Chairs and a ladder claimed a parking space for Hip & Humble’s departure last week. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Having tried three storefronts downtown, imported furniture retailer Hip & Humble Home has called it quits on Red Bank.
redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn also has updates on Tim McLoone’s planned Broad Street restaurant; a proposed take-out-and-delivery-only organic restaurant on Leighton Avenue; and Ray Rapcavage’s proposed market and homes on Harding Road – all just after the “read more.”
A temporary sign announces the name of the new restaurant replacing Murphy Style Grill on Broad Street. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
In little over three years, Hip & Humble owner Danny Weinberg has tenanted spaces on Broad Street, Wallace Street and 26 Monmouth Street.
That last location will be his final one in town, said Weinberg, who struggled to attract enough customers for his pieces imported from Indonesia and other locales on the other side of the globe. He cleared out last week.
Weinberg says he has a warehouse in Long Branch and will focus on his online business for now. But if he opens another store, it won’t be in Red Bank, he said.
In other Churnings:
• Kitch Organic, the proposed organic take-out kitchen on Leighton Avenue that redbankgreen reported on a month ago, is on the borough zoning board’s agenda for Thursday night. Property owner Joseph Durso’s plan needs a use variance and other variances to move forward. Here’s the agenda: RB Zoning Board agenda 090414
• Meanwhile, developer Ray Rapcavage has asked the zoning board to hold off on hearing continued testimony on Renaissance Village, his proposed food market and homes on Harding Road, until September 18. The case had been scheduled to resume Thursday.
Rapcavage fielded questions from neighbors and other interested parties at the site last Thursday night, shortly after meeting with his team of architects and planners about amending the proposal in light of concerns raised at the first zoning board hearing, on August 21. Modifications could include lowering the height of the buildings by several feet, he said.
• Tim McLoone’s planned restaurant in the 26 Broad Street space formerly occupied by Murphy Style Grille will be called “The Robinson Ale House,” in honor of his in-laws. His wife, Beth, is the 10th of 11 Robinson siblings who all attended St. James and Red Bank Catholic, just down the street, McLoone tells redbankgreen.
McLoone said he’s now aiming for an opening by early November of the restaurant, which will feature “upscale” burgers and brews. Meantime, he’s also rebuilding his McLoone’s Rum Runner on the Shrewsbury River in Sea Bright.
