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RED BANK: CLOTHING, SALADS, SHAKES & MORE

Born in a shed in Matawan, Shedhead Vintage has opened at 93 Broad Street. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

retail churn smallNew shops selling vintage clothing, healthy beverages, fresh salads and more have debuted in downtown Red Bank in recent weeks.

Say hello to the owners in this midsummer edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn.

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RED BANK: FOUR BUSINESSES EXPAND

Sweetest Sin owner Angela Courtney is doubling the size of her lingerie boutique on White Street. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

retail churn smallWith their eyes on growth, four established Red Bank businesses are seizing opportunities to expand their presence downtown, redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn has learned.

Among them are three retailers who have found ways to survive online shopping, the coronavirus pandemic and other challenges that have crushed so many in their sector.

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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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RED BANK: RESTAURANTS FEED THE CHURN

red bank galleria 071119The Galleria is losing two restaurants: West Side Eatery and Siam Garden. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

retail churn smallA salad-bar restaurant and a “general store-slash-coffee bar” prepare to open in Red Bank as two other eateries close their doors.

Read all about those changes and more in this edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn.

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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: NEARLY NAKED FOR A CAUSE

112314 gonaked20112314 gonaked38Well on its way to earning the label “Red Bank tradition,” the fourth annual cancer awareness-raiser Go Naked and Check Yourself  took over the Downtown Sunday evening, offering raffles, entertainment and eyecandy for a cause. redbankgreen was there, naturally. We’ve got more photos after the jump… (Photos by Susan Ericson. Click to enlarge)

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RED BANK: STILL GOING NAKED

It was nippy outside Sunday evening, but at Red Bank’s Red lounge, it was a place to Go Naked. Dozens came out to the third annual Go Naked and Check Yourself fundraiser and (ahem) educational event held to raise awareness about skin cancer, breast cancer, testicular cancer and other detectable ailments. Once again, Red Bank’s Sugarush cupcakes and Sweetest Sin lingerie shops put the bounce in the event, which had previously raised more than $20,000 for health-related charities. (Photos by Peter Lindner. Click to enlarge)

BARELY DRESSED FOR CANCER PREVENTION

Supporters packed Teak Restaurant for the second edition of Go Naked & Check Yourself on Sunday. (Photos by Rebecca Desfosse.)

By: REBECCA DESFOSSE

Sugarush cupcakes and Sweetest Sin have done it again. Teak Restaurant was nearly busting at the seams for the second sold-out Go Naked and Check Yourself cancer fundraiser and awareness raiser Sunday night.

Waitresses passed around food, cocktails, and minicupcakes. Lingerie and underwear models, in various states of undress, sold raffle tickets. But partiers weren’t there for the models, of course: they were there to learn how to check themselves for detectable cancers of the skin, testicles and breasts.

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RED BANK: THIS TIME, ELECT TO GO NAKED

Models make their way through the crowds at the inaugural Go Naked and Check Yourself awareness-raiser in 2011. This year’s edition takes place Sunday. (Click to enlarge)

By REBECCA DESFOSSE

The presidential race may be over, but there’s still one more election this month: Elect to Check, the theme for this year’s Go Naked and Check Yourself cancer fundraiser and awareness raiser.

Red Bank’s Sugarush cupcakes and Sweetest Sin lingerie have teamed up again for the second edition of this popular and slightly risqué event that helps build awareness about detectable cancers.

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A WHOLE LOTTA DOING GOOD FOR OTHERS

Local folks gathered Thursday at Red Bank Family EyeCare to support their efforts for helping Haiti’s eyes.

By DANIELLE TEPPER

RED BANK
Thursday, October 4: Red Bank Family EyeCare Open House

Done1Tyrone Choate, optical manager at Red Bank Family EyeCare, spent all of July volunteering at Cap Haitian Eye Center in Haiti, where he was inspired to apply what he learned at home – before turning around and bringing something right back.

“The doctor there really impacted me,” said Choate. “He wasn’t doing it for the money, but out of the goodness of his heart.”

The CHEC operates solely on donations, so Choate worked together with Dr. Erin Curtis to organize last week’s open house. Their goal was to raise at least $2,640, which is what it costs to sustain the Haitian clinic for one month. The night raised $2,000 from over 150 people and a portion of all eyeglass sales will be donated throughout the month of October to reach the grand total needed.

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HELPING OUT: A ROUNDUP

Sweetest Sin Boutique owner Angie Courtney plans to run the New York City Marathon to raise money for injured Marines. (Click to enlarge)

The winners of the eighth annual Andrew Kroon Scholarship raffle were announced June 8 at Red Bank Regional (RBR) High School‘s annual reception for The SOURCE.

They were:

Third Prize: $637.50 Juanita Lewis.

Second Prize: $637.50 Robin Stavola, who donated her winnings right back to the program.

First Prize: $1912.50 Carol Johnson.

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NEARLY NAKED FOR A GOOD CAUSE

The cause was cancer prevention, and the nearly naked male and female models were there for educational purposes – swear!

Go Naked and Check Yourself, a soiree thrown together by Red Bank’s Sugarush cupcakes and Sweetest Sin lingerie, drew some 250 partiers to Teak Restaurant on Sunday, all there to learn how to check themselves for detectable cancers of the skin, testicles and breasts.

Miss New Jersey 2012, Michelle Leonardo of Tinton Falls, added some tiara power. redbankgreen was there, too, naturally, to capture the flavor and flashes of flesh. Hey, it’s our duty.

WIN A BON JOVI GUITAR. GO NAKED. OR BOTH

Done3In an effort to raise awareness about detectable cancers, two Red Bank shops are organizing an evening of champagne, sweets and beautiful, bare skin.

Another organization is auctioning off a guitar donated by pop star Jon Bon Jovi to help feed and clothe those in need.

Well, one of those got your attention, right?

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PUTTING THE SHAKE BACK INTO A CREAKY HIP

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We’ve said it before: the ‘Hip City/Hippest Town in New Jersey’ designation for Red Bank has got to go. It’s so rusty it creaks. Even the folks at Red Bank RiverCenter steer clear of it in marketing the town, they tell us.

Ah, but hips, well… they can stay. After all, they’ve only just arrived, in a sense, and they’re doing their, um, parts to help give the town some renewed sizzle as a destination for fashion-conscious women.

How recently? redbankgreen readers may recall that it was just over a year ago that Red Bank had its first-ever lingerie fashion show, or the first one in recent memory, at least. Sponsored by lingerie retailer Sweetest Sin Boutique and held at the now-shuttered Ashes Cigar Club, the packed-house event brought a flash of sexy to a downtown that’s better known for family-themed doings.

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SMOKIN’ HOT AT SMOKE-FREE ASHES

sweetest-sin-lingerie-09A bustier-clad model gets an appreciative welcome to kick off the show. (Click to enlarge)

Aficionados of sexy women’s undergarments packed the second floor of the soon-to-be-renamed (and already smoke-free) Ashes Cigar Club Wednesday night for what may have been Red Bank’s first-ever lingerie fashion show.

The free event, hosted by Sweetest Sin Boutique on White Street, saw a handful of models in g-strings and little else strutting to throbbing music along a velvet-roped catwalk.

Want to see more? Of course you do. Read on.

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‘PANTIES GALORE’ AT NEW LINGERIE STORE

angie-courtney

Angie Courtney in her new shop on White Street. (Photo by Dustin Racioppi)

By DUSTIN RACIOPPI

An ideal night for Angie Courtney usually goes something like this: Hitting the town for dinner, drinks, and then a couple hours of lingerie shopping. And she suspects that’s the case for a lot of women in the Red Bank area.

And so Courtney is bringing sexy back to Red Bank.

The 28-year-old maven of unmentionables this week opened Sweetest Sin Boutique, a seller of lingerie and other items she hopes will prove popular with lace-loving shoppers in the area.

“People are walking in and they’re excited,” said Courtney, of Aberdeen. “They’re like, ‘We’ve been watching, we’ve been waiting for you to open.'”

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