r/hackensack

OK here we go. This has been a thorn in my side for quite some time. And I have lived here in Hackensack for decades.

I really like shopping in this neighborhood. I like that we have a walkable Main Street. I can hit Aldi, Lidl, get some great food, and get the occasional pedicure. But there are some businesses that are missing, and it drives me crazy.

All of Main Street is beauty salons, nail salons, barbershops, and food. Also add in a couple of smoke shops and dollar stores. That’s the entirety of Main Street.

There isn’t one single chain pharmacy anymore in the neighborhood. Rite Aid, which became Walgreens, is now gone. CVS has been gone for years. I remember being able to walk into a drugstore and just casually browse, grab a nail polish or a blush, pick up a prescription maybe. There’s no more of that.

We need at least one chain pharmacy in the neighborhood. The only CVS now is the one inside Target, and since I don’t shop there anymore, I don’t even want to go in the store. There are a few tiny pharmacies popping up that I’ve noticed. There are about three or four and they’re really small. One of them I walked into and asked if they had a portal online to login so you know you can see your prescriptions and stuff. They said not at this time. And he didn’t say it like it’s coming or they’re working on it. I can’t get with that.

We are definitely missing a butcher and a fish market. I remember growing up my mom would send me to the fish market and you would actually pick out the fish and they would cut off the heads and clean them up and fillet them for you. The only two places to get fresh 😒 fish in the general area is at the Hackensack Market, which never looks fresh, and at the Giant Farmers Market. I don’t like their fish either. I want an entirely dedicated fish market where I can go in and pick out my fish and someone goes right over to a little shelf and cleans them in front of me and everything is good and clean and wonderful.

And I feel the same about a butcher. I don’t want to be obligated to the meat that’s prepackaged at the supermarkets. I want to walk up to my butcher and tell him what I want and how thick I want the chops cut. It’s just a shame.

I would also like to see a real beauty supply place like a Sally’s. I know that there’s the one down by Home Depot, but a small one here in the neighborhood for we pedestrians would be wonderful. If I even want a decent nail file, I either have to Uber to the one down there or order on Amazon. These dollar stores just don’t do it.

Anyway, that’s my rant. What’s yours?

#What would you like to see in the neighborhood?

ALSO, do you get the Hackensack newsletter and have you ever attended any of the Townhall discussions with Mayor Gaines? I make sure I attend occasionally, and when it’s a topic I’m especially interested in and want to add my voice. They’re recorded so you can go on YouTube and see all of them. Worth subscribing.