The Neighborhood Brewery
King’s Road Brewing Company has been in South Jersey for almost a decade, in which time it has exemplified a community-centered approach.
The idea began in Haddonfield in 2016, with five friends brainstorming what they could do to change the economic patterns of the downtown area. Many businesses and restaurants in downtown Haddonfield would close up early on weekends and even more so on weeknights.
The main driver of this was Haddonfield’s over 140-year reputation as a dry town, with restaurants closing up shop early, feeling there was not enough traffic to stay open later into the evening, as they were losing business to restaurants in the surrounding towns that could serve alcoholic beverages alongside meals.
That’s when Bob Hochgertel and four of his friends (Pete Gagliardi, Chris Thomas, Victoria Cummins and Jeff Farrell)—who would later become his business partners—began doing research and found that there was a way to serve alcohol in the borough, which they figured would be a good way to expand the hours of the local businesses in the downtown.
“Because of the NJ laws that changed in 2012, we could in fact have a tasting room in downtown Haddonfield. It’s called a Limited Brewery License, and that license doesn’t come from the municipality, it comes from the state. That was our path forward, because Haddonfield is still dry in the sense that it does not administer liquor licenses. … Boutique licenses come directly from the state, and so we kind of discovered that was our path forward to open the first brewery in Haddonfield,” Hochgertel says.
When King’s Road Brewing Company first opened its original Haddonfield location in December 2017, some restaurants began adjusting their hours to stay open later. They also allowed brews to be brought into their establishments while the brewery allowed food from the restaurants into their tasting room, creating a symbiotic relationship between the two.
“We worked together, and as that grew, more and more restaurants came to town, and I would say Haddonfield probably has at least 50% more restaurants today than they had back in 2017,” says Hochgertel.
They didn’t do this alone, with more establishments popping up shortly after they did.
“I certainly don’t want to make it sound like King’s Road has facilitated all of this change. We haven’t. They say it takes a village, and now the town that was dry for 140 years has a brewery, a winery and a distillery. So Haddonfield now has the three different types of alcohol all functioning under the boutique licenses,” explains Hochgertel.
King’s Road quickly outgrew its original location, moving 25 feet away and into a larger space for brewing, tasting and hosting in November 2019.
“You can pretty much get any type of cuisine you want in Haddonfield, and as a result there’s just more foot traffic on the street, the retailers have adjusted their hours, they’re staying open later, and it is just a robust downtown community every night of the week,” Hochgertel says.
Spring of 2021 brought King’s Road’s second location in Medford, finding a different kind of community there, as it was joining an already established brewery scene.
“It’s a different downtown in that there actually are a couple of liquor licenses in the downtown. There are three other breweries downtown, so what’s really unique about Medford is that it is the only town in New Jersey where there are four breweries within a quarter mile,” says Hochgertel.
With such a variety in Medford, brew lovers can come to town and do a brewery crawl, which means that they will also likely eat in local restaurants and stop in the local shops, bringing more customers to Medford’s business landscape.
King’s Road further bolsters the community through its partnerships with many non-profit and charitable organizations, and introducing new traditions like hosting the New Jersey Championship of Steinholding every year at Medford’s Fall Festival.
“We are not interested in claiming we’re different from everyone else. There are a lot of great breweries doing a lot of great things in South Jersey. What I can say is that King’s Road has always been focused on creating a place where people feel welcome, where relationships are built, and where the brewery becomes part of the fabric of the community. That’s the lens through which we try to make decisions every day,” Hochgertel explains.
The company is planning to expand once again later this year, this time into Moorestown, where it will become the first legal distributor of alcohol in the downtown. Thus, Hochgertel expects the impact there to be more similar to that of Haddonfield.
Located on Main Street (Sitting on what was originally known as the King’s Road), the newest place for hops and malt will be in Moorestown’s historic Community House, specifically in the old library building. The book stacks will remain up in the new location for further effect and decor.
“At its core, King’s Road has never been solely about brewing beer,” Hochgertel says. “It’s about creating places where people feel welcome, where local traditions are celebrated, where charitable causes find support and where meaningful connections can grow. Beer may be what introduces people to King’s Road, but community is what defines it. If our breweries have become places where people gather to celebrate, support one another and create lasting memories, then we’ve accomplished exactly what we set out to do.”
King’s Road Brewing Company
Haddonfield and Medford
H: (856) 427-8100 M: (609) 451-5661
