RED BANK: COMINGS AND GOINGS DOWNTOWN
Freshica’s, above, and Soul Strong have opened in the West Side Lofts. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
This edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn has news about:
• two new businesses in the West Side Lofts;
• a retailer taking over a building in the heart of downtown;
• and a sizable player in Red Bank’s vaunted antiques district putting its home up for sale. 
In the former home of Nirvana, at 21 White Street, New York City-based Nemo Tile plans to open a showroom. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
• Freshica’s has opened in the year-old West Side Lofts building at the corner of West Front Street and Bridge Avenue.
The store is the second for Freshica’s owner Jessica Dalmedo, who started her organic juice stand in a corner of Fairwinds Deli in Fair Haven in 2012. While that shop remains open, the the new, 700-square-foot store carries Dalmedo’s signature juices, shakes and smoothies made with fresh fruits, vegetables and herbs, as well as coffee, bagels and more.
• Next door to Freshica’s, Dan Weltman has opened Soul Strong, a personal fitness training room. With the opening, Weltman closed down his prior business, Rumson Personal Fitness, but says all but one or two clients transitioned to the new space.
Weltman said he’s thrilled that his business has access to the West Side Lofts’ parking garage, as well as curb spots on the opposite side of West Front Street.
• With Freshica’s, Soul Strong and furniture retailer West Elm up and running at the 90-residential-unit, Metrovation-owned lofts project, the last piece yet to fall into place is Triumph Brewing Company.
The restaurant’s buildout appears to be moving continually ahead, but Churn has not been able to get an estimated opening date from owner Adam Rechnitz, whose parents, Bob and Joan, founded the Two River Theater next door.
• Nemo Tile and Stone is creating a showroom in the former Nirvana clothing store space at 21 White Street. The New York-based company says on its website that it has been the tile supplier for a number of “timeless” structures in and around New York City, including the Holland Tunnel.
Nirvana, you’ll recall, moved to the Grove at Shrewsbury two years ago, but store owner Sunil Amatya has retained ownership of the 4,000-square-foot, single-story building, which adjoins the municipal parking lot.
• The building that houses Riverbank Antiques, at 169-171 West Front Street, is on the market for $1.6 million. The sprawling structure, at the corner of West Street and next door to the parking garage that serves Pazzo and the Red Bank Corporate Plaza office building, covers more than 11,000 square feet in the business retail zone.
“I hate to say goodbye to the building,” said retailer Carla Gizzi, whose late father Charles Gizzi, operated a flower shop at the location starting more than 30 years ago. But “it’s just time” to sell, she said.
No plans for Riverbank have yet been made, said Gizzi, who also operates a shop in Convention Hall in Asbury Park.
The borough’s antiques district has faced shrinkage in recent years, including the loss of Monmouth Antique Shoppes, whose home was demolished in 2012 to make way for the West Side Lofts.
