What’s New Downtown? Meet Terrance Hart of Smoke House 67

Opportunity. The driving force behind the new faces of retail in Downtown Hackensack. Even in the midst of a global pandemic, the chance to own your own business was an offer too good to pass up. For Terrance Hart, it was about taking that leap of faith and opening the doors to Smoke House 67 on August 18, 2020. At the time, all retailers were dealing with never-before-seen challenges—the reason Terrance turned to The SACK Business Alliance for help.

“For me, just getting my name out there was vital to help keep my business afloat,” Terrance recalled. “The SACK Business Alliance helped in lots of different ways, including tagging my business to all of their social platforms.”

With the majority of his customers coming from Bergen County and New York, social has been key to building his customer base. Terrance, who is a Bronx native, wasn’t very familiar with Hackensack. However, for his business model, Main Street was the perfect place to set up shop. It was the charm of the city that won Terrance over, and he even made his home right on Main Street, too.

In recent months, Terrance was excited that the Alliance’s initiatives were bringing new faces to the city and the You Up for Downtown? campaign wasn’t just building awareness but renewing a sense of pride. He also thinks transforming Main Street into a two-way street will be a big step to luring more foot traffic back to Downtown.

As far as future plans go, Terrance is looking to build on his unique style of customer engagement by hosting pizza parties, get-togethers, and other ideas to better connect with the community. For Terrance and other business owners, they see a melding of cultures in the neighborhood, which is helping to transform Downtown Hackensack into a haven for all.