CHURN: FEMME OUT, CHIKYBOOM IN
Ashley Dupré Earle, center, at a fashion show in her boutique in February, 2012. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
This installment of redbankgreen’s Retail Churn brings news of a lingerie store closing and a coffee shop getting a complete makeover, down to the name.
• Ashley (nee Dupré) Earle, owner of Femme by Ashley, at 15 Broad Street, announced in an email to customers Wednesday that she’s closing the four-year-old lingerie and swimwear boutique to focus on raising her two children.
Tapping into the roots of new owners, No Joe’s will be rebranded Chikyboom and reopen as a Cuban restaurant. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
Following a scandal that led to the resignation of then-New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, opening the business was part of Earle’s effort to “move on” with her life, she told redbankgreen in an exclusive interview in 2012.
Becoming a retailer, she said, “is almost like the beginning of the rest of my life,” she said at the time. “I made a bunch of mistakes when I was younger, and I feel like, for the first time in my life, I’m growing into an adult, and I’m really excited about that.”
And now? From her email announcing the store’s closing:
I look back to nearly 4 years ago when we started the process of bringing Femme to life and although we made some mistakes, we learned from every one of them and continuously refined our brand and improved the customer experience. We made lifelong friends and were an active positive member of the Red Bank community. And of course we had some parties….. We might need to continue that tradition still.
From the bottom of my heart, thank you to my loyal customers. It has been an honor to earn your trust. Thank you to our good friends in town. It has been an honor working beside you…
No closing date was given, and Earle left open the possibility that the store might be revived in the future.
• No Joe’s Coffee House, under new ownership since earlier this year, has closed and will reopen as a coffeehouse and restaurant called Chikyboom.
The name comes from a the Desi Arnaz song “Cuban Pete,” said Dan Salazar, who owns the business with his Cuban-born wife, Grisel, and sister-in-law, Adela Carrazana.
The makeover includes interior renovations to the space, at 51 Broad, as well as a new menu that, in addition to coffee and breakfast items in the morning, features Cuban and tapas dishes at lunch and dinner, said Dan Salazar.
“No Joe’s wasn’t making it, and hadn’t been for years,” he said. “It was just worn out. We feel we have a better product that’s going to do well.
He expects Chikyboom to be open by the end of the month, he told Churn.
