What would a paint run to R & M Hardware cost if every dollar you spent there had cost you about 67 cents? On Saturday, Nov. 14, that's the deal on offer in the Pompton Lakes High School parking lot. The Pompton Lakes Business Improvement District will sell $150 in BID Bucks for a $100 check, from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. or until supplies run out.
The BID's list of businesses that accept BID Bucks covers a weekend's worth of errands. It includes a hardware store, a florist, a pet shop, a salon, a nail salon, a frame shop, liquor stores, two bagel shops and a bakery, along with the pubs and pizza places. That's why the 50 percent bonus goes further for people who live here than for anyone else.
How Saturday works
The BID Bucks page calls them "community gift certificates" that keep spending in Pompton Lakes. You can buy them at the BID's quarterly sales, and they also come as prizes, gifts and local promotions. The rules for this sale are short:
- Where: Pompton Lakes High School parking lot, entering from Lakeside Avenue
- When: Saturday, Nov. 14, 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., or while supplies last
- Price: a $100 check gets you $150 in BID Bucks
- Payment: check only, no cash, made payable to PL BID
- Limit: one purchase per customer, and the sale is open to everyone
"While supplies last" is printed twice on the BID Bucks page, and the sale ends at 1 p.m. even if certificates remain. If you plan to go, write the check before you leave the house.
This is a regular fall date on the borough calendar. The BID held earlier sales on Nov. 16, 2024, Feb. 15, 2025, and Nov. 15, 2025, each on a Saturday with the same 10:30 a.m. start. The mid-November sale lands just before Thanksgiving hosting and holiday shopping, which is when an extra $50 at local stores gets used fastest.
The errands first, because that's where the bonus adds up
Restaurant spending is easy to put off. Errands aren't. Leaky faucets, a vase of flowers for the Thanksgiving table and a bag of dog food all need buying whether or not you've had a night out. Paying with BID Bucks makes each of those purchases cost about two-thirds of the price on the receipt.
Here's what's on the BID's current list beyond restaurants and bars:
- Home and garden: R & M Hardware, Cardinal Frame, PL Florist
- Pets: Home Towne Pet Shop
- Personal care: SL Salon, Jackie's Nail Salon
- Also on the list: Heads Up II, Sneaker Arcade, Cardinal Tours
- Holiday table: PL Bakery, Goldberg's Bagels, Pompton Lakes Bagels, Juicy Deli
- Wine and spirits: J & N Liquors, Shoppers Liquors, Krauzer's Food & Liquor
Two of these fit November especially well. R & M Hardware at 284 Wanaque Ave. is a Benjamin Moore retailer that carries the full line and offers in-store pickup, so a pre-holiday paint touch-up qualifies. A few doors up at 288 Wanaque Ave., Pompton Lakes Florist has its fall arrangements out, including a Warm Fall Wishes Bouquet and a Rustic Ember Centerpiece. Either would work for the Thanksgiving table.
The BID says plainly that participating businesses can change. It asks shoppers to look for the "We Accept BID Bucks" sign or check with the business before buying anything. A quick question at the counter takes ten seconds and saves an awkward moment at the register.
Then the table: a walk up Wanaque Avenue by address
Once the errands are covered, the food and drink stops line up neatly along Wanaque Avenue. Here they are in address order, starting at the low end:
- Thatcher McGhee's, 6 Wanaque Ave. The Pompton location serves food daily from noon to midnight. Its catering menu leans on Irish pub dishes like shepherd's pie, Guinness beef stew, corned beef and chicken pot pie.
- Pompton Craft House, 23 Wanaque Ave. It pours 40 wines on tap, along with rotating craft beer and more than 100 whiskeys, and sells bottles to take home. Food comes from Frank's Italian Restaurant and Smoke Shack BBQ & Burgers.
- Cardinal Cafe, 128 Wanaque Ave. Breakfast and lunch, with pumpkin pancakes and cranberry-walnut pancakes among the specials.
- Mack's American Bar & Grill, 300 Wanaque Ave. Burgers, steaks, seafood, pasta, salads and pork chops, with cocktails, beer and wine, plus a Sunday brunch.
Monica's Restaurant is also on the list. It's a downtown Italian spot serving homemade soups, pasta, veal, chicken, steak, seafood and daily specials. It's open for lunch Tuesday through Friday and for dinner Tuesday through Sunday. Its specials have included osso buco, rib-eye, salmon, codfish and seafood pasta. For something quicker, the list also includes Frank's Pizza, Nicky G's Pizza, Tony's Pizza, Los Jacotenas, Smoke Shack and Wendy's.
Pompton Craft House has a busy calendar for the weeks after the sale. It has an elf-arrival craft night on Friday, Nov. 20, and a Thanksgiving bottle-bouquet workshop on Monday, Nov. 23, priced at $45 per person with your first drink included. Check the Craft House events page for reservation details before you go.
Two newer downtown names to ask about
Two of downtown's newest businesses aren't on the current list. KORRA Pilates & Yoga at 200 Wanaque Ave. offers reformer Pilates and yoga, and the BID recently joined the owners for a ribbon cutting. Cookies N Cream in Towne Square had its grand opening on Oct. 25, 2025, and serves fresh-baked cookies, shakes and frozen treats. Neither appears on the BID Bucks page right now. Since the BID says the list can change, it's worth asking either one at the counter.
The same parking lot, one week later, and then the whole street
The BID's November calendar comes back to the high school lot the following Saturday. On Nov. 21, from 8 to 11 a.m. or until the truck is full, there's a free Shred It event in the same lot, again entered from Lakeside Avenue. It runs rain or shine, sponsored by the boroughs of Pompton Lakes and Riverdale. If you end up with a stack of old statements while clearing the desk before the holidays, that's the place to take them.
Two weeks after that, the season moves onto Wanaque Avenue itself. Here's how the dates line up:
| Date | Event | Time | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sat., Nov. 14 | BID Bucks sale | 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. | High school lot, Lakeside Ave. entrance |
| Fri., Nov. 20 | Elf-arrival craft night | See venue | Pompton Craft House, 23 Wanaque Ave. |
| Sat., Nov. 21 | Shred It | 8 to 11 a.m. | High school lot, Lakeside Ave. entrance |
| Mon., Nov. 23 | Thanksgiving bottle-bouquet workshop | See venue | Pompton Craft House, 23 Wanaque Ave. |
| Sat., Dec. 5 | Holiday Stroll | 4:30 to 8 p.m. | Wanaque Avenue |
The Holiday Stroll is the BID's annual evening on Wanaque Avenue, with a parade, a tree lighting, Santa, vendors, food and live music. Families will also find games, inflatables, a skating rink, ice sculpting, face painting, balloon art, dancers and magic. If weather interferes, the rain or storm date is Sunday, Dec. 6. The Stroll is also built around browsing local businesses, so BID Bucks bought at the Nov. 14 sale can be spent on Stroll night, Dec. 5, at whichever participating shops and restaurants are open.
You can find more downtown businesses through the BID's directory and sign up for event updates on the BID newsletter page.
At The Only Orly Group, we pay attention to things like a downtown where the hardware store, the florist and the pub all accept the same local certificate. It's part of what living near Wanaque Avenue is actually like, and we cover it when we talk with clients about Pompton Lakes. If you're curious how being close to downtown affects your own home's value or your next move, Schedule a Free Consultation. We're glad to talk it through over coffee at Cardinal Cafe.
