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.

RETAIL CHURN: BOOTS, FOOD AND FIT KIDS

•dean-ross-030714-500x375-8895336After 14 years in Fair Haven, Dean Ross is ready to take on double the rent to sell shoes in Red Bank. (Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Rcsm2_010508This edition of Retail Churn reports on these developments:

• A Fair Haven shoe store specializing in Dr. Martens boots hopes to kick some butt in downtown Red Bank – and keep the lights on after other stores close.

• Two high-profile Broad Street restaurants have quietly gone idle.

• A fitness center for kids plans to open next month on Wallace Street.

26-broad-030212-500x375-9612622Murphy Style Grille, above, is in the process of changing hands. No word on what’s going on with Blue Water Seafood, below. (Click to enlarge)

blue-water-021814-220x165-1352059Dean Ross, owner of the Doc Shoppe on River Road in Fair Haven, plans to move his 14-year-old shoe store from its strip mall location to 43 Broad Street in Red Bank in early April. That’s the space recently vacated by Backward Glances, which moved to Asbury Park.

Ross, who also owns the Bagel Oven on Monmouth Street, tells Churn that in moving up from 935 square feet to 1,200, he’ll be paying twice as much rent. But he sees it as worth it.

Fair Haven has been a “great town” for the Doc Shoppe, “but unfortunately there’s no night business here,” and not the kind of foot traffic he longs for, he said. “It’s time to take this store to the next level.”

With a new space in the heart of the downtown, across the street from Starbucks, Ross believes the town he grew up in will be good for him, and that his shop will be good for the town.

Toward that end, he swears he’ll do what other merchants don’t: stay open well into the evening. The Doc Shoppe will be open until 9 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, and until 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday. It will also be open on Sundays, Ross said.

“I’m a retailer,” he said. “I get annoyed if there are people walking around and stores aren’t open.”

In addition to its eponymous line of Doc Martens, the Doc Shoppe also carries the Birkenstock line, and will be a certified Red Wing dealer in the new space, Ross says.

What will become of the Fair Haven space? Ross said he’s thinking about putting in a bagel shop there, and has even filed papers with the town for a possible conversion of the space for food use.

*****

Blue Water Seafood, which had been the subject of increasing complaints about quality and service, has been closed for the past month or so without explanation, other than a sign on the door that says “Closed Temporarily.”

What’s up? Landlord Rick Stavola says we should talk to 9 Broad Street’s tenant, but it’s not clear who that is, since Jimmy Vastardis apparently parted ways with the restaurant several months ago, and Stavola declined to give out a name.

*****

Murphy Style Grille, at 26 Broad, is also dark. A sign on the door says, “Closed Until Further Notice.”

According to borough Clerk Pam Borghi, an application is pending for a transfer of the restaurant’s liquor license to an entity called RB Spirits LLC. We’re told, but haven’t confirmed, that RB Spirits is related to the building’s landlord, Onyx Equities, and that Onyx also bought the business.

A call to Onyx was not immediately returned. Onyx was the developer of the Metropolitan luxury residences on Wallace Street.

*****

Speaking of the Metropolitan, a new business called Kid Fit Academy is expected to move in across the street, into a space that last held Hip & Humble Home – now relocated to Monmouth Street – and before that, Red Bank Surplus, an Army/Navy clothing shop.

Kid Fit Academy owner Michael DeSevo says he’ll offer fitness training and health education for kids from pre-school through eighth grade.

“It’s really designed for those kids who aren’t comfortable in an athletic environment, to give them an alternate route to fitness other than just sports,” says DeSevo, a 33-year-old graduate of CBA who tells Churn he lost 100 pounds as a college freshman and has been in the fitness business ever since as a trainer and coach.

He plans to open in early April.

Remember: Nothing makes a Red Bank friend happier than to hear "I saw you on Red Bank Green!"
redbankgreen Classics
Partyline
THIS LOT IS GOING TO POT!!
Do NOT hit this monster pothole in Red Bank’s best parking lot for people watching or your weekend plans may go up in smoke. In the backgr ...
DEM GOV HOPEFUL FULOP VISITS RED BANK
110 people braved the ice on Super Bowl Sunday morning to head to Triumph Brewery to hear Steve Fulop’s case for why he should be our ...
REAL BRICKS!
Pardon our nerdiness, but we were excited to see the facade of the long-vacant building at 42 Monmouth being renovated with a facade that ap ...
NAVESINK SUNRISE
Sunrise colors Sunday over the Navesink. Shot from Maple Cove. (photo by Partyline contributor Thomas Doremus)
PET OWNER TO RED BANK: SCREW YOU
(photo and text by Partyline contributor Anna Cruz; headline by redbankgreen) Remember to scoop the poop!  
A HAIR DRYER IN A TREE?
(Photo and text by Partyline contributor Nicole Taetsch) If someone is missing a red hair dryer, it’s hanging from a tree on Oakland S ...
FROM DEEP LEFT FIELD..
(Photo and words by Partyline contributor Peter Cavalier) Shapes, Angles, and Colors: an Artist’s Canvas Where: A frigid Saturday morn ...
SUNSET ICE BOATING
Sunset ice boating Saturday. (photo by Partyline contributor Thomas Doremus)
ICY NAVESINK BLISS
Ice boating is back, baby! (Photo by partyline contributor Boris Kofman)
TEACHERS GET COUNCIL KUDOS
The Mayor and Borough Council honored five teachers from the Red Bank Borough Schools who were selected for the Governor’s Educator of the ...
RED BANK LIBRARY HEAD BIDS ADIEU
Eleni Glykis in her last day on the job in Red Bank Thursday (photo by Brian Donohue) redbankgreen stopped in the Red Bank Public Library to ...
TO TOWER HILL!
Parents and kids flocked to Tower Hill on Monday morning, taking advantage of the federal holiday and perfectly timed Sunday snowfall.
BROAD STREET IN WHITE
Taken during the snowstorm Sunday. (Photo by Partyline contributor Thomas Doremus)
Stunning Sunrise at Marine Park
Sunday’s sunrise from Marine Park. (photo by Partyline contributor Thomas Doremus)  
WALL STREET CLOSED FOR LEAK
Wall Street in Red Bank closed for water leak.
INDOOR SOCCER KICKS OFF
Pre-k and kindergarten aged kids were at Red Bank Middle School bright and early Sunday, participating in the indoor soccer program hosted b ...
SUNSET OVER FROZEN NAVESINK RIVER
Sunset colors Saturday evening over the ice shot from  Shrewsbury Ave. (Photo by Partyline contributor Thomas Doremus)  
ICY VIEW FROM TRAIN WINDOW
View of the partially frozen Navesink River Saturday afternoon from NJCL Train #7244. (Photo by Partyline contributor Karly Swaim)
RBR BEATS RBC IN BOYS HOOPS RIVALRY
 Red Bank Regional's boys basketball came out with the win at home against their crosstown rivals Red Bank Catholic on Tuesday in Little Si ...
FRIGID DINNER FOR WATER LINE WORKERS
Work continued into the late night hours on Bank Street Tuesday night as a crew replaced several water lines to homes under the town wide le ...