Downtown Denville is two streets, Broadway and East Main, and almost none of it is a chain. New Jersey Monthly once asked whether Denville is the dessert capital of New Jersey, which tells you what kind of downtown this is. You can park once and spend an afternoon on foot.
Here is what is actually down there, where to park, and what happens on the street through the year.
The shops
Sweet Expressions By Geri, 26 Broadway. Candy, chocolate bonbons, cupcakes, popcorn, baking supplies and pet treats, inside the Art Deco building that used to be the Denville Theater. Geri Lombardi was a clinical psychologist before she opened it in 2006. There is a mezzanine kitchen upstairs for hands-on classes.
The Urban Muse, 82 Broadway. A gift shop with locally crafted jewelry and curated goods, run by Kristin and Tracy Pamperin.
Faith & Begorra, 40 Broadway. The Irish store, and the answer to a question people ask a lot around March.
Shoe & Sneaker Barn, 11 Broadway. An independent shoe store that is an authorized dealer for On Running and SAS, which is not a combination you find at a mall.
Tony’s Jewelers, 34 Broadway, and Guida Jewelers, 124 East Main Street, Suite 105, cover jewelry and bridal at opposite ends of the walk.
Broadway Floral & Gift Gallery, 14 Broadway, handles flowers and gifts.
Book Barn, 18 Pocono Road. Technically a short hop off the main strip, and worth it. Used books, CDs and DVDs, run as a nonprofit under Thrift Barns of Morris County.
Also downtown and worth a look: Dash of Thyme for gourmet goods, Denville Hardware, Enchanted Storybooks, Times Tin Cup for vintage, Middlemist Lane, the Wish boutique, Bilori Jewelers, Rita Rosa Bridal Boutique, The Cuban Conexion Cigar Shop, Revelation Gallery, Furniture Revival Studio, Denville Shoe Repair, Mutts on Broadway for the dog, and Second Half on Main.
The dessert run
This is the part of downtown Denville that gets written up outside Morris County, and it is genuinely dense. Five stops inside a few blocks:
Denville Dairy, 34A Broadway. Founded more than 50 years ago by Jack and Lois Fine and now run by their children Patrick, Richard and Karen. The flavor library runs past 300, with sorbet, ice cream cakes and sugar-free and vegan options.
Chocolatine, 23 East Main Street. A French patisserie from Cedric Hosy, a Lyon native, and Elaine Castro. Ten kinds of croissant, dozens of macarons, tarts and baguettes.
Beignets, 45 Broadway. Square beignets fried to order, made-to-order doughnuts, and an in-house coffee bar.
El Coqui Crepes, 5 Broadway. Three generations of a Puerto Rican family. The bestseller is the “Denville crepe,” strawberries, banana and Nutella.
Mo’Pweeze Bakery, 32 Broadway. Entirely allergen-free, gluten-free, vegan and certified kosher. It opened in 2014, and the name comes from how owner Christine Allen’s twins reacted to her first batch of cupcakes.
For coffee, downtown has The Barn Coffee Shop, Smart World Coffee, Du Jour Cafe, Sweet Vinyl Cafe, Butter & Velvet, Cleopatra Sweets and a Starbucks. Vikingos Cake Shoppe & Bakery is a recent addition.
If you want a full meal rather than a pastry, most of Denville’s restaurants are a short walk from the same lots.
Parking downtown
Parking is free in most of downtown, but it is timed, and the overnight rule catches visitors.
One-hour limit: Broadway, both sides, the entire length. Diamond Spring Road from Broadway to Snyder Avenue. First Avenue. The south side of East Main Street from Broadway to Bloomfield Avenue. Second Avenue from Broadway to Third Avenue.
Two-hour limit: Second Avenue from Third Avenue to Diamond Spring Road, and Bloomfield Avenue for its entire length.
No time limit: the Lower Bloomfield Avenue Lot and the Church Street Lot. Overnight parking is still prohibited in them.
Metered: the West Main Street Lot runs on a common meter at $1.00 an hour, or 25 cents per 15 minutes.
Overnight: parking is prohibited on every street in the township between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m., every day of the year. This is the ticket most visitors get.
Daily, monthly, six-month and yearly permits are available for the First Avenue, Bloomfield Avenue, West Main Street and Mount Tabor lots through the Township Clerk’s Office at 973-625-8300, extension 8. The Downtown Denville BID also publishes a printable parking map at downtowndenville.com, which is the easiest thing to keep on your phone. Note that the commuter lots at the train station are a separate system run by NJ Transit, not the township.
Who runs downtown
The Downtown Denville Business Improvement District is a nonprofit that manages promotion and design for the district. It is affiliated with Main Street New Jersey and the Morris County Chamber of Commerce, holds public board meetings, and runs a Facade Update Grant Program for member businesses. Stephen Crighton, who leads the downtown business association, has described Broadway and Main Street as the heartbeat of Denville.
Reach the BID at info@downtowndenville.com or PO Box 333, Denville, NJ 07834.
What happens on the street
Denville Farmers’ Market. Held in the Bloomfield Avenue parking lot with more than 25 vendors. It runs year-round, with the full vendor lineup and extended hours from May through November. The 2026 regular season opened May 3.
Denville Rotary Street Festival. The 43rd annual edition closed Broadway to traffic on Sunday, June 7, 2026, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Food, live music, shopping, kids’ rides and a beer garden, free admission, rain or shine, and more than 10,000 people through the street.
Denville Makers’ Market. Run by the Denville Arts Council in the Bloomfield Avenue lot alongside the Farmers’ Market. The 2026 edition is Sunday, November 1, 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., with a November 8 rain date.
Rebuilding after the fire
An overnight fire on East Main Street early on Tuesday, June 2, 2026 caused extensive interior and structural damage and a partial roof collapse. No one was inside. A pizzeria that had been open four years was hardest hit, and a neighboring bakery and two other nearby businesses were damaged. A fundraising campaign for the affected businesses was launched with funds managed by the Downtown Denville BID.
One of the businesses caught in it was Throttle Racing Club, a racing-themed coffee shop that had its grand opening scheduled for that same week. It opened in June after the delay.
Before you go
Hours for independent shops move around, especially on Mondays. Call ahead if you are making a trip for one specific store, and give yourself more than an hour on Broadway if you plan to actually browse.
Featured photo: Broadway in downtown Denville by Mr. Matte, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
