HEC -- Montreal have teamed up to study what makes you spend, or not, at the mall.

Recent research by marketing scholars at Rutgers University—Camden and HEC-Montreal suggests that interior décor at a mall, especially involving color schemes, plays a critical role in determining shoppers’ perceptions of quality, not only of the mall itself, but also of the products sold there.

[The study] also finds that different subcultures do not perceive quality in the same way. For instance, French-Canadians had higher perceptions of product quality when the mall décor consisted of a warm color scheme. On the other hand, Anglo-Canadians found higher quality when the décor consisted of a cool color scheme.

The full press release is here. So that greenery is not there just to improve the environment or indoor air quality. How crafty! The research will be published in a forthcoming issue of Journal of Service Research, with the title "Person-Place Congruency: The Interactive Effects of Shopper Style and Mall Atmospherics on Consumer Expenditures".

Morrin and Chebat have also studied the effect of sound and smell on shoppers' spending behaviors. For example,:

In a survey of 774 shoppers at a large retail center in suburban Montréal, Maureen Morrin, an associate professor of marketing at Rutgers-Camden, and Jean-Charles Chebat, a marketing professor at HEC Montreal, found that impulsive shoppers – characterized as those who make unplanned purchases more often than so-called contemplative buyers – spend more when pleasant music is playing in the background.

Contemplative shoppers, on the other hand, tend to spend more money when a pleasant odor is in the background.

In 2004 an article Morrin co-authored with S. Ratneshwar, "Does It Make Sense to Use Scents to Enhance Brand Memory?" published in the Journal of Marketing Research (40 #1, 2003,pp. 10-25) received the Bright Idea in Marketing and Brands Award from NJPRO/Seton Hall, 9/2004.

New Waterfront Condos in Camden

According to the Inquirer (Dwight Ott, "Dranoff to rehab 2nd Camden site, May 4th):

Camden's downtown took another major step forward last night when the city's Redevelopment Agency authorized a second project by Dranoff Properties Inc. - a $25 million waterfront condominium building.

The panel unanimously authorized Philadelphia developer Carl Dranoff to rehabilitate the former RCA No. 8 factory into 86 condominiums, with commercial space on the first floor.

The condos, which would cost around $250,000, would be two blocks from the river. They are scheduled to be complete at the end of 2007.