to five people that features a deli, bakery and grocery items along with other attractions, Bellino said. The store will be next to Smithville Eats and a few shops down from J.D’s Pub, Smithville Square’s other anchor.   “As soon as I open my doors, people will come,” Bellino said with a smile on his face.

Bellino began talking to Rosenblatt on May 3 after Suzanne Bellino, 42, saw a Facebook post about business openings at Smithville Square.

Bellino and Rosenblatt then spoke often while Bellino developed a business plan in a matter of weeks, Bellino said.

Bellino and his wife have long sought a business they could operate together, he said.

“When we were younger, we used to go drive up to get subs at the Port Store in Port Republic,” Bellino said of his teenage dates with his wife-to-be. “We said we were going to buy the Port Store.”

After they came back from college and were successful in their careers, the Bellinos approached the Port Store six years ago.

“We almost bought the Port Store a few years ago, but it didn’t work out,” he said.

However, they kept looking and Rosenblatt’s ongoing renovation of the former Smithville Town Center caught their eyes.

The Smithville Square recently housed Incollingo’s Market, but the store failed after less than a year despite a successful Egg Harbor City operation that was about 10 miles away.

Bellino has many ideas for the store, including a $1 advice jar he will personally monitor.

“We are hoping to give advice to people and to educate people,” said Bellino, who will put the glass jar on his counter.

“I’ll tell them anything they want to know,” he said. “And the money we raise will go to the Boy’s and Girl’s Club.”

Suzanne Bellino is eager to bring her bakery items to the store after serving as a caterer in recent years.

Chris Bellino graduated from the Atlantic County Vo-Tech School and the Baltimore International Culinary College in Maryland. Bellino worked at the Tropicana for 11 years before joining the Vienna Inn in Galloway. He joined the Smithville Inn in October 2008.

Suzanne Bellino is a Culinary Institute of American graduate. They have two children, Lyla and Liam.