A ballet school plans to take over a Broad Street storefront recently vacated by an electric bike store. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
After a short stay, an electric bike shop has departed downtown Red Bank, but an established ballet school is ready to jeté into its vacated space.
Also on the ever-Churning retail scene, a board-game shop prepares to open, and a longtime jewelry shop closes.
With its owners retiring, Jacé Jewelers will close at the end of the year. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
• The Monmouth Academy of Ballet plans to make the leap a few blocks south over to 141 Broad Street, a storefront recently vacated by EV Motion, according to Kenny Schwartz, who owns the property and is a partner in the electric bike shop with Ron Mitro.
The bike shop, which occupied the space for just 14 months, has moved to Route 33 in Neptune, where it will share space with another Schwartz-Mitro business, Indian Motorcycle of Monmouth.
“Sales were good” at the Red Bank location, Schwartz told Churn, but had difficulty hiring employees. That meant Mitro, who managed the two locations, had to run back and forth to cover both, and It “simply became a hassle,” said Schwartz, who also owns the nearby Detour Gallery.
Ballet academy owner Ellen Gunn, who opened the school on the second floor of at 16 Monmouth Street in 2014, did not respond to emails about her plans.
Downtown real estate investor Igor Kapelnikov acquired 16 Monmouth earlier this year.
• Directly across the street from Kapelnikov’s latest purchase is the two-storefont 15-17 Monmouth Street, half of which was vacated in early October by Feet First skateboard shop. Churn has since learned that the space has been leased by Gennaro Monaco to house a business called Shore Gamers.
The shop, Monaco tells us, will “provide a physical space for both experienced tabletop board game lovers and new players to come together in the spirit of play.”
It will combine retail sales with “walk-in play” for all-age board game lovers, Monaco said in an email. “There is no similar local space with an extensive game library ready to provide teaching and direction to bring families and friends together. We remove the barriers to getting started with a new hobby and social circle.”
He did not provide an estimated opening date.
• After 23 years at 53 Broad Street, Jacé Jewelers is closing at the end of the holiday season.
Owners Jack and Grace Dabah are retiring, according to a notice on the shop’s Facebook page.
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