Trap Door Escape has signed a lease to expand into the former home of Hobbymasters. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
The former Hobbymasters building in Red Bank will become the site of America’s largest “escape room” entertainment facility if its new tenant has his way.
Read all about his plans, and other downtown comings and goings, in this pandemic-year-ending-edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn.
RiverCenter Executive Director Laura Kirkpatrick speaks at a council session in March as Business Administrator Ziad Shehady and Councilman Michael Ballard listen. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
See UPDATE below
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank Mayor Pasquale Menna ripped a proposed overhaul of the bylaws of downtown promotion agency RiverCenter Wednesday night.
With two council members joining his critique, Menna said several of the changes would reduce council and public oversight of the agency, which he called “repugnant.”
The business has operated at 35 Broad Street since 1997. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Jay and Silent Bob’s Secret Stash, filmmaker Kevin Smith‘s comic books and collectibles store in downtown Red Bank, plans to move to another not-so-secret Broad Street location, he announced Wednesday.
Mos Neammanee owns Rice Box with his brother, Khomsun. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
One step back and two steps forward for Red Bank’s central business district?
A Thai restaurant and a clothing boutique open next door to one another downtown, while a Broad Street business quietly calls it quits. Read all about them in this edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn.
Another pizza restaurant plans to take the vacant former home of Pacini’s at 177 Broad Street. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Commercial real estate activity may be down because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but Red Bank continuues to attract small shops that want in on whatever action is happening.x
In this edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn, we’ve got word on a new pizzeria and a juice bar signing leases, and the sale of a giant building in the heart of downtown.
Michele Ellis in her new restaurant on Broad Street. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
With restaurants struggling through historically poor conditions brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, it might seem absolutely nuts to start a new one.
But the owner of a bread-based eatery that plans to open in Red Bank this week says key lessons of the past eight months are, well, baked into her plan.
The former home of Atlantic Glass on Maple Avenue is getting a tenant after a long vacancy. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
A high-visibility Red Bank building gets a makeover for use as a gym; movie screenings return to White Street; and an insurance agency takes over a storefront.
Read all about them in this early autumn edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn.
Claudette Herring and Lauren Phillips at Via45 Monday. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
It was a day of mixed emotions for the owners of two Red Bank businesses as they closed up shop Monday.
At Via45, restaurateurs Lauren Phillips and Claudette Herring ended an 11-year run on Broad Street. Around the corner on Monmouth Street, Marissa Clifford oversaw the final children’s birthday party at Paint A Tee.
This 400th installment of Retail Churn has the details on those latest economic victims of the pandemic and other changes in the downtown mix.
The conjoined buildings at center, above, have changed hands, along with the liquor license. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
See UPDATE below
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s Downtown restaurant and night club, a major nightlife draw, has new owners.
The West Front Street business has been closed since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Daniel Ardelan puts the finishing touches on the window sign at GoodVibe Nutrition Tuesday afternoon. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Lying in bed in her New York City apartment on July 16, Irina Popa-Erwin had an insight: she had to open a store selling healthy beverages.
On Wednesday, five weeks later, she and two partners will open their business in Red Bank, a town they had never visited before they went on a mad search for a place to set up shop.
Michael and Valerie Aufiero on the terrace of their restaurant Monday. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
After 35 years as mainstays of the Red Bank restaurant scene, the owners of the Front St. Trattoria have made a quiet exit.
Read all about it, plus news of a planned CBD shop, in this edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn.
Their plans disrupted by the COVID-19 crisis, a longtime Red Bank-area chef and his two sons have opened a restaurant in the Galleria complex on Bridge Avenue. Read More
After 27 years in business, Janice Brown has closed the Nearly Newly clothing store on Monmouth Street. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
After a career as a Pan Am stewardess, Janice Brown found her second act in 1993 as a Red Bank retailer, selling stylish vintage clothing.
But in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Brown has decided to close the shop.
Read all about the end of the Nearly New Shop and other changes downtown in this edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn.
The COVID-19 pandemic has claimed another downtown Red Bank business.
Anthony Campitello, seen above with daughters Cristina, left, and Angie, has shut down Alfonso’s Pastry Shoppe on Broad Street after only 17 months of operation.
Alex Montaperto in Forge, her English Plaza shop, which hasn’t opened though it’s been ready for nine weeks. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
With the dust settling from one of the worst economic blows in American history, the damage to Red Bank’s retail scene is starting to come into focus.
Business shutterings and aborted lease deals are on the rise – no surprise – but there are also a few glimmers of optimism.
Read all about some of the changes downtown in this edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn.
After seven years of vacancy, the former Smith Barney building at 55 Broad Street in Red Bank had apparently just landed a new tenant. And then: COVID-19.
Laura Kirkpatrick addressing the Red Bank council Wednesday night. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Laura Kirkpatrick has been named executive director of Red Bank RiverCenter, the semi-autonomous agency that manages the borough’s special improvement district.
City Barn/Country Penthouse has opened for business at 19 Monmouth Street. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Commercial real estate deals rarely happen as quickly as the one that led to Friday’s opening of a new homewares store in downtown Red Bank.
Read all about here in redbankgreen‘s latest edition of Retail Churn.
Hobbymasters, a gamers’ paradise for four decades in downtown Red Bank, is calling it quits.
What’s Going On Here? Read on.
Brunch opened last week at 20 Broad Street. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Eaters have a fresh new option for breakfast and lunch in downtown Red Bank.
Read all about chef Ray Tutella’s venture and other business comings and goings in this edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn.
Erica Lieberman and Nick Napoletano in their third Monmouth Street restaurant, called Toss’d. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
What’s the secret to surviving as owners in Red Bank’s crowded dining market?
In this edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn, a pair of accidental restaurateurs share some insights as they prepare to launch their third concurrent venture in the heart of downtown.
Jim Scavone, left, with Mayor Pasquale Menna and Visitors Center director Margaret Mass at the opening of RiverCenter’s offices on Broad Street in October, 2018. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Jim Scavone, who led Red Bank RiverCenter for the past six years, is leaving the downtown promotion organization.
He won’t be going far, though: he’s taking a job at Hackensack Meridian Health at Riverview Medical Center, just on the edge of special improvement district he managed.
The former home of the Belmonte and, before that, Red, has been vacant for more than two years. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A long-vacant restaurant space in Red Bank won approval for rooftop dining Monday night, despite objections by the board’s chairman.
The new owners of 3-5 Broad Street also own the Proving Ground in Highlands. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
The new owners of the former home of the Belmonte restaurant and nightclub in downtown Red Bank hope to add rooftop dining when they reopen the long-vacant space.
Thomas Register pilots a mini drone over a facsimile of Red Bank at Chopper Shopper. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A new business that combines gaming and retail promotion has flown into downtown Red Bank.
This edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn has the eye-in-sky scoop.