Another old-school South Jersey diner has closed. A newer breed of casual dining will open there.

The day after the Star View Diner closed, its digital sign was still flashing “Happy New Year.”

But the empty parking lot along the White Horse Pike in Somerdale, Camden County, conveyed a less cheerful message.

“With a heavy heart I have decided to start a new chapter,” owner Stefanos Kitrinos said in a handwritten retirement announcement posted on both of the entrance doors.

He thanked customers and employees for “25 memorable years” and said he and his family are pleased to welcome Amy’s Omelette House as the Star View’s successor.

“We are thrilled to share the exciting news about the transformation of the beloved Star View Diner,” said Ted Kopsaftis, the owner-operator of the New Jersey-based chain of retro-themed, breakfast-and-lunch restaurants.

The first Amy’s opened in Long Branch, Monmouth County, in 2003. Others followed in Burlington City (in the former Burlington Diner) in 2006, and Cherry Hill in 2012. Somerdale will be the chain’s fourth location.

“We believe in creating a warm and inviting space where locals can gather,” Kopsaftis said in an email. “We are dedicated to becoming an integral part of the Somerdale community.”

A post on a Somerdale Facebook page by 42Freeway.com, which first reported the Star View closure, had more than 250 comments. Many were enthusiastic about the prospect of an Amy’s in the neighborhood, while others said they will miss their favorite desserts, servers, and Sunday breakfast spot.

» READ MORE: An iconic South Jersey diner serves its last meal

Along with the Star View, the Shamong Diner, in Burlington County, closed as the New Year began. In 2023, a number of other significant diners closed across South Jersey, including the Cherry Hill, in Cherry Hill; the Red Lion, in Southampton, Burlington County; and the Gateway, in Westville, Gloucester County. Diners with names such as the Diamond, the Elgin, and the Penn Queen also have fallen, often to be replaced by discount stores or fast-food restaurants or, in the case of Cherry Hill, a car wash.

Not to worry, said diner historians, authors, and fans such as New Jersey’s Michael Gabriele and Richard Gutman, who lives in Massachusetts.

Ever since the modern diner was born as a horse-drawn lunch wagon in late 19th-century Providence, R.I., the format has evolved even as individual establishments have come and gone, they said. Some diners, particularly in rural areas, have long offered breakfast and lunch but not dinner.

And despite their New England origins, diners have come to be strongly associated with New Jersey as well.

“New Jersey is a corridor state,” Gabriele said. “To get somewhere, you go through here. And in the early 20th century, Trenton made major investments in highways and bridges.”

During the suburban boom years of the 1950s and ‘60s, diners with “Space Age” designs sprang up on highways across the state, an architectural and cultural legacy that has endured.

According to NJ Spotlight News — which credits a Bayonne resident named Jerry O’Mahoney with “inventing” the modern diner — New Jersey’s 530 diners make it the leader nationally.

“Diners are egalitarian,” said Gabriele, who lives in North Jersey, home of several important diner manufacturing companies for much of the 20th century.

“People feel comfortable in diners,” he said. “They meet people there. They see people they know there. And burgers, fries, and eggs are basic American food.”

Said Gutman, a Boston resident: “Diners are generally small, family-run businesses, and like many small, family-run businesses, they come and go. But they’re not going away.”