Neighborhood Flyby

Perched on Glenridge Avenue

Glenridge Avenue may not be the first street you think of when someone says “downtown Montclair.”

Maybe that’s exactly the reason why you should take a closer look.

Spend a little time along Glenridge Avenue and you'll find a street—and a few steps just beyond it—that feels remarkably like Montclair itself: independent, diverse, stylish, a little unexpected and very difficult to put into one category.

You can browse books, shop for clothes, sit down for coffee or Pakistani chai, grab a fresh juice, book a proper hair or facial session, discover a new beauty brand, take a yoga class, find a gift you absolutely did not know you needed and finish the day over a plate of Italian food.

Welcome to the Neighborhood Flyby.

First, a little Glenridge Avenue history.

Long before today's storefronts, Glenridge Avenue had a decidedly different personality.

A 1906 map of the area shows an industrial neighborhood near the railroad, with lumber and coal yards, a grist mill and carriage factory nearby. Right on Glenridge Avenue were Borden's Condensed Milk Plant and Fairfield Dairy.

Yes, milk was apparently having its moment on Glenridge Avenue long before matcha and cold-pressed juice entered the conversation.

And at 159 Glenridge Avenue once stood the Israel Crane House, built in 1796. In 1920, the house became home to Montclair's YWCA for Black women and girls—an extraordinary chapter in the town's history that we've explored previously on PerchedIN. The house remained on Glenridge Avenue until 1965, when it was moved to Orange Road.

Glenridge Avenue knows a thing or two about reinvention.

Come hungry. Or thirsty.

At Luigino's Parmigiano, Chef Luigino “Luigi” Tripodi brings more than four decades in hospitality to a menu of Italian favorites. It's the kind of place that makes a stroll down Glenridge Avenue conveniently coincide with lunch or dinner.

If your plans lean more smoothie than parmigiano, The Juice House is just around the corner on North Willow Street, with juices, smoothies and açai bowls—and enough combinations of fruits, greens, nut butters and other good-for-you ingredients to make you feel virtuous about whatever you decide to eat later.

And then there's Chashni, another quick detour from Glenridge Avenue. The Pakistani-American café brings handcrafted chai, specialty coffee and South Asian-inspired dishes to the neighborhood.

Different cultures. Different menus. A few minutes' walk.

That's very much the point. It’s part of what makes Montclair…well, Montclair.

Books still belong in the neighborhood.

There are bookstores—and then there are bookstores you can lose an afternoon in.

Montclair Book Center, at 221 Glenridge Avenue, has been doing exactly that since 1984.

The independent bookstore carries new, used and rare books across multiple floors, with the sort of packed shelves that encourage you to forget what you came in looking for and leave with something completely different.

In an era when almost anything can arrive on your doorstep tomorrow, there's something particularly satisfying about wandering through a real bookstore with absolutely no algorithm suggesting what you should read next.

Consider that your permission to browse.

Something to wear. Something you didn't know you needed.

The Glenridge Ave neighborhood is also home to Monty, located on N. Willow St. It’s a contemporary clothing shop with a carefully edited collection of women's fashion, accessories and pieces that feel decidedly current without trying too hard. That's part of what makes shopping in this neighborhood interesting. These stores are independent businesses with very different personalities. And sometimes the best stores are the ones you wander into without needing anything at all.

DollyMoo, at 217 Glenridge Avenue, makes soaps, body butters, scrubs, oils and other bath-and-body products. Its philosophy pretty much tells you what kind of place you've walked into: Spread Love. Make Magick. Take Baths.

We love a store that takes you on a wonderous discovery through it’s displays and merchandising of unique gifts, jewelry and cards and White Rabbit Black Heart, at 219 Glenridge Avenue, is that perfect gift store. It turns your- “I'll just pop in for a minute” into a considerably longer and very enjoyable visit.

The Wooly Camel is the place to go for fair trade and handcrafted gifts for all ages. Check out their adorable felt shoes for babies - they are too cute to pass up for the littlest feet in your household.

A little grooming. A little glow.

At V. Sosa Grooming Bar, takes care of the gentlemen in Montclair, with men's cuts, shaves, beard grooming and all the details that make the difference between I got a haircut and I have a barber that knows me. Book your appointment online and simplify your haircare routine.

And across the beauty spectrum is Dawn Til Dusk Cosmetics, created by professional makeup artist and educator Dawn Maloney. The concept is built around something most of us probably haven't given nearly enough thought to: light. The cosmetics line considers how color behaves under different lighting conditions, while the studio offers makeup education, makeovers and personalized shopping.

Take a breath.

You can shop the Glenridge Avenue neighborhood. You can eat your way through it. You can also slow down.

Santokh Yoga & Wellness Center located at 18 Lackawanna Plaza brings another dimension to the neighborhood with yoga, meditation and wellness practices designed around something increasingly valuable: taking a little time for yourself.

It may be one of our favorite things about this particular Neighborhood Flyby. Within a few blocks, you can go from bookstore to boutique to barber to yoga mat.

Glenridge Ave. A street that's a little bit of everything.

Perhaps that's what we like most about Glenridge Avenue.

It doesn't have one easily packaged identity.

A barber sits near a cosmetics studio. A bookstore shares the street with boutiques and gift shops. Italian food, Pakistani chai and fresh juice are all within walking distance. You can shop, have coffee, take a yoga class, discover a small business—or apparently rent a penthouse for the price of a very respectable mortgage.

Its past is equally eclectic: industry, dairies and an important chapter in Montclair's Black history have all been part of the story of Glenridge Avenue.

Glenridge Avenue isn't trying to be one thing and that’s what makes it worth the stroll through the neighborhood.

The Neighborhood Flyby is meant to encourage you to stop on a street you usually pass. Walk into the shop whose window you've noticed but never explored. Order something somewhere new. Look up at the buildings.

Because sometimes discovering Montclair isn't about finding someplace new.

It's finally stopping at the places that have been there all along.