By LINDA G. RASTELLI

It was a business idea born in a flash, and on the gauziest of foundations. But hearing about it, you just had to hope that it would make it.

Two strangers vying for the seized merchandise of Margaret’s Jewelry at a tax sale in June decided that, rather than bid against each other, they would try to merge their interests and create a new business together.

redbankgreen had the scoop, in which we reported that the two women managed to acquire all of the Monmouth Street store’s jewelry, accessories and even display cases for $10,000, far less than the $30,000 that the state had set as the minimum bid and a far cry from the $100,000 that the prior owners owed in unpaid taxes.

But now, less than two months later, the two partners have decided to go their separate ways.

Lorraine Shaheen of Little Silver, who purchased all the store’s jewelry for $8,000, declined to say why the partnership ended.

“It just wasn’t meant to be,” she told us last week by telephone. “I believe everything happens for a reason.”

Shaheen, whose daughter used to work at Margaret’s, said she was considering starting a home-based business, and would try to sell the merchandise herself.

De Guzman, who paid $2,000 for the rest of the store’s merchandise and its furnishings, could not be reached for comment.

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