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RED BANK: LUNCH BREAK COLLECTS PROMWEAR

(Press release from Lunch Break)

Lunch Break, the food pantry and social service resource center in Red Bank, is accepting formal-wear donations for female and male students from Feb. 1-March 31, 2022 at its facility, 121 Drs. James Parker Blvd., as part of the Sixth Annual Prom Drive and Give-Away.

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RED BANK: CLOTHES, CANDLES &… CANNABIS?

Veronica Mogilevich in her new boutique, Another Sunday, on Monmouth Street. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

retail churn smallA clothing boutique debuts; a gift shop and a restaurant plan openings; a would-be cannabis retailer stakes a claim; and a major retail building changes hands.

Read all about the latest business activity in downtown Red Bank in this edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn.

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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

retail churn smallThis 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.

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SHREWSBURY: WEDDING GOWNS IN SPOTLIGHT

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.

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RED BANK: ‘GOTH & GIRLY’ FASHION ON BROAD

Red Bank’s Broad Street “Broadwalk” briefly served as a fashion runway Sunday evening, as models strutted in creations by designer and retailer Emily Natale, at right.

The owner of Pearl Street Consignment and Custom Clothes, at Pearl and Monmouth streets, described the featured outfits as “very Goth chick, effortlessly girly.”

Seated at the edge of Maggie McKenna’s chalk-drawn runway, Charlotte Hand of Rumson said the event had the feel of an event “that you have to be super-exclusive to get into.”

See more photos from the event below. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

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RED BANK: OUTDOOR FASHION SHOW SLATED

A fashion show featuring creations of Emily Natale is to be held on Broad Street in front of Restoration Hardware Sunday evening. (Above photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

[UPDATE: Due to rain in forecast, this event has been rescheduled to August 30.]

A Red Bank clothing designer and boutique owner hopes to add to the allure of the popular Broadwalk outdoor dining experiment downtown this weekend.

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RED BANK: LIFE BECOMES A MASK-ERADE

fair haven masks 040320.jpgred bank covid-19 masks 040420 3Mask-wearing workers installed a sign for a law office in in Fair Haven Friday. “It’s not as annoying as I thought it would be,” one said of the mask.

That day, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that people wear cloth face coverings to help slow the spread of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 in settings where social distancing is difficult.

The suggestion was quickly taken up, as seen in the photos above and below taken on the Greater Red Bank Green Friday and Saturday. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

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FAIR HAVEN: AN ELEGANT ENIGMA ON DISPLAY

red bank what's going on herefair haven haute coutureThe window display at Haute Couture Creations as seen last week. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Luminously elegant in her strapless white gown, she swans through a flock of origami doves behind full-length windows in the heart of Fair Haven’s quaint business district.

For more than a decade, that mannequin and another on display at Haute Couture Creations have been something of an enigma for passersby: their outfits never seem to change. But thanks to a Facebook thread, only recently have locals collectively realized something even odder: the boutique itself is never open for business.

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RED BANK: GIVING PLAY-BY-PLAY A TRY

Would-be sports announcers listen to Monmouth U Eddy Occhipinti, below, in a Parks & Rec class at the borough library last week.

[Red Bank Parks & Rec press release]

Thirteen Red Bank youngsters with dreams of a future in sports broadcasting participated last week in ‘Sports Broadcasting,’ the first part of a two-week workshop produced by the Red Bank Department of Parks and Recreation.

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RED BANK: FRESH FASHION ON THE RUNWAY

Red bank rec fashion 012919
Red bank rec fashion 012919Putting a bow on a three-week ‘Fifth Avenue Fashion’ course offered by Red Bank’s Parks & Rec department, 10 young designers showed off their creations at a red-runway fashion show at the Senior Citizens’ Center Tuesday night.

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RED BANK: A SECOND CAREER IN OLD JEANS

Kattya Torres at her Union Special sewing machine. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

After her job as a wireless telecom engineer vanished in a merger, a Red Bank businesswoman has found a second career in eradicating crotch rot.

Ahem: that is to say, the holes that frequently develop in the groin of old jeans some people simply cannot part with.

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SHREWSBURY: A STUDY IN CHILLING OUT

Edgar Davis of the Study provides some “men’s precision grooming” for Alex Goodman of Red Bank. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

A wooden sign outside a small cluster of stores in Shrewsbury is a bit enigmatic. It says, simply, “THE STUDY.”

If it sounds like the name of a coffeehouse hoping to create a certain mood, or a college-exam prep outfit, well, the tagline in small type underneath clarifies things a bit, for passersby with good eyesight: “men’s precision grooming.”

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LITTLE SILVER: NAIL BUFF TRIES TO NAIL $20K


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.

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RED BANK: YARN, SNEAKERS, JEWELRY & MORE

Customers at the community knitting table at Chelsea Yarns, which opened on Mechanic Street two weeks ago. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

retail churn small

A retail business moving into Red Bank from out of town. An existing business rebranding itself. Another one moving a few doors away. And a fourth calling it quits.

You might say this edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn has it all, churnwise.

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RED BANK: BOUTIQUES PLAN FASHION SHOW

The new rooftop deck at Teak, with the onetime borough hall in the background, is the setting for a fashion show featuring stylings by downtown shops. (Photo by Life as Fine Art. Click to enlarge)

Downtown Red Bank will be the scene of its first open-air fashion show in recent memory next month.

The aim of the event is to “showcase that retail is very much alive in our amazing little city,” said Angela Courtney, owner of the Sweetest Sin lingerie shop on White Street.

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RED BANK: TAPAS OUT; CLOTHES, ICE CREAM IN

The short-lived home of a Subway shop at 60 Broad is slated to open as Luigi’s Ice Cream. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

[See correction below]

By JOHN T. WARD

retail churn small

A restaurant departs as an ice cream shop and a clothing store prepare to open in downtown Red Bank, redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn has learned.

Details below.

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RUMSON: WORDS NEEDED FUR CHAIR BEAR

chair-bear-101916accidentalphotographerredbankgreen’s Accidental Photographer came upon this scene on West River Road in Rumson Wednesday morning. But it cries out for a witty caption. Got one? Go fur it.  (Photo by Trish Russoniello. Click to enlarge)

RED BANK: A DATE WITH DESTINY?

rb-dates-092816accidentalphotographerredbankgreen’s Accidental Photographer came upon this scene of scattered and mashed dates on West Front Street in Red Bank Wednesday. No clue how they got there.

The photo cries out for a witty caption. Got one? (Photo by Trish Russoniello. Click to enlarge)

SHREWSBURY: SWIMWEAR, PIZZA & MORE

sbury lilikoi 080916Lilikoi set up shop recently in a Broad Street storefront in the Franklin Commons strip mall. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

retail churn small

This edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn takes a spin around Shrewsbury and finds — no surprise — that this retail-centric borough has no shortage of stores coming and going.

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SHREWSBURY: SWIMWEAR IN THE FORECAST

shrewsbury mannequins 061016A pair of mannequins stood sheathed in plastic while contractors prepared a new swimwear shop at the Franklin Commons strip mall on Broad Street in Shrewsbury last week.

After a night of windows-open natural air conditioning, when temperatures dipped into the upper 50s, the Greater Red Bank Green is back into swimwear weather, with ample sunshine and peak temperatures in the vicinity of 80 degrees Monday, according to the Weather Underground. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

RED BANK: BURGLARY AT MARKET REPORTED

AUTHORITIES_RB-2016-v3Red Bank police are investigating a burglary that occurred late Saturday night or early Sunday morning at Citarella’s Market on Prospect Avenue, Chief Darren McConnell tells redbankgreen.

McConnell said the burglar or burglars forced their way into the shop through the front door and stole a small amount of cash. An investigation is underway, he said.