RIVERCENTER AND STORES ON THE MOVE
RiverCenter is relocating to English Plaza in mid-March. (Photo by Dustin Racioppi; click to enlarge)
By DUSTIN RACIOPPI
After six years tucked above the bustle of Broad Street in Red Bank, RiverCenter is packing up and moving one block west. 
In mid-March, the independent agency that promotes the downtown and part of the West Side will make English Plaza its hub of operations. The move, to the same building that houses the Inbetween Cafe, PS Poppyseeds, Urban Dawgs, and Space Interiors, will create more elbow room for the handful of employees and reduce the rent, said Executive Director Nancy Adams.
“We loved being here,” she said of the offices above Zebu Forno. “But it gives us more space and some separate offices for staff.”
That’s the latest move downtown. There’s more in the rundown right around the Read More corner…
Wooly Monmouth owner Dori Cohen Kershner and her knitters of the roundtable have relocated a few doors west on Monmouth Street. (Click to enlarge)
When redbankgreen first reported that upscale electronics retailer Hi-Def was planning to open at the end of April, the owner meant April, 2010. The store will, in fact, finally hold its grand opening in a few weeks, said manager Pete Weber, although the front end is open for business now. Employees are finishing off the shop’s home theater showroom its contents estimated to be worth about $250,000 before officially opening up to the public.
As for the yearlong delay: Weber said the company hit a number of roadblocks in getting the Broad Street store built out, not the least of which having to completely reconfigure the building’s electrical system to conform to the latest technology Hi-Def will be offering.
“It’s been frustrating,” he said, “but now we’re finally at the end of the tunnel. The light is really blasting through now.”
Syndicated Clothing has inked a lease to stay in town. (Photo by Dustin Racioppi; click to enlarge)
The Syndicated Clothing triumvirate of owners never planned on being itinerants passing through Red Bank to make a quick buck, and they won’t. The urban apparel/streetgear shop, after testing out the downtown with a short-term lease, have inked for a long-term agreement to stay on West Front Street.
Co-owner Ruperto Sinad said all the pieces fell into place for him and his partners to stay in town.
“We wanted to see how traffic was. That was our main goal,” he said. “It was good for us to check out the area short-term, and the community supported us the whole time. So we’re really happy to stay.”
Sinad’s partner, Matthew Shubitz, didn’t think Syndicated, which also operates in Union, would ever leave Red Bank after moving here in November.
“It shouldn’t be a surprise,” he said. “It’s a great little town, isn’t it?”
Not far from Syndicated, at the spot last occupied by Bleach Bright, a psychic has suddenly moved in. She must’ve sensed some bad vibes, though, because she shuffled Retail Churn‘s reporter out of the space before any substantive question could be asked.
Other notes:
- Dori Kershner has taken her yarns, needles and notions to a new location downtown. She just moved Wooly Monmouth out of its longtime home at 9 Monmouth Street and opened down the block at 27 Monmouth, in the space formerly occupied by Lavender Blue.
- Bath Junkie has cleared out of its space at 58 Monmouth Street, making way for an anticipated expansion of Sogo Sushi. Just next door, Le French Groomer is open for hair cuts, baths, nail clipping and a thorough brushing of your pup’s canines.
- Exotic Birds of Red Bank has flown the coop just a little more than a year after moving to Monmouth Street from Middletown. More on that to come soon on redbankgreen.
