Dear Matzav Inbox,
A recent post online by Israel Weinberger really struck a chord with me, and I think it deserves our community’s attention. I want to share the message here. He called it “A Community Wake-Up Call,” and that’s exactly what it is.
Lakewood, NJ and the surrounding areas are among the fastest-growing Jewish communities in the world. New developments are everywhere, and opportunities seem endless. But as Weinberger pointed out, there’s a troubling pattern that keeps repeating itself, one that too many of us have witnessed up close.
Retail stores open with huge investments, flashy openings, and beautiful designs — and then, within months, they’re gone. Empty storefronts, dark windows, and another “For Lease” sign.
He listed examples that many of us recognize:
A grocery that invested over ten million dollars — closed.
A luxury restaurant that cost millions to build — gone in less than a year.
A clothing store that put in a million — shut its doors.
Several takeouts opened with hype and heavy debt — didn’t make it through the year.
A high-end restaurant that spent millions on décor — sold before it found its footing.
“This isn’t normal,” Weinberger wrote. “And it’s not sustainable.”
He’s right. Behind the façade of prosperity, the truth is that most families in Lakewood are working hard just to keep up with rising costs. Maybe ten percent are truly affluent. The rest are stretching to cover mortgages, tuition, and groceries.
So when businesses are built on assumptions like “Everyone here spends a lot” or “Luxury always wins,” those aren’t business strategies — they’re what Weinberger called “high-stakes gambling, with people’s futures.”
He urged that real success requires more than excitement. It demands real market research, sound financial modeling, genuine demand validation, realistic break-even timelines, and a plan for the slow months — not just the grand opening.
“This isn’t about blame,” he wrote. “Not owners. Not brokers. Not advisors. It’s about accountability — and smarter decisions that protect families from devastating losses.”
Empty storefronts and unpaid loans don’t just hurt investors; they affect all of us. Broken dreams and wasted resources drain the energy of an entire community. As Weinberger put it, “We owe it to our community to stop, reflect, and do better.”
He’s right again. It’s time we talk about this openly — why it’s happening, what needs to change, and how we can build sustainable growth instead of short-lived hype.
Thank you, Mr. Weinberger, for saying what so many of us have been thinking. Maybe now, we’ll finally start having the honest conversation our community needs.
A Concerned Member of the Community
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The Frum community needs to stop the worship of wealth and luxury. Torah is not first; money and status is first and that needs to change.
I thought gaiveh and greed were necessary and sufficient components in a Yiddish-style life? How could that be untrue? (Sarcasm streaming)
The reality is that the percentage of retail businesses (especially dining) that close down in their first year is much higher than in the frum communities. The number of stores (nationally) that make it to ten years is surprisingly low.
While I agree with the general message that you never know what’s going on in someone else’s bank account and you shouldn’t live above your means, drawing on a few failures to make the point seems ignorant.
I’m not disagreeing with this letter but I’m not sure what the point it . Everyone knows that opening a business carries risks of losing the money you put into it. I don’t believe that anyone would get financing for a multi million dollar business investment if they did not offer their investors a sound investment plan that was a lot more sophisticated and numbers based than “Everyone here spends a lot” or “Luxury always wins,”
The high end restaurant that he was talking about actually had a solid chance.
There was a combination of factors including the economic downturn over the last few years (it was more of a liquidity crisis than a downturn) and a social media frenzy when someone posted what they spent there to take their entire workforce (and many other factors).
The luxury business model makes no sense to me, but it’s been proven time again.
Its a tight market in lakewood. There are many stores that did these investmentsand are doing well. Not fair to judge those. There is a upscale crowd in lakewood that still likes that style of luxury and are willing to pay. However the poor pretending to be rich stopped buying by them simple. The attitude today is its tight. So they dont feel peer pressure. The meat board buissness is done by 80 percent. Upscale simchas the same. The investers were not counting on the flashy type to stop .That’s where they lost their money in many but not all places..
With all due respect to all the professional analysis, explaining why businesses closed down in the last year and half. Look at the economy. Any projections and predictions that we made 2-3 years ago with a margin of error could not foresee the current situation coming. See google report below and this explains everything. Everyone is trying, everyone did their due diligence but only some Hashem decided should survive through this turmoil.
Google report: In the last few years, the industries hit the hardest by the economic volatility stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, inflation, and supply chain issues include leisure and hospitality (especially accommodation and food services, and arts and entertainment), retail, and certain sectors of manufacturing (including automotive) and technology.
Industries Most Affected
Leisure and Hospitality: This sector, which includes restaurants, hotels, airlines, and entertainment venues, experienced massive job losses and revenue decline due to lockdowns, travel restrictions, and social distancing mandates. While there has been some recovery, the industry remains vulnerable to economic shifts and labor shortages.
Retail (Brick-and-Mortar): Traditional physical retail, especially those selling non-essential goods, suffered significantly from forced store closures and the acceleration of e-commerce. Many companies faced bankruptcies and widespread job cuts as consumer spending habits shifted and supply chain disruptions led to overstock issues.
Manufacturing: This sector has faced immense pressure from uncertain supply chains, fluctuating raw material costs, and labor concerns. The automotive industry, in particular, was severely affected by the global semiconductor shortage, which forced production cuts.
Technology: While some areas of tech thrived (like e-commerce and digital services), the broader tech sector has recently seen a high number of layoffs in 2024 and 2025 as companies downsized, in some cases due to over-hiring during the pandemic boom and current economic pressures.
Construction and Real Estate: This sector was impacted by skyrocketing material costs, worker shortages, and a subsequent freeze in housing sales and new projects as interest rates rose.
Energy and Transportation: The fossil fuels production and distribution industries experienced extreme volatility due to sharp drops in demand and oil prices during the initial pandemic shutdowns, while transportation faced disruptions and increased costs.
These industries were particularly vulnerable because they rely heavily on consumer discretionary spending, in-person interactions, and stable global supply chains, all of which were severely disrupted by recent global events.
Hiring a professional business advisor or consultant when you’re starting a business that has experience in start ups is a basic Hishtadlus. The odds of a startup becoming successful and established is highly unluckily without proper training and planning.
100% agree with this letter. The only problem with this letter is, that it should be written by the “Einay Haedah”. I’m a full supporter of Keren Oilam Hatorah, but I feel this is something which can bring $100 million and totally affects our local community and should be addressed by the gedolei hador. (I’m not sure why only chasidishe gedolim address community needs… and not only yeshiva/learning related issues).
Here’s my advice as a landlord for 45 years. I would rather even take below the market rent and know I’m getting the rent than charging a very high rent and find myself every year or two looking for a new tenant. In the commercial stores i avoid big name businesses like Dunken donuts or 711 because your real estate taxes will go up. I take store tenants that are individuals running their businesses like 99c stores,pet fish stores but no clubs or restaurants. Yes I can put over a hundred million into the bank and live off the interest instead of the rental income but I hold on to the properties as they go up in value. Years ago I bought properties for 25 thousand dollars and never sold. I tell people I’m emotionally attached to my properties. I treat them as my children. You dont sell your children.
My advice dont rent to clubs,bars,restaurants,laundromats, or tire shops. Restaurants attract rats,laundromats lead to high water tax,tire shops will leave you hundreds of junk tires when they move
We don’t need to have any conversations. There are enough luxury stores in Lakewood we don’t need any more. If someone thinks that the Lakewood population is luxury hungry while in reality we are happy with the current normal standard and then opens up an excessively high line store that we never wanted and then closes down, that is their problem not ours. Let people understand that the Lakewood population still believes a little in moderation and simplicity. Please Matzav inbox stop making problems.
Reb Ahron, Reb Shneuer, Reb Nosson were all very much not in line with what Lakewood became.
We get calls from NY and out of town re the upscale eateries in Lakewood, what’s their location? R”L
A town of Fres.
Is that also attributable to the corrupt vaad and their backers?
Moshiach, dreads coming to Lakewood.
Santa coming to Ritas for Chanukah?
Moshiach will dread coming to Lakewood??? This is terrible sinaas chinam against the largest city of lomdei Torah in America. Lakewood may have nisynonos and “issues” but that in no way is justification for such slander and hate.
Please keep your Loshon Horah about the vaad on your blog, so i don’t need to see it. All eateries that have the KCL Hechsher are 100% kosher to eat in.
Chas vishoelaces! How can you say that?
How does slopping a yellow sticker with a so-called Heimishe hechsher onto a bag of lettuce/spinach mix from a goyishe company make it any more kosher and free from tolaim?
How do businesspeople who invest millions not do due diligence to research demographics, location, etc. ? And if they did, how can that data be so flawed?
Anyone have link to the article the writer is referring to
What is missing is the video store rentals those were good places and employed a lot of people. I wish someone would open up a video store rental like we had back in the 1980s.