RED BANK: CHRISTMAS TREE WANTED
Got a spare blue spruce in your yard? Red Bank RiverCenter is once again looking for a Christmas tree to display in Riverside Gardens Park this holiday season.
RED BANK: MORE SIGNS OF RETAIL CHURN
Rice Box lasted less than a year at 21 Monmouth Street, but another restaurant is preparing to replace it. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Greek food replacing Thai. A new coal-fired pizzeria. A juice bar. A new home for an investment office.
Read all about the latest signs of change in downtown Red Bank in this edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn.
RED BANK: SALLY BOY’S TAKES CORNER SPOT
Erin Oakley of Fantastic Signs installing temporary signs for Sally Boy’s restaurant at 1 Broad Street Thursday. (Photo by Allan Bass. Click to enlarge.)
See UPDATE below
By JOHN T. WARD
Seven years after its last occupant left, one of Red Bank’s most visible retail spaces is finally getting set for a new one.
Read all about in this edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn.
RED BANK: THOUSANDS PACK OYSTERFEST
Sunny and cool weather provided ideal conditions for the return of the Red Bank RiverCenter-hosted Guinness Oyster Festival Sunday.
After a missed year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s 11th edition saw fewer local restaurants owing to staffing shortages. But thousands of attendees packed the White Street parking lot, waited patiently in lines for food and drinks, and partied with friends in front of two stages as in the past.
Were you there? Look for yourself and your friends in redbankgreen‘s beaucoup photos below. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
RED BANK: SUN TO SHINE ON OYSTERFEST
Likely to be the biggest bash Red Bank has seen since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Guinness Oyster Festival is set to return for a skipped-year 11th edition Sunday.
Here’s some helpful information for those planning to attend, including a lookahead at the forecast.
RED BANK: IN CHURN, ALL-DAY EATERY OPENS
Patrick Jeffrey and daughter Elli outside his newly opened restaurant. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
This edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn delivers news about the opening of a new all-day restaurant in downtown Red Bank.
And on the business horizon: a new children’s shoe shop, and a cigar-and-CBD “tasting room.”
RED BANK: FASHION, GOLF & MORE IN CHURN
Daniela Perez and her mother, Nelly, opened Moda Latina on Shrewsbury Avenue this week. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
In this edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn, a clothing store and an indoor golf facility make their debuts in Red Bank.
Also: we’ve got an update on a short-lived West Side pharmacy. Read on…
RED BANK: SEAFOOD, YARN & ART IN CHURN
Mario Segundo has opened Mariscos Marlin, a Mexican seafood restaurant, in the Galleria of Red Bank. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
The owner of a new Red Bank restaurant quit his job in auto repair to open his first business in the space vacated by friends earlier this year.
Also in this summer-doldrums edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn: a Norwegian knitting store and a health spa plan openings, and a group of artists hope to hang onto their space.
RED BANK: BOARD TAPS BOWERS-CRADER
Samantha Bowers-Crader with her father, John Bowers, at the Mayor’s Ball in 2018. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank RiverCenter‘s new chairperson is filling a seat held three decades ago by her father.
RED BANK: EPOXY, SOAP & GOLD TUB IN CHURN
The former Anima space at 37 Broad is getting a new tenant, while the facade of the now-vacant storefront next door (at left) is getting a makeover. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Epoxy-and-wood tables; “occult” bath products; and news about two downtown restaurants get the spotlight in this edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn.
RED BANK: CARTER TO LEAD RIVERCENTER
Glenn Carter and OceanFirst Bank’s Robin Fitzmaurice at the Mayor’s Ball at the Oyster Point Hotel in 2018. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
A familiar face has been hired to run Red Bank RiverCenter, the downtown promotion organization: former borough planning director Glenn Carter.
RED BANK: WHAT’S ON AGENDA, AND NOT
A rendering of Saxum Real Estate’s approved but not-yet-built plan for 176 Riverside Avenue. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A controversial plan to job out Red Bank’s in-house animal control service is expected to be tabled Wednesday night.
Here’s what’s on the agenda for the semimonthly meeting of the mayor and council.
RED BANK: ‘GOOD LIFE’ CHURNS INTO TOWN
Melvin and Anita Pierce outside their healthy-eating restaurant at 60 Broad Street. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Sweethearts since high school, a Shrewsbury couple has staked a claim in downtown Red Bank with their first-ever business venture.
Read all about them and other news in this edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn.
RED BANK: KIRKPATRICK QUITS RIVERCENTER
Laura Kirkpatrick addressing the Red Bank council in March, 2020. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
[See UPDATE below]
By JOHN T. WARD
For the second time in just 17 months, the downtown promotion organization Red Bank RiverCenter is losing its executive director.
After just one, pandemic-filled year, Laura Kirkpatrick has resigned as operational head of the agency that manages the borough’s special improvement district, redbankgreen has learned.
RED BANK: ANTIQUES, TOYS, TATS AND MORE
Courtney Muller in her shop, M & Co. Vintage, on Monmouth Street. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
In this edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn: a quirky antiques shop opens, a bank branch closes, a tattoo parlor inks a new lease and more.
RED BANK: SENIOR CENTER FIX-UP ADVANCES
The backyard of the mothballed Senior Center overlooking the upper Navesink River. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
A proposal to repair Red Bank’s mothballed Senior Center without adding any new facilities won a Redevelopment Agency endorsement Tuesday evening.
The action could defuse one of the hottest issues in a contested Democratic race for two council seats just six weeks before a primary vote.
RED BANK: COOKIES, SOAP, TATS, GOLF & MORE
Sweet Bee Bakeshop has taken over the space vacated by Sugarush cupcakes at 37 East Front Street. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
An established, and local, wholesale cookie baker is making the move to storefront retail in Red Bank as soon as next week.
Also in the works downtown: an ‘occult’ soap shop, a tattoo parlor and a ‘golf lounge.’ Read all about ’em this edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn.
RED BANK: JEWELERS RETIRE, SELL BUILDING
Vance Valente at Quicksilver Handcrafted Jewelry on Saturday. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
This edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn might be titled “keeping churn to a minimum.”
Because while we’re reporting the closure of a downtown shop – due to retirement, not the economy – the change comes with a significant real estate deal aimed at keeping small shops alive.
RED BANK: SKATE SHOP ROLLS INTO TOWN
Feet First opens on Monmouth Street, having skated across the Navesink from Middletown. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
In this edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn: a skateboard shop rolls into downtown Red Bank, a comic book shop relocates, and the pandemic economy claims another handful of stores.
RED BANK: HOSPITAL TO OWN GARAGE
The garage, built in 1983, became the subject of a lease-purchase deal between the town and Riverview 17 years later. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
It’s a mere formality, but Riverview Medical Center is slated to become the owner of Red Bank’s only publicly-owned parking garage Friday.
At its regular meeting Wednesday night, the borough council authorized officials to sign off on a property transfer worked out when the current council president was in middle school.
The deal adds to the nonprofit hospital’s growing portfolio of real estate.
RED BANK: TRAP DOOR PLANS TO BUST OPEN
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.
RED BANK: RIVERCENTER CHANGES RIPPED
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.”
RED BANK: LOW-KEY TREE LIGHTING
Red Bank’s official Christmas tree, a blue spruce donated by the Jennings family of Little Silver, was installed in Riverside Gardens Park over the past weekend. But because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the lighting of the tree will be a low-key affair.
RED BANK: THAI FOOD & CLOTHING CHURN IN
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.
RED BANK: PIZZERIA & JUICE BAR CHURN IN
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.