Bellari Thanks Community for 70 Years
3rd Generation Home Remodeler Shows Gratitude for Milestone by Giving Back
(August 11, 2020 – BRANCHBURG, NJ) Bellari, a third-generation family-owned business in Branchburg, thanks the community for 70 years in business. Founded as Somerville Aluminum in 1950, the Garden State home remodeler has become a cherished partner for New Jersey families looking to fix, expand, renovate and beautify their homes. Renamed “Bellari” in late 2018, the company has been spending its milestone year showing support to its Somerset County community.
Help at Home for Hometown Heroes
Bellari is supporting local police, nurses, doctors, and firefighters during the coronavirus pandemic by donating emergency repairs at their homes. The home remodeler offers its expertise to deserving folks working on the front lines – to give back by helping someone in the community who has been working hard in healthcare or another essential job.
“Our organization is extremely appreciative to all those hometown heroes who have always worked hard to help our community and keep us all safe, especially during the pandemic,” said Bellari Co-Owner and Executive Vice President Gary Shiman. “They work on the frontlines to take care of us, and we are honored to help with needed repairs at their homes, to help take care of them.”
Bellari has pledged to help one deserving local hero every month with a project at home. The initiative kicked off in April when Bellari replaced the back steps for Jennifer and David Smith, a Branchburg couple who both saw increased intensity in their professions ushered in by Covid-19, working in healthcare and law enforcement, respectively. You can read their story here.
Healing Homes
Bellari also proudly supports Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (RWJUH) Somerset, an RWJBarnabas Health facility, in its Healing Homes initiative. The Healing Homes initiative offers housing for up to 24 months for an individual or family in Somerset County who has a chronic or acute health condition that causes financial hardship and leaves them unable to afford housing and/or the basic cost of living.
Shiman has also been spotted dropping of pizzas to emergency room employees at RWJUH on several occasions.
Lifelong Customers
“They are master craftsman,” praises long-time customer Darlene Purcell, of Hillsborough. “Everything they do is quality.”
She should know. Purcell reports that she started working with “Somerville Aluminum” when they were still in Somerville, and over the past 20 years, the company has replaced all the windows, the siding and the roof. Additionally, the company installed a new bay window and added a door from the back of the garage. Bellari also replaced all of the interior doors and completely remodeled two bathrooms in her home.
“It’s been great seeing some of the same faces come back to the house over the years, depending on the project,” says Purcell. “They listen carefully and are so good at explaining things. We always have a good experience with Bellari.”
70 Years of Serving the Community
Founded in 1950 by Max Gropper, the company got its start by selling aluminum storm windows in downtown Somerville to fulfill the owners’ desire to capture some of the American dream as a post-WWII small business. Starting out with a staff of just two — Max and his brother Jack — “Somerville Aluminum” steadily grew, eventually adding a second generation of owners that included Max’s son Jeff Gropper and his brother-in-law. During their tenure, the business flourished at its 46 East Main Street location, where the company was headquartered from 1970–2013.
Throughout the decades spent in its Main Street showroom, the company expanded far beyond storm windows and siding to selling everything for your home, from kitchens, bathrooms, doors, decks and awnings to the newest energy-efficient and maintenance-free home remodeling products, with design and installation available at every price point for a new generation of discerning homeowners.
The third generation and current owners are Jeff’s son David Gropper and David’s brother-in-law Gary Shiman, who serve as president and executive vice president, respectively. Under their leadership, the company moved to a larger 15,000-square-foot showroom and design center in Branchburg in 2013, and continues to boast increasing annual sales, including enjoying exponential growth over the past two years while rebranding the company to Bellari.
Over the last 70 years, the company has:
- Replaced more front doors than the population of Somerville
- Installed more windows than Somerset County has people
- Remodeled thousands of kitchens and bathrooms for happy homeowners, and in several cases, also their adult offspring
“Since the establishment of the business, the guiding principle has always been complete customer satisfaction.” says Shiman. “All three generations of owners have lived, worked, and raised families in New Jersey. This is our home too!”
“Windows and doors are our roots, and will always be the backbone of our business,” Shiman continues. “And, we have grown our breadth of offerings to provide everything a homeowner could possibly need, and continue to take pride in providing the exceptional service and premium products, across the board, that our customers have come to expect.”
“We cherish being a part of this amazing community, and are thankful to everyone who has supported us along the way; we are honored to be able to serve our neighbors for so many years,” praises Shiman. “This year is unprecedented, and we are humbled with how our community has come together to support each other, and appreciative to be a part of it.”
About Bellari
Built on three generations of reliability, integrity, and experience, Bellari was founded in 1950 as Somerville Aluminum, and rebranded in 2018 to better reflect the exquisite workmanship, superior products and superior service that are the company’s hallmarks. A leading full-service home improvement and remodeling company, Bellari has consistently ranked among the top 100 remodeling firms in the nation by Qualified Remodeler, in addition to receiving prestigious “Super Service” awards from leading business review website Angie’s List.
With its fully appointed 15,000-square-foot showroom and design center in Branchburg, NJ, Bellari’s onsite designers and home remodeling experts help plan and guide customers through any home renovation project, big or small. One of the Garden State’s most trusted providers of a full range of home remodeling needs, Bellari brings vision to life in the creation of beautiful, elegant, functional, and affordable kitchens, baths, siding, windows, doors, decks, sunrooms, awnings, roofing and more, from design to installation. For more information about Bellari, call (908) 725-8401 or visit BellariNJ.com.
