Pig puppet celebrates Toy Utopia’s move to a bigger home on Broad Street. (Photo by Brian Donohue)
By Brian Donohue
A Shrewsbury Avenue building that has housed a funeral home for generations is put up for sale. And as the calendar turns to spring, a stretch of East Front Street get superchurned, with a longtime jeweler and toy store both moving to Broad Street; a men’s clothing boutique closing four months after it opens and a new women’s boutique setting up shop a few doors down.
It’s another head spinning edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn. Scroll on for the details.
Since the last edition of Retail Churn, two businesses on East Front have completed moves to bigger digs on Broad Street.
Leonardo Jewelers spruced up and moved into a crown jewel of the downtown, the distinctive 1920 structure known as the Whitfield Building, which sits facing west down Monmouth Street at 73 Broad. As we reported last March, Leonardo is the only jeweler in Monmouth County authorized by Rolex to sell its brand, just as the Leonardo Jewelers in Metuchen is the only one in Middlesex County.
The watchmaker now requires retailers to devote 1,000 square feet to the brand, or lose the connection, so the move to the bigger space smack in the center of it all made tons of sense. The family-owned business had been at the East Front Street Location for more than 35 years.
Leonardo’s more playful former Front Street neighbors are now also its Broad Street neighbors.
Toy Utopia completed construction and opened recently opened at 66 Broad Street. The mecca of browsable joy had been operating at 18 West Front since Bruce and Mira Brach opened in 2022. Bruce (pictured below) told Churn he and all the toys are enjoying the new bigger space, which they celebrated with a grand opening on April 4. The space had previously been home to the interior design biz Red Ginger, whose owner told us back in January he was looking for a new location. 
Speaking of grand openings, lets turn our Churny gaze back over to 21 East Front Street, where the bespoke menswear seller Ventuno didn’t even stay open long enough to take down its “Grand Opening” banner. 
FROM GRAND TO GUTTED: The grand opening banner still flaps in the breeze Wesdnesday on the front of the now vacant storefront home to Ventuno’s fiery five-month run. (photo by Brian Donohue)
Owner Jack Menashe (pictured below at right ) opened the place in September, promising to duplicate the made-to-measure products and service he offers at Sartoria Studio a “modern haberdashery and style laboratory” in Manhattan’s SoHo district.
The Sartoria web site says “each Sartoria Studio made-to-measure jacket, shirt and accessory is meticulously hand-crafted by the Vanni tailors whose garments have been continuously made in Italy since first opening their doors in 1818.” Ventuno fell a tad short of that two-century legacy.
The business sustained a small early morning fire in January, which was spotted by an alert Red Bank Police Department police officer and put out with a fire extinguisher.
When we stopped by the day of the fire there appeared to be no damage and Menashe gave us the thumbs up and indicated the business was remaining open.
By March 20, the store was completely empty, with only a stool and a half smoked cigar remaining. Both those items were also gone the next day.
“It seemed like they pulled up a truck and took everything out in the middle of the night,” the owner of a neighboring business told us. A call to Sartoria Studio in Manhattan was met with a message telling us the number is no longer in service.
In a sign of Churn on the horizon, the owner of the building that houses Donato Askew Memorial Home is selling the property, and the operator is searching for another location in Monmouth County. Pondering a line of business more steady than journalism, we stumbled on the funeral home listed for sale on Zillow for $649,000.
The building had long been home to Childs Funeral Home until 2019 when the operators of Donato Askew began renting the location.
Donato Askew owner Jacqueline Baylor tells us she is are looking for a new location somewhere in Monmouth County.
Robel Realty, located in Edison Township, bought the property in 2019 for $240,000, according to a deed recorded with Monmouth County.
In other churn news:
Big Wave barbershop has opened at 30 Monmouth Street, right next to the Dublin House. The space was previously occupied by another hair cutter. Owners Joseph and Kristina Martin hail from Monmouth County, with Joe having previously cut hair at a barbershop in Asbury Park. They are touting the store as a family-friendly hair cutter.
Aaand, back over the East Front Street to end this where we started: Robertella Luxury Clothing Boutique is preparing for a soft opening Monday at 23 East Front Street.
Angelica Fiore with Robert and Bella inside Robertella. (photo by Brian Donohue)
It’s a serious family affair. Owner Angelica Fiore of Manalapan named the store after her children Bella and Robert and says she’ll run the place along with her mother, Natalie and her aunt Violet. She described the offerings as “comfy chic and also elegant.” Think Polazzo pants, cowboy hats, gym essentials, jewelry, handbags.
