Would-be Red Bank bra and bikini merchant Ashley Dupré in a file photo.
By JOHN T. WARD
Ashley Dupré, the former high-priced courtesan whose romps with Eliot Spitzer torpedoed his career as New York’s governor, plans to open a lingerie and swimwear store in Red Bank, redbankgreen has learned.
Operating under the name Femme by Ashley, Dupré has signed a lease at 15 Broad Street, a stylish storefront recently vacated by children’s boutique Lavish Kids, a source close to Dupré confirms.
Dupré, who posed for Playboy in 2010, has signed a lease for 15 Broad Street, above. (Click to enlarge)
Dupré could not be reached for immediate comment. “She’s not trying to hide,” says the confidant. “She just wants to concentrate on getting the store open.” A May debut is planned, he said.
A 26-year-old former Wall Township resident, Dupré became “infamous, not famous,” in her words, when her $4,300-a-pop trysts with Spitzer came to light in 2008.
In recent years, she’s posed nude for Playboy, earned a real estate agent’s license and now writes a sex advice column for the New York Post. A recent installment of “Ask Ashley” discussed lingerie.
redbankgreen sources say Dupré and her boyfriend, paving contractor TJ Earle, have been regular visitors to Red Bank in recent months, dining occasionally at the glitzy Blue Water Seafood a few doors away from their new store.
They’ve also been working fashion and trade shows, hoping to set up vendor agreements with brands such as La Perla, Roberto Cavalli, Cosabella and others, we’re told. Whether any deals have been signed is unknown.
Dupré’s shop would be the second in downtown Red Bank peddling sexy underthings, joining Angie Courtney‘s two-year-old Sweetest Sin Boutique on White Street. And if it gets the labels named above, Femme by Ashley would appear to be a neat complement to its next-door neighbor, Coco Pari, which offers those brands in dresses and shoes, but doesn’t carry lingerie or swimsuits.
Bigger picture, the sultry would-be singer’s shop would add star power – if also a tinge of infamy – to a business district that is suddenly abuzz with leasing and development activity.
That includes the 2011 openings of Surf Taco, Blue Water and the Yestercades retro video arcade, as well as the planned debuts this year of Char Steakhouse, Boardwalk Fresh Burgers & Fries, two sub shops, several clothing stores and a health food store.
