A Clarks Summit couple\u00a0aims to meet the demand for more healthy dining options in downtown Scranton through a new caf\u00e9.<\/p>\n
After discovering Goodness Bowls during vacations to Avalon, New Jersey, where the franchise was founded, Jeff and Erin Costanzo initiated conversations with the mother and daughter who launched the business.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had gone there every day for breakfast and got to know them,\u201d Jeff Costanzo said. \u201cWe started talking about whether or not they were thinking about expanding, and that\u2019s kind of how it happened organically.\u201d<\/p>\n
Goodness Bowls currently operates four locations in Greater Philadelphia \u2014 Ambler, Collegeville, Narberth and Villanova \u2014 along with the flagship store in New Jersey.<\/p>\n
Costanzo anticipates opening the Scranton location, 434 Lackawanna Ave., by late March.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re hoping to fill a need,\u201d he said. \u201cI feel like there is a big desire for healthy foods, and I feel like options are really limited, especially in the downtown area. We\u2019re hoping to provide more natural, healthy, lighter eating options.\u201d<\/p>\n
Costanzo noted the close proximity to the University of Scranton and Lackawanna County Courthouse made the spot attractive.<\/p>\n
Additionally, the Costanzos, who grew up in the area, cherish playing a role in Scranton\u2019s resurgence.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s nice to see signs of life in the downtown area, and if we can contribute to that, that means a lot,\u201d Jeff Costanzo said.<\/p>\n
Goodness Bowls specializes in a variety of smoothies \u2014 including Strawnana (strawberries, bananas and almond milk), Zeppelin (bananas, pineapples, Blue Majik spirulina and coconut milk) and Blue Hawaii (blueberries, bananas, almond butter, chocolate whey protein and almond milk) \u2014 along with a\u00e7ai, pitaya, banana, green, coconut and specialty bowls; salads and wraps; and specialty coffees.<\/p>\n
Jeff Costanzo teased the possibility of opening additional locations in the area \u2014 potentially Dickson City, Clarks Summit or Honesdale \u2014 depending on the response to the Scranton store.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf things go well for us, we would definitely be interested in opening more locations in the region,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Scranton City Council President Tom Schuster believes Goodness Bowls will provide another economic boost to the city and add to the revitalization along Lackawanna Avenue.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s great to see businesses coming in and investing in our city,\u201d Schuster said. \u201cI think the more businesses that are coming into the city, it attracts more people, and just the sheer fact of attracting more people is bringing more opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Clarks Summit couple\u00a0aims to meet the demand for more healthy dining options in downtown Scranton through a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":121009,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[60,201,182,28,178,180,179,181],"class_list":{"0":"post-121008","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-scranton","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-lackawanna-county","10":"tag-local-news","11":"tag-pennsylvania","12":"tag-scranton","13":"tag-scranton-headlines","14":"tag-scranton-news","15":"tag-top-stories-stt"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121008","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121008"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121008\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/121009"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121008"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121008"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121008"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}