Jeweler Evan Piscitelli, left, and tailor Vinny Sciortino have teamed up in space on Broad Street. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
This edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn could almost have been ripped from the Red Bank Register of a century ago, with news about a haberdashery, a jeweler, a “gentlemen’s club” tonsorial, a rug store and a smoke shop opening downtown.
Ok, that last one’s more a vape shop, but still. Read on for details.
      
A barber named Andrew Evilsizor plans to open a shop at 30 Monmouth Street. Below, adjacent stores at the corner of Broad and Wallace have been leased to a rug shop and a smoking products shop. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
• A year after temporarily closing Sciortino Tailors’ shop at 3 East Front Street, with the intention of moving a block west, Vinny Sciortino has instead reopened his haberdashery at 15 Broad Street. And he’s got company.
Sharing floor space with Sciortino is Evan John Diamantaire (formerly Thrill Her Diamonds), which relocated from 26 Monmouth Street.
Jeweler Evan Piscitelli tells Churn the combination wasn’t about saving money on rent, though that’s a benefit. It was more about pairing two complementary businesses on the highest-visibility block downtown, he says.
“Since I do custom jewelry, and Vinny does custom men’s wear, we thought combining the two was a good idea,” Piscitelli tells Churn.
Sciortino says he’s “like, a sixth-generation” tailor, and has been joined by his son, Vincent, in the business. In addition to custom wear, the amateur guitarist has a smattering of D’Angelico hollow-body electric guitars on display throughout the shop, including one that’s plugged into an amp and ready to rock at the front counter for whoever comes along. The instruments are available for purchase, he said.
The space was last occupied by homewares shop Pickett & White. The building was recently purchased for $1.45 million by 15 Broad Street Realty LLC, which lists Frank Esposito of Colts Neck as its managing member, according to Monmouth County and New Jersey filings.
• Shama Grover, who owns a smoke shop called Smoke Ringz in Manlapan, plans to open Smoke Theory, at 65 Broad Street, which encompasses four retail spaces just south of Wallace Street.
Like the Manalapan store, this one will sell vape and e-cigarette products, along with conventional cigarettes and cigars, hookahs and other smoking materials. She’s hoping to install a walk-in cigar humidifier, too, Grover says.
“People are switching from cigarettes to vape products” because of health concerns, she tells Churn. “This is much less harmful.”
Her shop, one in from the corner of Wallace and next door to the Smoothie King, should be open within a month, she said. And no, it won’t sell bongs, she says.
• Also at 65 Broad, Ramin Azizoghli plans to create, or re-create, a rug and home furnishings store in the corner space, according to filings with the borough.
Azizoghli did not respond to a request for comment, but commercial broker Joann Clark of Blue Winn Realty tells Churn that he previously had a rug store there. That’s his ‘Rugs of Persia’ sign that’s been on the building for several years of the vacancy.
As reported here in May, a tonsorial parlor called New York Shaving Company planned to take the space. But the owners had a change of plans, Clark said.
• Andrew Evilsizor’s the name, and it’s not made up, the owner of barber shop planned for 30 Monmouth Street tells Churn.
The 28-year-old has been cutting hair since he was 15, and the shop, called Evil Fades Gentlemen’s Club, will be his second. The first, in Millstone, is known for its atmosphere as much for its cuts: the barbers there dress in shirts and ties. This one will replicate that vibe, with a couple of chairs on the first floor and Evilsizor working a chair on the second, he says.
Evilsizor hopes to open by October 1.
• Wish 28, opened 18 months ago by identical twin sisters who had small roles in the original ‘Godfather’ film, has closed at 28 Monmouth Street. It will be replaced by Pirates and Unicorns. Wish 28 co-owner Virginia Falkinburg will sell children’s jewelry there, and a cousin will sell children’s clothes, she tells Churn.
• Recent departures from downtown include the bee, a women’s clothing shop that flew the hive at 67 Broad Street after less than 18 months in town, and Faustini Wines, which ended a four-year fermentation at 43 Broad.
