The Route 9 plazas wake up early in winter. Long before any door unlocks, the lot has to be pushed to its edges, the fire lanes opened, and the walk in front of the entrance taken down to bare concrete so nobody carries a storm inside on their boots. At the Ocean State Job Lot address in Freehold, the service listed is that snow work — plowing, clearing entrances and sidewalks, and salting the spots that glaze over once the sun drops behind the pylon signs. A commercial apron is unforgiving; one untreated strip by the cart corral is the whole story. Done right, the pavement is just pavement again, dark and quiet, and the morning goes as planned.