Product is handed from a secure storage room to cashiers serving customers via a portal built into a moss and mushroom rendering of the Canopy Crossroad logo created by a local artist. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By Brian Donohue
The Borough’s nascent retail cannabis scene hits full throttle as a third shop gets up and running. And if that gives you the munchies, well there’s new taqueria in the Galleria. Read all about those changes and more (and at least one change that was supposed to happen but didn’t) in this edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn
The exterior of Canopy Crossroad (above) and (below) the staff behind the counter including owners Andy Zeitlin and Caryn Cohen (far left) below.
The town’s third (and, assumedly, final?) licensed cannabis retailer is up and open for business.
Canopy Crossroad opened October 14 at 9 West Street in a space that adjoins Red Bank Liquors. Owners Caryn Cohen and Andy Zeitlin are longtime Red Bankers and are billing the business as the “most trusted” and only locally-owned cannabis shop in town. “We want to take the taboo out of cannabis and be a positive influence on the community by focusing on education that is science based, practicing sustainability, and taking initiatives to support residents and the thriving art and cultural activities for which Red Bank is known,” they said in a press release.
The shop is smaller and has more of a mom-and-pop feel than the two others up and running in town. One fun quirk: product is handed from the secure storage room to the cashiers serving customers through a small door at the center of a large moss-and-mushroom mural of the Canopy Crossroad logo created by artist Ally Amenta. The shop is recreational cannabis only but offers discounts for Red Bank residents and customers with a medical marijuana card.
Canopy Crossroad follows pot retailers Monteverde NJ and Frosted Nug, which both opened earlier this year at locations on Bridge Avenue. The Canopy Crossroad opening should wrap up the flurry of weed shop ribbon cuttings – maybe. The Borough’s cannabis ordinance limits the number of licensed retailers to three, although a fourth is suing the borough to try and get a license and a fifth is seeking planning board approval despite the license cap.
In other churn news, a New Mexican restaurant has opened in the Galleria.
Taquería La Shona celebrated its grand opening inside the Galleria at 2 Bridge Avenue on Saturday October 20th.
Owner Adrian Escalona is a Red Bank resident originally from the state of Puebla, Mexico. But he says his menu leans less on Puebla’s mole sauce-oriented dishes and has more of a Tijuana-region flare to it, with carne asada and cecena (dried beef) among the taco and enchilada fillings. Escalona says he’s worked much of his career in the cement/construction industry but “it’s always been my dream to open a restaurant.”
La Shona takes over a space that had been occupied by seafood restaurant Marlin Mariscos. Before that, it was home to The Salinas Café , The West Side Eatery and, before that, The Danish Cafe. The Galleria’s brick walls and hardwood floors create a warm vibe amid colorful Mexican flags and artisan sculptures.
Owner Adrian Escalona inside Taqueria La Shona. (photo by Brian Donohue)
Elsewhere in churn: There’s about to be another 2,000 square foot ground floor vacancy in the heart of the downtown. Kochut, a hand made jewelry and wood decor maker is closing its showroom at 37 Broad Street and moving to an internet only sales model, owner Olena Prykhdko tells redbankgreen. They expect to be out of the space by year’s end.
Kochut, at 27 Broad Street, with “For Lease” and “moving sale” signs in the window.
The business sells unique high end wood and epoxy resin furniture, housewares and jewelry (see photo of the stunning table below). With most of the shops customers in New York City and north Jersey (and even more customers in Florida) renting the space as a showroom no longer made sense Prykhdko said. They are currently having a moving sale with items marked down 25-50 percent. 
Here’s a churn item that never quite churned: 14 months after owner Mike Morgan said a tenant was taking over the long vacant former Valley National Bank building on the corner of Broad and Monmouth Streets, the ground floor remains empty with a for lease sign out front. What gives? Morgan tells redbankgreen the prospective tenant, a coffee shop, signed a lease then backed out, but that efforts to find a new tenant have “picked up steam” in the last two months. Valley National Bank moved out in 2018. 
Also: Further down Monmouth Street, there’s finally a “Retail Space Available” sign hanging in the big, beautiful, light-allowing, floor to ceiling glass windows at 74-76 Monmouth Street. We heaped on the adjectives there because it was the windows themselves that caused jaws to drop in January when contractors replaced the glass storefront with a row of residential style windows . The building’s owner chalked it up to a miscommunication and workers were seen recently restoring the storefront to a glass front. Looks like it’s all ready for any non-vampire tenants who may be looking for a sunny storefront. 
redbankgreen editor Brian Donohue may be reached via email at [email protected] or by calling or texting 848-331-8331 or yelling “yo, reporter” loudly as he walks by. Do you value the news coverage provided by redbankgreen? Please become a financial supporter if you haven’t already. Click here to set your own level of monthly or annual contribution.
