Skip to content

A town square for an unsquare town

redbankgreen

Standing for the vitality of Red Bank, its community, and the fun we have together.

CHURN: HOUSEWARES, TRAP DOOR AND MORE

kathleen-conlon-081415-2-500x375-9049730Kathleen Conlon bought the onetime gas station that’s now Welcome Home, her housewares shop on East Front Street. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

rcsm2_0105081-220x165-9667185This installment of redbankgreen’s Retail Churn pops in on a new housewares-and-gifts shop in Red Bank.

We’ve also got an update on an escape-themed entertainment “house” planned downtown; the rebranding of Red restaurant; and a planned move by Red Ginger Home.


belmonte-081315-500x375-6366004The transformation of Red into the Belmonte is underway. Red Ginger Home, below, plans to move a few doors south on Broad Street.
(Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

red-ginger-081115-220x165-4476989• At 111 East Front Street, opposite the Welsh Farms store, Kathleen Conlon of Rumson has completed the transformation of a onetime gas station into Welcome Home, a retailer of home furnishings, tablewear and gifts such as plush toys and linen sprays.

Conlon, a Red Bank Regional grad (her late father, Tom Conlon, was a longtime vice principal there) bought the 1,230-square-foot building, which was also a print shop and a bait-and-tackle store, and gave it a thorough inside-and-out makeover. According to Monmouth County records, she paid $400,000 to Norman Deacy, whose father, also named Norman, built the original filling station there in the mid-1930s.

Why buy? “I noticed so many Red Bank businesses failing because of the rents,” said Conlon, who closed out a 20-year career on Wall Street to open her dream business. “I figured if I bought it, I’d have a stable cost basis.”

Conlon told Churn she’s aiming for a vibe of “casual elegance,” and features the works of local craftspeople, including Barbara Randall of Red Bank, who makes a lavender linen spray, and Susan Fairgrieve of Atlantic Highlands, who creates gift cards.

Welcome Home also showcases works from artisans in Australia – which she visits frequently because of a family connection – Belgium, Sweden and other points around the globe. Still, Conlon said she’s “trying really hard to keep prices down and pass that along to the customer.”

Trap Door Escape Room principal Anthony ‘Tone’ Purzycki has been keeping followers posted on social media about his plans for a house-of-horrors-type facility at the former Dunlop Locksmith building on White Street in Red Bank.

After a denial of a development permit by the borough planning office, the chances of the business opening in town were “very slim,” Purzycki wrote on the Facebook page of Mikrotone Enterprises, a company he owns with a partner.

But on August 7, he posted that the plans had been approved, and told Churn that Trap Door back was on target to open on October 1.

Zoning Board secretary Mary Kouvel told Churn last Thursday that the approval was “pending review.”

Meantime, Purzycki is selling tickets, but to get the promotional code for a discount, fans are asked to solve this “super simple” puzzle:

01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01110000 01110010 01101111 01101101 01101111 01110100 01101001 01101111 01101110 01100001 01101100 00100000 01100011 01101111 01100100 01100101 00100000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01110011 01110101 01101101 01101101 01100101 01110010 01110100 01110010 01100001 01110000

Red restaurant at 3 Broad Street, now getting a makeover, will be rebranded the Belmonte when it reopens, owner Dan Lynch tells Churn. He’s shooting for an opening in late September.

• After five years at 48 Broad Street, Red Ginger Home is relocating to 66 Broad next month. That space was last, and briefly, occupied by Be Barow.

Remember: Nothing makes a Red Bank friend happier than to hear "I saw you on Red Bank Green!"
Partyline
THEY’RE BACK!
Ospreys returned to the skies over Red Bank this week for the first time since they migrated to warmer climes in late fall. With temperature ...
SPRING IS SPRUNG
RED BANK: Spring 2024 arrives on the Greater Red Bank Green with the vernal equinox at 11:06 p.m. Tuesday.
RED BANK’S FINEST – AND NEWEST
Red Bank Police Officer Eliot Ramos was sworn in as the force’s newest patrolman Thursday, and if you’re doing a double take thinkin ...
EASTER EGG MAYHEM AT THE PARK
An errant whistle spurred an unexpectedly early start to the Spring Egg Hunt on Sunday, which had been scheduled to begin at eggsactly 11am ...
PRESEASON DOCKWORK
RED BANK: With winter winding down, marina gets ready for boating season with some dockwork on our beautiful Navesink River.
CORNED BEEF AND DISCO FRIES?
It’s Friday, and smart Lent-observing Leprechauns know the pot of gold at the end of Red Bank’s rainbow is actually the deliciou ...
SURFBOARD DITCHED
It’s a violation of etiquette in surfing to ditch your board.  (it could hit another surfer and hurt them). But someone appears to ha ...
ELSIE, TAKE ME WITH YOU!
Soaked by pouring rain with the temperature hovering in the low 40’s, this sign in the window of Elsie’s Subs on Monmouth Street ...
WALK THIS WAY
PARTYLINE: Before-and-afters of a sidewalk cleanup on West Street.
SOGGY NOTION
RED BANK: Breezeway sculpture captured the mood downtown as heavy rains fell Saturday morning.
HOME DELIVERY
RED BANK: After a subdivision, an instant house rises on a new Catherine Street lot.
COMMUNITY PROFILES
For Black History Month, Red Bank's Community Engagement and Equity Advisory Committee has been running a series of local profiles on Facebo ...
HEARTY FAREWELL FOR HARDY
RED BANK: Council to honor DPU supervisor Rich Hardy, who retired recently after almost 39 years of keeping things running.
HOMEBOUND? READ ON…
RED BANK: Can't get to the public library? It's now offering free delivery and pickups for homebound borough residents.
TAMING A BEAST OF A WEEK
RED BANK: After the second snowfall of the week, a borough family finds the perfect use for it – a Godzilla snow sculpture.
RED BANK: LIBRARY CLOSED, BUT THE HILL’S OPEN
RED BANK: Though the library was closed by a snowstorm, kids got to enjoy the riverfront property's steep slope Tuesday.
LIGHT(HOUSE) MAKEOVER
This year, getting ready for spring means a midwinter makeover for Strollo's Lighthouse in Red Bank.
TODAY: LOCAL PUPPY COMPETES ON ANIMAL PLANET’S “PUPPY BOWL”
Red Bank’s very own rescue puppy, Biscuit, is set to compete in Animal Planet’s Puppy Bowl this Sunday, February 11, at 2 PM. Th ...
WHAT? NO redbankgreen NEWSLETTER?
Apologies to redbankgreen newsletter subscribers: the daily email hasn’t gone out for two days because of technical issues.
RED BANK: TIRED OF SKEETERS?
RED BANK: Tired of mosquito bites every summer? Monmouth County has a free program to help eliminate skeeter breeding grounds.