
By JOHN T. WARD

After months of dormancy, the conversion of the storefront at 8 Monmouth Street was completed this week. Or half-completed, that is.
With its opening on Monday, barbershop Red Bank House of Fades took over roughly half the space that for more than 50 years was home to Red Bank News and last occupied by Exotic Birds of Red Bank.


But the other half of the space, which is to house Middletown resident Canio Paradiso’s Red bank Sub Shop, remains incomplete, held up, Paradiso says, by red tape at borough hall.
We’re looking forward to the opening as much for the sandwiches as for the air-shaft patio that were shown in the original plans.
Another halfsie: juice bar Yummy Yummy Good Stuff could be open as early as tomorrow (Saturday) following it’s move, along with Funk and Standard, from 40 Broad. Owner Patti Siciliano was awaiting the completion of borough inspections Thursday. The eight-table establishment features wifi, and Siciliano wants it to be a place “where people hang out.”
But what was formerly Siciliano’s primary business, the clothing and novelty store Funk and Standard, isn’t ready for reopening, she tells Churn. And when it is, in the other half of the basement space she’s renting at 7 Broad, it will be reimagined in terms of products and, yes, services. Stay tuned.
A “very, very expensive” rug store is preparing to open as early as next week in the former Red Bank Art Gallery space at the southeast corner of Broad and Wallace streets. It’s not often that we hear a retailer boasting that his merchandise is high-priced, but Rugs & Floors owner Payman Azizoghli does just that, telling Churn that he’s got some antique rugs that sell for half a million dollars.
This will be his second store: Azizoghli has another in Summit, and says he likes Red Bank for its similar “upscale” market demographics. He hopes to open in as little as a week, he says.
Syndicated Clothing, a sneaker and skatewear shop that opened on West Front Street in 2010, has vanished.
The Verizon cellphone store on White Street has disconnected, too.