Matera’s Italian Market Is Closing in Rutherford After 14 Years

Rutherford lost a piece of its downtown this week. Matera's Italian Market and The Loft, the Southern Italian deli, market and event space at 72 Park Avenue, announced Monday that they are closing for good after 14 years.

The announcement came on the market's social media: after 14 wonderful years, the owners have made the difficult decision to close. While this chapter is coming to an end, the post said, the memories, relationships and gratitude will stay with them forever, and serving the community has been an honor and a privilege.

What makes the timing sting is the summer. Matera's closed on August 11 for what it called summer vacation and maintenance. A September 15 update told customers they were taking a little more time behind the scenes to get everything just right. On September 24 they announced they were opening tomorrow, and on September 25 they declared it: we're back. A month later, the story ended.

No reason for the closing was given. Co owner Mike Finan declined to comment to NorthJersey.com, and his partner Mark Forte could not be reached. Forte, a Rutherford native, named the market for Matera, the ancient city in southern Italy where his family comes from and where relatives still live today.

Since opening in November 2012, Matera's built the kind of business downtowns run on: a deli and market with fresh mozzarella, porchetta, penne alla vodka and a vodka chicken parm people raved about, a LaVazza espresso bar, breakfast and lunch with tables inside and out on Park Avenue, and a catering operation that handled corporate and pharmaceutical lunches and shipped gourmet baskets nationwide.

Upstairs, The Loft gave Rutherford its own private event room, hosting parties, weddings and the business meetings that ran twice a month for some local companies. Put together, it was three businesses in one storefront, and the town noticed: the Rutherford Chamber of Commerce named Matera's its 2026 Member of the Year, this year, honoring more than a decade in the business community.

The owners have not announced a final day of service, so if Matera's means something to you, the move is to go now: one more sandwich, one more espresso, one more bag of groceries from the case at 72 Park Avenue before the lights go out on one of the best Italian markets Bergen County had.

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