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.

RED BANK: TATTOO SHOP INKS LEASE

37-e-front-112118-1-500x375-2632586Front Street Tattoo plans to take a portion of the space previously used by Sugarush; the cupcake shop remains. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

rcsm2_0105081-220x165-9667185Just a month after the Red Bank council voted to allow tattoo parlors downtown, one has inked a lease in the district.

Also in Retail Churn: a new women’s accessory shop plans to open.

decatur-111617-500x375-6381640Women’s accessories retailer Midtown Authentic plans to open at 9 Monmouth Street, at center above. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

Michael ‘Shoe’ Nyegaard, a 27-year veteran of the tattoo trade who’s launched ink salons in New Brunswick (Anchor Tattoo Company, run by his son) and a nephew in Linden (Tattooville, run by a nephew), plans to open Front Street Tattoo at 37 East Front Street.

The space is the former party room and café of Sugarush cupcakes, which will continue to operate next door to the tattoo parlor.

In October, the council unanimously struck down prohibitions on tattoo shops in five business zones, a move championed by Councilman Erik Yngstrom. Before then, tattoo shops were allowed only in the highway business zone fronting on Newman Springs Road, but none had opened there.

A longtime customer of  Jamian’s Food and Drink on Monmouth Street and T&T Automotive Services on Gold Street, Nyegaard resident said he’s been aching to get into Red Bank for years but was stymied by the law. So when he learned of the council’s action, he began his hunt for a space the next day, he said.

A 58-year-old former shoe repairer who now lives in Brick Township, Nyegaard made his bones as a tattooist in the shadow the former General Motors plant in Linden, and over the decades has started and sold shops in Neptune and Toms River. He said he still can’t wrap his head around the mainstream embrace of tattooing in recent years, a change so profound that many of his current customers aren’t familiar with craft’s blue-collar days.

“I come from the ‘creepy biker’ era. When we went to the beach, the waters would part,” with beachgoers in obvious discomfort at the sight of a heavily tattooed man with children, he said. Nowadays, he said, “you go to a tattoo shop and you get a latte and a pat on the ass.”

The borough planning office approved Nyegaard’s application without a need for any variances this week. He plans to start off with three inking stations, and will open as soon as he can get the sinks installed and inspected, he told Retail Churn Friday.

Front Street Tattoo’s home is in a building that’s for sale under a listing with Brothers Commercial Brokerage, but Nyegaard said the business will be protected for the three years of its first lease.

• The planning office has also approved an application for Midtown Authentic, a women’s accessory shop, to open at 9 Monmouth Street. The space was formerly, and briefly, occupied by Decatur Jewelry.

Midtown’s website describes it as “a designer resale van on-the-go… buying, selling and trading only the best authentic designer couture.” It lists locations in Princeton, Westfield and Wyckoff.

Owner Rory Chadwick could not be reached for comment.

• Atlantic Physical Therapy Centers plans to open at 68 White Street, taking space vacated earlier this year by Alpha Graphics. The building is owned by Philip J. Bowers Company, which owns a number of commercial properties in the vicinity.

According to its website, Atlantic, formed in 2001 by brothers Dave and Mike Manzo, has 15 centers in New Jersey, including one in Shrewsbury. No opening date for the Red Bank center has been set, and the Shrewsbury center will remain in operation, an employee tells Churn.

 

Remember: Nothing makes a Red Bank friend happier than to hear "I saw you on Red Bank Green!"
Partyline
RED BANK’S FINEST – AND NEWEST
Red Bank Police Officer Eliot Ramos was sworn in as the force’s newest patrolman Thursday, and if you’re doing a double take thinkin ...
EASTER EGG MAYHEM AT THE PARK
An errant whistle spurred an unexpectedly early start to the Spring Egg Hunt on Sunday, which had been scheduled to begin at eggsactly 11am ...
PRESEASON DOCKWORK
RED BANK: With winter winding down, marina gets ready for boating season with some dockwork on our beautiful Navesink River.
CORNED BEEF AND DISCO FRIES?
It’s Friday, and smart Lent-observing Leprechauns know the pot of gold at the end of Red Bank’s rainbow is actually the deliciou ...
SURFBOARD DITCHED
It’s a violation of etiquette in surfing to ditch your board.  (it could hit another surfer and hurt them). But someone appears to ha ...
ELSIE, TAKE ME WITH YOU!
Soaked by pouring rain with the temperature hovering in the low 40’s, this sign in the window of Elsie’s Subs on Monmouth Street ...
WALK THIS WAY
PARTYLINE: Before-and-afters of a sidewalk cleanup on West Street.
SOGGY NOTION
RED BANK: Breezeway sculpture captured the mood downtown as heavy rains fell Saturday morning.
HOME DELIVERY
RED BANK: After a subdivision, an instant house rises on a new Catherine Street lot.
COMMUNITY PROFILES
For Black History Month, Red Bank's Community Engagement and Equity Advisory Committee has been running a series of local profiles on Facebo ...
HEARTY FAREWELL FOR HARDY
RED BANK: Council to honor DPU supervisor Rich Hardy, who retired recently after almost 39 years of keeping things running.
HOMEBOUND? READ ON…
RED BANK: Can't get to the public library? It's now offering free delivery and pickups for homebound borough residents.
TAMING A BEAST OF A WEEK
RED BANK: After the second snowfall of the week, a borough family finds the perfect use for it – a Godzilla snow sculpture.
RED BANK: LIBRARY CLOSED, BUT THE HILL’S OPEN
RED BANK: Though the library was closed by a snowstorm, kids got to enjoy the riverfront property's steep slope Tuesday.
LIGHT(HOUSE) MAKEOVER
This year, getting ready for spring means a midwinter makeover for Strollo's Lighthouse in Red Bank.
TODAY: LOCAL PUPPY COMPETES ON ANIMAL PLANET’S “PUPPY BOWL”
Red Bank’s very own rescue puppy, Biscuit, is set to compete in Animal Planet’s Puppy Bowl this Sunday, February 11, at 2 PM. Th ...
WHAT? NO redbankgreen NEWSLETTER?
Apologies to redbankgreen newsletter subscribers: the daily email hasn’t gone out for two days because of technical issues.
RED BANK: TIRED OF SKEETERS?
RED BANK: Tired of mosquito bites every summer? Monmouth County has a free program to help eliminate skeeter breeding grounds.
SEA BRIGHT: POLAR PLUNGE FOR ST. JAMES, OTHERS
Hundreds braved the wind and sea on Sunday at 1PM in support of St. James Elementary School, and other Catholic schools in the area. The eve ...
RED BANK: RBR CLAIMS TITLE
RED BANK: Watch pure joy as the RBR boys basketball team celebrates its first B North championship in 17 years.