Landmark SJ Sports Bar Gets New Life, Thanks To Local Entrepreneur
MARLTON, NJ (CBS) -- A landmark sports bar in Marlton that abruptly shut its doors last summer is coming back with a new owner, and a name familiar to most people in the tri-state area.
Champps was a mainstay along Route 73 for two decades. As soon as the doors closed in August, the rumors started.
Now they're confirmed, as Chickie and Pete's will open its 15th location just in time for the next football season. At least, that's the plan for owner Pete Ciarrocchi.
"The day it became available I don't think I was the only one," he told KYW Newsradio. "I'm sure there was not a short list but a long list of people that wanted this location. And fortunately for us, we were the ones who won."
The building will undergo a $3 million renovation and some 200 staffers will be hired. Evesham Township Mayor Randy Brown says this is part of a long term redevelopment plan that's been slowly taking shape.
"We've got $400 million being invested into our community, whether it's apartments, whether it's commercial, whether it's residential," Brown said. "And we believe in the next three years, most everything will be built."
The new Chickie and Pete's location will get a lot of traffic. It's just off the old Marlton Circle at the intersection of Route 73 and 70.
