A BRIEF HISTORY OF EXIT ZERO
What started as a humble little weekly magazine has expanded – sometimes by literally knocking through walls – into book publishing, retail stores, restaurants, and back to a focus on telling the story of Cape May’s character and charm. Here is a condensed version of a 20-plus-year rollercoaster (with more adventures to come!).
2003
Jack Wright, a veteran newspaper and magazine editor in London and New York, quits his corporate gig in Manhattan and launches a black-and-white weekly magazine in Cape May. It’s named Exit Zero, a cheeky take on Cape May’s placement at the end of the 172-exit Garden State Parkway. The mission is to promote the appeal of Cape May with a fresh, relevant voice.
2005
A small retail store, selling Exit Zero-branded apparel and Cape May artwork produced by the company’s newly appointed staff artist, opens in the famous old Congress Hall hotel.
The company publishes its first annual Cool Cape May, a coffee table guide book distributed to the majority of accommodations in Cape May and also sold in local stores.
2006
The company becomes one of the earliest tenants at Cape May Airport, renovating a space to create an office inside Naval Air Station Wildwood Aviation Museum.
The first glossy quarterly color issue of Exit Zero is published, as a companion to the weekly publication, featuring beautiful photography and long-form stories.
2009
Exit Zero leaves the airport and combines its office and retail store in a new location, on Sunset Boulevard, West Cape May.
A local history book, The First Resort, is published by the company and goes on to sell more than 13,000 copies (to date) over three editions. It’s named one of the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Books of the Year.
2012
The retail store doubles in size, knocking through the wall to take over the unit next door. Later that year, a second retail store is added on the Cape May beachfront.
2013
Exit Zero expands into Wildwood, invited by Morey’s Piers to create an innovative pop-up store from shipping containers located on the Wildwood boardwalk.
2015
When a restaurant adjoining the Exit Zero store becomes available, the company knocks through another wall and creates Exit Zero Cookhouse, offering Indian and Thai curries that aren’t available within 40 miles of Cape May. The Cookhouse is ranked as the number one restaurant in Cape May by TripAdvisor that summer.
2016
A Cape May investment group purchases a gas station opposite Exit Zero and invites the company to take over a custom-built restaurant, retail store, gas station and offices.
2018
The new Exit Zero Filling Station opens and is named by New Jersey Monthly magazine as one of the 30 best new restaurants in the state.
2019
West Cape May’s first-ever liquor license is added to the restaurant.
2020
Exit Zero Filling Station earns national recognition on ABC news for its innovative vintage trailers, repurposed as private dining spaces to allow diners to eat safely and in comfort during the pandemic.
2021
Exit Zero takes over the restaurants and retail at the Cape May-Lewes ferry terminal after signing a 10-year lease Delaware River & Bay Authority.
2025
The company exits the restaurant business entirely, selling the Sunset Boulevard property and moving its publishing business to an office on Washington Street Mall.