Another weekend snow chance and more cold are in the forecasts. But the big difference between last week and this one in the Philadelphia region is a matter of degrees — about 10 of them.
A coastal “bomb cyclone” could form during the weekend with significant impacts, at least at the Shore. Computers were still sorting out what effects, if any, it would have in Philly. On Thursday, however, they favored snow staying to the south and east, with only a 40% chance they got to I-95.
In the meantime the cold will be epical by Philly standards.
If the forecast holds, in addition to coming close to ending a 32-year zero-less streak, Philadelphia would have daily minimums of 5 degrees Fahrenheit or lower on the next two mornings.
And it appears the city will have its first nine-day stretch in which the temperature failed to reach 30 degrees since 1979, based on analysis of temperature data from the Pennsylvania state climatologist.
In issuing a cold weather advisory for wind chills as low as 10 below zero, the National Weather Service in Mount Holly noted that “it is exceedingly rare to get this combination of length and magnitude of an arctic airmass for this area.”
Heading into the weekend, that subtly laminated lunar landscape with the one-horse-open-sleigh look in the fields and parks is almost certain to persist while bedeviling road-clearing efforts.
Some snow is possible late Saturday or Sunday — and this is becoming a habit — in time for the rising of the full “Snow Moon,” which may be a problem for the Jersey Shore. The full moon will likely contribute to tidal flooding.
Snow removal contractor Jordan Harlow clears the sidewalk in front of an apartment building on Main Street in Doylestown Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026, following Sunday’s snowstorm. He said the layer of ice made it twice as difficult to use the snow blower.
The snow outlook for the weekend
On Wednesday only two things were certain about the latest threat: A major coastal storm is going to blow up during the weekend, and it’s not going to rain.
“Everything looks like it’s going to come together,” said Paul Pastelok, the long-range forecaster for AccuWeather Inc.
AccuWeather said it may intensify enough to qualify as a “bomb cyclone.”
An early consensus among computer models was that the storm would stay too far offshore to generate a major snowfall in the immediate Philly area. Pastelok said it was looking for Philly to get “sideswiped” with a 1- to 3-inch event. However, that was very much subject to change.
The weather service would not be making a first guess at potential accumulations until Thursday afternoon, said Alex Staarmann, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Mount Holly. In its forecast discussion Wednesday, it said that based on a consensus of the models, the Shore had a 35% to 50% chance of 6 inches of snow or more, with a 20% chance along I-95.
More certain was the potential coastal flooding threat at the Shore with potent onshore winds coinciding with Sunday’s full moon.
And while it may seem the atmosphere enjoys ruining weekends, it’s not uncommon for weather systems to fall into 3½- and seven-day cycles. That has to do with the spacing between weather systems, meteorologists say.
Regardless of what happens during the weekend, the region is going to begin the workweek with snow on the ground.
The snow is going to have more staying power than the average computer-model snow forecast.
It’s not going to get a whole lot warmer anytime soon
Even though it’s ice cold, as if developing a slow leak, the depth of the snow pack is actually decreasing, but ever so ponderously.
That 9.3 inches of snow and sleet that accumulated Sunday was down to 6 inches at Philadelphia International Airport on Wednesday morning, Staarmann said.
Compaction and sublimation, which is similar to evaporation, are lowering the depth, despite the cold. But Wednesday’s depth report was the same as Tuesday’s.
And after what does or doesn’t happen Sunday, temperatures are forecast to remain below freezing at least until Feb. 4.
No significant warm-up is in sight, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center has odds strongly favoring below-normal temperatures until Feb. 11.
The upper-air pattern continues to favor cold pouring into the Northeast.
And more cold air is possible later in the month with a visit from the polar vortex, Pastelok said.
Average temperatures in Philly finished 3.6 degrees below normal in December, and despite a 10-day warm spell earlier in the month, January is projected to finish at least 2 degrees below long-term averages.
Helen Cherry, 101, formerly of Philadelphia, prolific illustrator, artist, and show tunes devotee, died Thursday, Jan. 15, of age-associated decline at her home in the Woodland Pond retirement community in New Paltz, N.Y.
“It was her decision entirely,” said her daughter, Lynne. “She knew her own mind and made the decision that it was time for her to take flight to the Great Beyond.”
A lifelong artist, Mrs. Cherry grew up drawing and painting in West Philadelphia. She earned a scholarship to the old Philadelphia College of Art, sold illustrations to the Jack and Jill children’s magazine, and took a 20-year hiatus in the 1950s and ’60s to rear her three children.
She resumed her career at 50 in 1974 and went on to illustrate 30 books and dozens of magazine stories for Highlights, Cricket, and other publications. Using a combination of her maiden name, Cogan, and her married name, Cherry, she was published under thepseudonym of Helen Cogancherry.
Mrs. Cherry at work illustrating 1991’s “Fourth of July Bear.”
“She was always an artist,” said her daughter, also an illustrator and writer. “Art was her hobby, her passion, her work. She said it was something that she can’t not do.”
Mrs. Cherry was a keen and imaginative observer of life, adept at creating visuals that reflected the concepts of the writers with whom she worked. She illustrated many children’s books, such as All I Am, Warm as Wool, and The Floating House.
She told The Inquirer in 1986 that a book she illustrated helped a girl she knew address a difficult childhood situation. “That made a profound impression on me,” she said. “I saw how my little books could help children.”
Her career was featured in several publications, and she told The Inquirer that breaking back into the business in the 1970s was “discouraging at first.” She said: “I remember coming home sometimes and telling my husband that it was hopeless. He kept encouraging me to keep at it.”
Mrs. Cherry (left) and her daughter, Lynne, work on a project.
Helen Cogan was born July 9, 1924, in a West Philadelphia rowhouse beneath the elevated railroad tracks. The middle of three children, she looked up to her sister, Molly, and cared for her younger brother, Robert, while her parents ran the small grocery store they lived above.
She contributed illustrations to the yearbook and graduated from West Philadelphia High School. She met Herbert Cherry in French class and sent him beautifully illustrated letters while he served overseas during World War II.
They married in 1950 and had a daughter, Lynne, and sons Steven and Michael. She helped her husband operate Cherry’s Pharmacy in Ridley Park for years, and they lived in Milmont Park and Wallingford in Delaware County, and Carlisle, Pa. She moved to New Paltz after her husband died in 2000.
Mrs. Cherry often sang show tunes with family and friends, and while she worked. She whipped up memorable meals, especially on holidays, and enjoyed idyllic summers on family vacations at the Jersey Shore in Ventnor.
Mrs. Cherry grew up in West Philadelphia.
She tutored her children and their friends, and later her grandchildren, in drawing and painting. She showed everybody, her daughter said, “how to be a good human being in this world.”
On Facebook, friends called her “warm,” “beautiful,” and “a talented giver.” One said: “The joy she radiated her whole life long was magical.”
Her daughter said: “She was quiet and understated but strong.”
Her favorite song was “Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries.” It opens with: “Life is just a bowl of cherries. Don’t take it serious. Life’s so mysterious.”
Mrs. Cherry enjoyed time with her children.
In addition to her children, Mrs. Cherry is survived by five grandchildren, a great-granddaughter, her brother, and other relatives. Her sister died earlier.
A memorial service was held Sunday, Jan. 18. A celebration of her life is to be held later.
The Shore this time of year is truly a lovely, if sometimes desolate, place. But the desolation is the point: Emptied of its chaotic summer bustle, the simple natural beauties take center stage.
But yet. There are still plenty of humans here, and they are doing things, some good, some dubious, and so we will take note. Here is our first-ever winter solstice Shore Town Report Card.
As to the grading system, let’s just say, it was tough to give any town less than a B- when that winter light turns the sunset sky over the ocean a thousand shades of pink, and snow turns a magical place even more magical. Even Atlantic City, in spite of its burgeoning mayoral and other problems, is worth an off-season visit.
Atlantic City
The paradoxical Shore town has had a doozy of a year, with its newly reelected Mayor Marty Small Sr. on trial for allegedly physically abusing his daughter, charges he denied during the trial, and for which a jury on Thursday acquitted him. Meanwhile, three casinos were green-lit in New York City, New Jersey is contemplating how to tighten its control over Atlantic City, Peanut World caught fire, and ICE was making car stops in city neighborhoods.
The city’s holiday parade featured the red-clad Mayor Marty Small on a special Mayor’s Office float, with his wife, schools Superintendent La’Quetta Small, festively clad in a fluffy red coat, beside him. She is also charged with child abuse.
When will Atlantic City, arguably the last affordable Shore destination along the entire Northeast coast, finally break out of its slump? I explain in this story.A+ for holiday traditions like the elaborately decorated and festive iconic spots, from the Irish Pub to the Knife & Fork Inn; for its new skate and dog parks; and its casino giveaways. But, behind the salt air tinsel, A.C. isjuggling some C+ drama.
Ventnor
You’re never more aware that your town tilts toward summer than when it rebuilds its boardwalk during the winter. A big chunk of the boardwalk (from Surrey to Cambridge) has been closed since November for a complete reconstruction and will remain closed until at least May. A similar chunk up to the A.C. border will be rebuilt after next summer. Hence the odd sight of lots of people on Atlantic Avenue detoured from the beloved wooden pathway. In better news, some of Ventnor’s favorite places have stayed open into the dead of winter. On a recent weekend, I trudged in the snow over to my friends at Remedee Coffee for a specialty hot cocoa (delish) and was surprised to find the place … full of people. Everyone in town had had the same idea, apparently, and with no boardwalk, it’s not even out of the way. B
Margate’s business administrator launched a personal investigation of the city’s CFO and was making public accusations against one of its commissioners. A former mayor wants him fired. What even is going on over there? C+
Ocean City
The identity crisis continues. The town did a complete turnaround earlier this month with respect to the former Wonderland Pier site, voting to ask the planning board whether the site is in need of rehabilitation as requested by developer Eustace Mita, who wants to build a luxury hotel. Meanwhile, its mayor declared bankruptcy and got sued by his stepmother. The iconic McDonald’s in town abruptly closed. Still, Playland’s Castaway Cove is offering its half-price ticket sale now through New Year’s Day. B-
Sea Isle City
The city canceled its holiday parade, which made people a wee bit annoyed. But dollars are being spent, most recently on a new community center and with the adoption of a five-year, $50-million capital budget targeting flood control, road work, beach projects, emergency vehicles, and sewer upgrades. . B+
A winter Sea Isle City with just a dusting of snow. Dec. 16, 2025.
Avalon
The sleepy offseason town, which came in for some summer criticism for its off-the-charts exclusivity,gets an A+ from me for its sensible and family-friendly 5:30 p.m. New Year’s Eve fireworks plan.
Stone Harbor
The city adopted a 3% occupancy tax on hotels, motels, and short-term rentals. Mayor Tim Carney said in an e-mailed statement: “This local tourism tax will generate revenue for the Borough while helping us avoid any increase to homeowner property taxes in 2026.”
However, on behalf of short-term visitors from Philly, though, and amid criticism over the quality of the Garden Club’s urn-based Christmas decorations, I’ll have to score the town a B-.
The Wildwoods
Wildwood and Wildwood Crest cut loose North Wildwood on their beach replenishment sharing agreement. Meanwhile, North Wildwood signed a 10-year agreement to police West Wildwood. Wildwood proper recently approved 24 new homes for its gateway area.
It’s one island divided into the have-sands and the have-not sands. This winter could exacerbate both ends of the spectrum. B-
Long Beach Island
The city was battling mail delivery issues, but otherwise, the peace and quiet and lack of crowds seemed to be settling well over locals, who boasted of martini towers at the Hotel LBI and $10 lunch specials at Joy & Salt Cafe (also available, $45 short ribs). Whoever it is that lives there this time of year must know something. A-
ATLANTIC CITY — The journey through Atlantic City is bumpy these days, and not only because Atlantic Avenue is desperately in need of paving.
Ducktown Tavern owner John “Johnny X” Exadaktilos has one wish for Atlantic City that has nothing to do with the gut-jarring avenue that runs in front of his bar.
“Just normal,” says Exadaktilos. “I just want things to be normal.”
Atlantic City, a place of historic mayoral misdeeds, multimillionaire overreach, and chronic unwanted attention, has managed in this waning year, even as its workers string up holiday decorations, to come up with a new plot twist: Its newly reelected Democratic Mayor Marty Small Sr. is on trial for alleged physical abuse of his teenage daughter.
The trial has left Small untethered from his cell phone as new casinos have been green lit in New York City, and the state moves to tighten its authority over the town. Another trial, of Small’s wife, La’Quetta Small, who is the superintendent of schools, is set for Jan. 12.
With Small reporting to an Atlantic County courthouse each day to face his daughter, who spent seven hours testifying against him on Tuesday, a bit of a hush has fallen on the city as it awaits the outcome, which could come this week.
The sentiment in City Hall, where many employees owe their jobs to Small, leaned toward the assumption that Small would beat this charge like he’s beaten two previous indictments on voter fraud charges.
But will the city emerge unscathed?
“Every day, people who live in Atlantic City want to know what those of us are elected are doing to make their lives better and respond to their issues and concerns,” said council member Kaleem Shabazz, who was going from a planning board meeting to a mayor-less City Hall last week. “Whatever will happen will happen. The city still has to function. People have to be responsible.”
On Dec. 1, as Small readied for jury selection in Mays Landing, New York City approved three casinos, two for Queens and one for the Bronx, a development long feared in Atlantic City.
On Dec. 5, with the jury picked, the iconic Peanut World on the Boardwalk erupted in flames. On Dec. 9, with the mayor listening to his daughter, legislators in Trentonwere proposing more state oversight of A.C. including a surprise provision that would give the state the power to pick developers for major projects.
The biggest threat may come from the New York casinos, which some in the industry estimate could threaten as much as 30% of A.C.’s business and lead to the shuttering of one casino, if not more.
Small could face jail time and be forced to step down as mayor under New Jersey law, if convicted. He and his wife, who has been attending her husband’s trial, taking notes in the back, have resisted calls to relinquish their powerful roles as mayor and superintendent.
“It’s not ideal obviously,” said Shabazz. “If you had to pick a multiple choice question what would you want to be happening in your public schools, that wouldn’t be something you would pick, if you’re a parent or a taxpayer.”
Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small and his wife, Superintendent of Schools La’Quetta Small, chat before the start of arraignment on Oct. 10, 2024. Mayor Small stood trial last week in Mays Landing. Cameras were barred from the courtroom during the trial.
‘A wake-up call’
Early one morning last week, having just come from a planning board meeting, Shabazz said the city was going about its business. “I’m not at the trial, I’m on my way to City Hall,” he said. “The work of government has to go on.”
Shabazz, who’s been focused for years, even decades, on some of the same intractable problems of the resort, remains optimistic. It’s a city where it can be hard to read the scorecard: progress seems to be there, but not there, at the same time.
The city’s only full-size supermarket, the beleaguered Save A Lot is under new management, and the adjacent nuisance liquor store is expected to close. High-profile developers like Jared Kushner and K. Hovnanian appear to be going forward with residential projects in the city’s Inlet section. There are new restaurants, like the Byrdcage in Chelsea and Simpson’s, relocating next month to Atlantic Avenue.
Shabazz is hoping the state will return zoning authority back to the city after years of the Casino Reinvestment Control Authority overseeing planning and zoning in the city’s tourism district.
Kaleem Shabazz, president of the local chapter of the NAACP in Atlantic City, and Maryam Sarhan, a community organizer, stand in front of mural honoring civil rights leaders. “The city still has to function,” he said, while its mayor is on trial for alleged child abuse. “People have to be responsible.”
But last week, as the mayor listened to his daughter testifying that he struck her in the head with a broom, after she threw detergent at him and refused to go to a community march, the state went in the opposite direction: a bill to renew the state’s takeover of Atlantic City for another six years that would allow the state to pick a “master developer” to oversee big projects, the Press of Atlantic City reported.
“We have to be competitive,” Shabazz said. “We have to let people know that we’re open for business and we’re safe and secure. Crime is down significantly.”
Like others interviewed, he believes Atlantic City can sell itself as a safe and affordable seaside destination. “We still have a free beach,” he said. “We have to let people know what we have.”
Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small arriving for his arraignment before Judge Bernard DeLury at the Atlantic County Criminal Courthouse in Mays Landing on Oct. 10, 2024. Small testified in his own defense Friday during his trial. Cameras were barred from the courtroom.
Small has defended himself by describing this latest situation as a private family problem, not related to his job performance. He has called the prosecution politically motivated and an overreaction. A jury will now weigh in.
John Boyd Jr., a principal in the Boyd Co., which advises companies on where to locate, said many developers (and homeowners) continue to balk at Atlantic City, despite the upward pressure on Jersey Shore real estate that has left the city as arguably the last affordable seashore town in the entire Northeast.
He called the three New York City casino licenses “a wake-up call” for New Jersey, and advocates a plan where the state allows casinos at the Meadowlands and/or Monmouth Park but shares the revenue with Atlantic City.
“If you ask national developers their opinion of Atlantic City, it wouldn’t be a very positive one for a myriad of reasons,” he said.
“Good governance is fundamental to economic development success. Companies want to minimize risk. It’s more than the mayor being on trial. It’s the uncertainty.”
Meanwhile at the slots
Inside Hard Rock casino during a blustery stretch last week, people were three deep at the holiday-branded Mistletoe Bar in the lobby, and nine guitars had become a menorah in the atrium.
Gamblers were locked in as names were called for a random spin-the-wheel drawing every half hour. A convention of real estate agents brought lines to the check-in desk. The trial was off in the distance, invisible to most.
“I do love coming to Atlantic City,” said Adam Druck, 33, a Realtor from York, Pa. “I hope the trial doesn’t make too much difference to what’s going on here.”
Asked about New York casinos, Joe Pendle, 71, a retired police officer from North Jersey, said he was comfortable with his routines at Hard Rock, where free rooms and meals anchored his pleasant stays. (Hard Rock itself has one of the three licenses in New York City, an $8.1 billion project near Citi Field in Queens, which it projects will result in $1 billion a year in tax revenue.)
“I have a three-room suite upstairs,” noted Pendle. “I like the beach.”
Arthur Austin, 70, of Old Bridge, said he had worked for decades on Wall Street and had no desire to travel to New York for a casino weekend.
“I worked in the city for 20 years,” he said. “I only go into the city if I have to.”
Adam Druck, 33, of York, Pa., and Eric Moeller, 36, of Reading, inside Hard Rock casino on Dec. 9, where they were staying as part of Triple Play Realtor Convention and Trade Expo in Atlantic City.
Out-of-towners like Austin hadn’t heard about Small’s trial, but the local gamblers at Hard Rock sure had.
“Atlantic City is a crooked place, and it’s always gonna be crooked because of what everybody’s into,” said a 57-year-old woman who lives locally and was playing the slots. She did not want her name used so that she could speak her mind in a small town.
“People want their guy to stay in there,” said the woman. “He gives everybody a job. You could flourish, but only if you are with the right people.”
“I don’t think that it hurts Atlantic City,” said Seng Bethia, 40, of Atlantic City, who was at the slots. “His daughter is such a sweet girl. It was bad, just the whole thing.”
‘Are you kidding me right now?’
Exadaktilos, the Ducktown Tavern owner who is Small’s loudest detractor, said he had taken things down a notch of late, putting aside his popular weekly Facebook live rants that he said had started consuming him.
Still, last week, as the prosecution wound up its case, the city sent out a contractor to do some temporary filling in of cracks on Atlantic Avenue in advance of the city’s holiday parade, and Exadaktilos found himself back on Facebook live.
“Are you kidding me right now?” he said over footage of the roadway. “What happened to Atlantic Avenue is going to be paved? Horrible.”
Boyd, the location consultant, points to bright spots. The national developers are a vote of confidence, as is the Septemberopening of the SeaHaus boutique hotel on the Boardwalk, a Marriott property. Showboat and the Sheraton near the Convention Center are converting rooms to residences.
Boyd sees potential for Atlantic City to follow the likes of Coney Island, which has seen a renaissance, to attract film business, to market itself as a live-work-play destination.
Outgoing council member George Tibbitt looks at the Kushner plan, a 180-unit apartment complex, as another missed opportunity. “No vision there,” he said. “That’s desperate development.”
“New York City definitely makes me afraid,” said Tibbitt. “There’s only so many gambling dollars to go around. Adding more casinos is going to be devastating. We have to clean the city up. We have to get the neighborhoods filled back up.”
One industry the city bet heavily on was cannabis: Its midtown quickly filled with 16 dispensaries. But after complaints from the cannabis entrepreneurs themselves, city council capped the number at 16, leaving many that have been approved but have yet to open (including one that necessitated the demolishing of a historic church) in limbo.
Atlantic City is a place where things can seem to be finally coming together, while simultaneously unraveling. Big plans vaporize, like the highly touted gym and nightclub outside Showboat, where last summer, the owner set up couches, DJ booths, and exercise machines, got stalled by permitting issues, and quietly dismantled them.
Miguel Lugo, general manager at AC Leef, which held out for a strategic spot on Albany Avenue, said his cannabis business has been good. He looks forward to the dispensary running financial literacy classes for the community, and getting its cultivation license.
“On this side of the town, everything’s been phenomenal,” Lugo said. “I’m super focused on AC Leef. I don’t know what’s going on with the mayor.”
But bills proposed in the House by U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R., Tenn.) and in the Senate by U.S. Sen. John Kennedy (R., La.) appear to still fall woefully short of what is needed, a coastal advocacy group says. U.S. House Rep. Jeff Van Drew, however, believes there will be adequate funding.
Dan Ginolfi, executive director of the American Coastal Coalition, an advocacy group for coastal communities and beaches, said the current best case would be the Senate bill, which proposes to spend $62.2 million. The House bill proposes $23 million.
However, both proposals fall short of the approximately $200 million needed to fund approved projects in various states that received no money last year, he said.
Any approvedmoney would go to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which would choose which beach erosion projects to manage.
In New Jersey, projects set for Cape May, Stone Harbor, Avalon, Sea Isle, Strathmere, Ocean City, and Long Beach Island have been stalled because of the lack of funding. So, too, have projects in Maryland, Delaware, Georgia, and Florida.
That means “the level of risk in New Jersey right now is unacceptable,” Ginolfi said.
He noted that it’s not only beaches at risk, but homes, businesses, public property, and infrastructure.
“It really is imperative that the federal and state government work together to achieve a solution,” he said.
Ginolfi noted that coastal communities in the U.S. generate $36 billion in federal and state tax revenue. So he sees $200 million as a good return on investment.
He said his numbers for potential beach replenishment projects in the bills were confirmed with appropriations committees in both the House and Senate.
However, the office of Van Drew, a Republican who represents many New Jersey beach communities, said the coalition’s numbers “misrepresent the true amount of funding available.”
Paxton Antonucci, a spokesperson for Van Drew, said there is actually $166 million available in the House bill “for costs associated with shore protection like beach replenishment, which is the typical amount.”
He said that number will come close to $200 million “after we compromise with the Senate.”
In reality, Van Drew said, most beach replenishment funding comes from outside the regular budget process. He has actively sought such money.
In October, Van Drew wrote to the Army Corps, requesting that it “activate disaster recovery authorities … to repair shore protection projects at the Jersey Shore, in response to damages caused by Hurricane Erin and by the recent nor’easter over the weekend of Oct. 10-12.”
And he wrote to Gov. Phil Murphy and Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill this week urging that New Jersey declare a state of emergency to secure federal money “for the severe coastal erosion and storm damage affecting the Jersey Shore.”
Van Drew said the Shore has been battered since July by “intense wind, wave, and water impacts from storm events including Hurricane Erin, Hurricane Imelda, offshore Hurricane Humberto, and a succession of destructive nor’easters.”
He said the result has been “significant dune loss, beach profile collapse, and damage to public infrastructure in multiple municipalities.”
The American Coastal Coalition has faulted Murphy’s office for failing to request disaster repair projects from the Army Corps in the wake of the storms.
However, Murphy’s office said the storms this year did not meet financial thresholds needed to qualify for major federal disaster declarations.
In addition, the office said that, even if they did, replenishment projects at Army Corps-engineered beaches are not routinely eligible for Federal Emergency Management Agency reimbursement.
Rather, the office blamed Congress for putting forth a budget that cut beach replenishment projects, and said that blue states are a target of the Trump administration.
On a gray November morning last Saturday, in a converted Cherry Hill Dunkin’ Donuts, bridal magic was in the air.
At around 9:30 a.m., members of the staff at Dress 2 Impress, a new bridal boutique on Route 38, were furiously preparing for the arrival of one of bridal fashion’s biggest celebrities: designer and Say Yes to the Dress star Randy Fenoli.
Floors were swept, lipstick was applied, and dainty chocolate pastries were laid out on a towering display.
Fenoli, 61, is a marquee name in the bridal world. He served as the fashion director for New York City’s Kleinfeld Bridal from 2007 to 2012 and starred in the TLC reality show Say Yes to the Dress, set at Kleinfeld, and later his own, shorter-lived show, Randy to the Rescue.
Fenoli is currently on a cross-country tour promoting his Keepsake Kollection, a new line of bridal gowns set to hit stores in early 2026. Dress 2 Impress, an authorized dealer of Fenoli’s dresses, was part of a select group of stores debuting the line early, an honor that came with a guest appearance from Fenoli himself.
He’s “a real celebrity,” especially in South Jersey, said Beni Deliivanova, managing partner of Dress 2 Impress.
Randy Fenoli is looking for dresses for a bride to try on at the new Dress 2 Impress location.
Saturday marked the grand opening of Dress 2 Impress’ second store. Their first boutique, located in Linwood, has been open for 13 years.
It’s a bit of “an American dream story,” said Ivaylo Deliivanov, Beni Deliivanova‘s husband, who managed the front desk and topped off mimosas as Fenoli and the bridal staff tended to customers on Saturday morning.
Deliivanov‘s mother, Violeta Deliivanova, ran a dressmaking factory back in Bulgaria. When she immigrated to the U.S. around two decades ago, she got into the alteration and dry cleaning business. She opened Dress 2 Impress in Linwood in 2013. In 2022, Beni, Violeta’s daughter-in-law, left the corporate world to become a Dress 2 Impress managing partner.
Though Dress 2 Impress’ Linwood location has long been a destination for Jersey Shore brides, Deliivanov said they were losing out to boutiques in Cherry Hill, where there are more bridal shops, and a giant mall, to meet brides’ needs. The grand opening of their second location marks an entrance into Cherry Hill’s formidable retail economy.
The boutique is curated with keepsakes and designed for photo-ops. Sequin-covered purses and statement earrings sit in triptych glass cases. White champagne flutes and feathered fans embroidered with “BRIDE” rest next to a large bell that’s rung when a bride meets her perfect dress. A walk-in closet opens into changing rooms and a sitting area where brides perform mini fashion shows for adoring groups of female family members and bridesmaids.
Maria Leonetti, of San Carlos, Calif., is trying on dresses with the help from Randy Fenoli.
Before the marathon of brides arrived, Fenoli and Dress 2 Impress’ staff huddled in a back room, as the celebrity stylist imparted his time-tested wisdom onto the group. How do you match a bride to the right silhouette for her body type? How do you manage an overbearing family member with too many opinions?
Chewy, Fenoli’s Shih Tzu, meandered around the boutique, at times chasing a stuffed macaroni noodle (Chewy has been on at least 80 flights with Fenoli this year).
The morning’s first bride was Olivia Hafner, a 23-year-old Cherry Hill teacher engaged to her middle school sweetheart. The couple has been together for 10 years. Maria Hafner, Olivia’s mom, called it “a fairytale.”
Both Hafner women are Say Yes to the Dress fans. They booked an appointment at Dress 2 Impress after seeing an ad online.
“I’m open to trying different things, but I want a ball gown,” Olivia Hafner said, waiting in the foyer for Fenoli and Susanna Kavee, her enthusiastic bridal stylist.
Over the next hour, Hafner emerged from the dressing room in dress after dress, first in a strapless gown with a structured corset top, then another with sequins, one with lace, and another with elegant detachable sleeves.
Olivia Hafner, 23, of Cherry Hill, N.J., is trying on some dresses with the help from bridal stylist Susanna Kavee.
The curated selection and hands-on assistance makes for a “boutique” experience, Fenoli said, one that sets the store apart from a trip to Macy’s or the mall.
What do brides want these days? Fenoli says “everything”: glitter, ball gowns, princess-style skirts, traditional silhouettes. “Clean and simple” is having a moment, Fenoli added (perhaps linked to the omnipresence of the laid-back-but-still-stylish “clean girl aesthetic,” which has dominated TikTok in recent months, with ample criticism).
Fenoli said the world of bridal fashion has changed “completely” from his mid-2000s Say Yes to the Dress days.
Brides show up to appointments with screenshots from Instagram and TikTok videos, asking to try on dresses from unknown designers, located oceans away. Others come with AI-generated images that are impossible to match. More and more, original designs are being ripped off and sold for cheap on the internet.
“I think technology and the internet has really hurt us,” he said.
He quickly added: “Don’t ever, ever, ever, ever order a wedding dress online.”
Dress 2 Impress’ Cherry Hill boutique is open from 10:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., Mondays through Fridays; 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays; and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sundays.
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