Gleaming displays at Salt & Smoke, on Prospect Avenue. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank may have lost one of its oldest neighborhood butcher shops last summer, but new owners are giving the space a new, spicier lease on life.
Also in this edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn, a pottery instruction business takes over a tiny, hard-to-see spot in the heart of downtown.
Debbie Eisenstein at the Red Bank Artisan Collective earlier this month. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
Five years ago, Debbie Eisentein opened the Red Bank Artisan Collective at 43 Broad Street, following her parents into the world of retailing downtown.
Though her family is an owner of the building, Eisenstein said she pays market rent, which is covered by subrents and consignment fees from the artists and craftspeople selling their works in the space.
redbankgreen visited Eisenstein recently for chat that revives the long dormant Human Bites feature.
Sunday’s Street Fair in downtown Red Bank, a fundraiser for the borough’s volunteer fire department, drew thousands of attendees to Monmouth and Broad streets.
Kurt Poehler at the Red Bank Farmer’s Market in May, 2020. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
The farmer who trigged a backlash over disposed produce at the Red Bank Farmer’s Market Sunday defended the practice as a normal result of sorting Wednesday.
In addition, an organization that puts surplus produce into the hands of those who need it backed him for donating carloads of fruit and vegetables weekly, including Sunday.
Customers of the Red Bank Farmer’s Market were alarmed to see good produce tossed into a dumpster Sunday.
Red Banker Mike Quon, below, is among the visual artists and craftsmakers selling their wares in a pop-up bazaar in the former Alfonso’s Bakery storefront on Broad Street. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
The holiday season is popping in Red Bank, with a number of organizations applying the retail ‘pop-up‘ concept in coming days, not just to storefronts but also to entertainments.
The exhibit includes a 1908 wedding dress made of silk messaline satin “in a formal Gibson Girl style,” according to the catalog. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
The Shrewsbury Historical Society plans an unusual unveiling this weekend.
Or perhaps it’s more apt to call it a veiling, because the subject is wedding dresses across more than a century and a half of American life.
After four weeks as a pandemic-era drive-thru, the Red Bank Farmer’s Market plans to resume walk-thru shopping Sunday, its operators announced Tuesday.
The Red Bank Farmer’s Market reopened Sunday, with some changes to limit the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19.
The foremost modification: the market is now temporarily a drive-thru only, with customers encouraged to pre-order their purchases.
Kurt Poehler, above, and his crew from Spring House Farms were ready with arrays of colorful fruits and vegetables.
The popular Red Bank Farmer’s Market will be back sooner than expected, redbankgreen has learned.
Unfortunately, shoppers won’t be allowed out of their cars to squeeze, sniff and taste until the COVID-19 pandemic is no longer considered a threat.
What’s Going On Here? Read on.
Mother’s Day is still five weeks away, but this year’s edition won’t be accompanied by the customary opening of the Red Bank Farmer’s Market.
George Sourlis, whose family-owned Galleria of Red Bank hosts the popular Sunday market, tells redbankgreen that this year’s start has been indefinitely postponed by the COVID-19 crisis. It will open once the pandemic has passed, he said.
The seasonal farmstand typically runs through November. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
The Galleria’s application indicated the business would be located in space now occupied by Siam Garden. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Three months after Red Bank changed its zoning laws to allow sales of medical marijuana, the borough has rejected its first application for a retail pot shop, officials said Wednesday night.
The denial appears to underscore one of the main problems such a business would have to navigate: limitations on their proximity to schools and parks.
Michael Saunders inks a new tat for Red Bank resident Nick Goskowsky on opening day at Front Street Tattoo. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Just three months after the Red Bank council voted to allow tattoo parlors downtown, one has inked its first butterflies and skulls onto biceps and bellies.
Front 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
Just 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.
Under the changes, medical marijuana dispensaries are now allowed in retail zones, and tattoo parlors are permitted in additional zones. (Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
As expected, the Red Bank council approved measures on medical marijuana shops and tattoo parlors Wednesday.
Officials also introduced an ordinance to recognize a turn toward do-it-yourself crafts and other forms of “commercial recreation” downtown.
Colleagues in creativity plan to honor the late artist Terry McCue, above, with a bench that overlooks the Navesink River from the Red Bank Public Library, below. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
To honor of one of their own, the members of a long-standing monthly art class at the Red Bank Public Library plan to install a bench on the institution’s grounds overlooking the Navesink River.
First, they’re selling their own work to fund it.
Little Silver manicurist and nail artist Halle Butler needs a hand.
The Northeastern University junior, now doing a beauty-industry internship in Manhattan, is one of six national semifinalists in a nail art competition sponsored by polish maker Essie.
A rendering of the proposed addition to the left of the existing theater and fly tower at center, as seen from the northeast. (Rendering by Kaplan Gaunt Desantis Architects. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s Two River Theater won raves from neighbors, and zoning board approval, Thursday night for a plan to expand its non-performance space.
But West Street residents pressed for, and failed to obtain, changes to aspects of the plan that they worry will direct more traffic onto their block, some of it from motorists using the theater lot simply to avoid street traffic.
A rendering of the proposed addition to the left of the existing theater and tower above, as seen from the northeast. (Rendering by Kaplan Gaunt Desantis Architects. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
The backstage area of Red Bank’s Two River Theater is about to get bigger, if a plan in the works gets a green light from borough officials.
Scheduled for consideration by the zoning board next week, the plan calls for the construction of an architecturally bold addition to the existing theater for rehearsal spaces, costume-making and the building of props and scenery, according to documents on file.
There’s new construction underway on a narrow, vacant lot on Shrewsbury Avenue in Red Bank, where a pharmacist, Ritesh Shah, won approval last year to erect a four-unit apartment building with an independently owned drugstore on the ground floor. An architect’s rendering is at right.
Shah was not immediately available for comment on the estimated completion date of the project, which is next door to Lino’s Mexican Café. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
An artist at work on a bowl for the event, and a sampling of the bowls available for purchase, below. (Photos by Bob McKay. Click to enlarge)
For the second year in a row, the Red Bank-based Art Alliance of Monmouth County will host its Empty Bowls Project at JBJ Soul Kitchen this weekend.
A joint fundraiser to benefit Soul Kitchen and the alliance, the event features a sale of one-of-a-kind, locally made ceramic bowls.
Cliff Keen, above, is the new director of public utilities, and Charlie Hoffmann, below, runs parks and rec. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Recent months have brought some new faces to Red Bank government.
In particular, three departments that residents have regular interaction with, and occasional strong opinions about, are under new leadership: parks and recreation; planning and zoning; and public utilities.
Here’s a quick intro to the new directors.
Barb Randall with a lavender plant in her Red Bank yard. Below, a photo of her late sister, Donna Randall. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
When her older sister died from a rare form of leukemia three years ago, Barb Randall found some solace in an aroma, and the memories it inspired.
Donna Randall, who worked in the fragrance industry, had created a simple lavender spray for her own use that she applied to linens.
“Whenever she had overnight guests at her Jersey City brownstone, she would spray it on the pillows,” Barb recalled in an interview at her Red Bank home this week. “And when I stayed there, the last thing she would always say to me was, ‘sweet dreams.'”
It may have been damp and sweltering out, but a vessel built for gliding on ice went for a ride over the weekend.
Over asphalt, that is, not frozen water. Still, the Rocket, the 127-year-old ice yacht owned and lovingly restored by Red Bank’s North Shrewsbury Ice Boat & Yacht Club, traveled to Wooden Boat Magazine’s Wooden Boat Show in Mystic, Connecticut, where it captured the award for Best in Show among restored vessels.
Back in the frigid days of March, the Rocket, built in 1888, raced on its home Navesink for the first time in 80 years against the Jack Frost, which belongs to the Hudson River Ice Yacht Club. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
Lisa Tave shows off the gym bag she created, which gave rise to her new shop of the same name: Physhion. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Fair Haven’s quaint downtown saw the debuts of a pair of fresh retail faces last month:
• Physhion, a boutique specializing in workout wear that doubles as all-day clothing.
• The Pink Peony, a flowers-and-gifts shop that also offers party-planning services.