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RED BANK: LOOKING UPSTAIRS FOR PARKING

Local officials say the usage mix and vacancy rates of upper floors downtown factors into parking needs and taxes. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

As the Red Bank council goes back to the drawing board in search of  parking solutions after last year’s abandoned flirtation with five developers, local officials admit they’ve got a problem upstairs.

They don’t know how much parking to allocate for upper-floor office and residential tenants downtown. Nobody, it turns out, has been keeping tabs.

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RED BANK: RESTORING LIFE TO ‘THE VAULT’?

After five years of dormancy, the former Smith Barney building at 55 Broad Street in Red Bank has seen some recent activity. So what’s going on here? Read on. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

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RED BANK: PHARMACY ALL PHRAMED OUT

rb pharmacy 010617WhatsGoingOnHere
After a delay, construction of a building slated to house a pharmacy and four apartments on Shrewsbury Avenue in Red Bank is back on track, according to borough Assistant Construction Official John Drucker.

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RED BANK: PHARMACY, APARTMENTS GOING UP

WhatsGoingOnHererb pharmacy 060516224-226 Shrews 040615There’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)

RED BANK: CHURN GALORE

red bank r barber 053116 1Marcos Ramirez shows customer Chris Hawkins his haircut at the newly opened Red Bank R Barber Shop on Shrewsbury Avenue. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

[Correction: The original version of this story incorrectly reported that Playa Bowls needs variances to open. The plan has been approved and no variances were needed, according to borough officials.]

By JOHN T. WARD

retail churn smallKicking off its second decade of covering the endless comings and goings of Red Bank merchants, redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn has the scoop on these churnings:

• The debut of  new dance studio

• One barber shop opens, and another relocates

• The departure of a “hippie shop” and plans by a tailor to replace it

• A fruit bowl business plans to open

• RiverCenter puts a bow on 2015

All that and more awaits, just around the “read more” corner… More →

RED BANK: WEST ELM PUTS DOWN ROOTS

west elm 102115 2west elm 102115 1The new West Elm furniture store at West Front Street and Bridge Avenue in Red Bank opens for business at 10 a.m. Thursday. redbankgreen got inside for a sneak peak on Wednesday.

With nearly 11,000 square feet of floor space, West Elm is among the largest retailers in town by floor space. It’s one of two businesses that will anchor the new, 91-unit West Side Lofts residential project — the other being Triumph Brewing Company, slated to open early next year, according to project developer Metrovation.  (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

CHURN: THE SPOT, SORELLA BELLA & SCAFFOLD

cassie fishkin 102015Cassie Fishkin has purchased both Mac Attack restaurants, including the one on Broad Street, and rebranded them as the Spot. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

retail churn smallIn this edition of Retail Churn:

• A 28-year-old woman who’s already had a brief career as a lawyer has acquired both Mac Attack Cheesery restaurants — one in Red Bank and the other in Montclair — and is giving the menu a complete makeover in keeping with a dream she’s fostered since she was 16.

• Three Ocean County sisters have opened a women’s clothing store on Monmouth Street.

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CHURN: BUZZ @ WEST ELM, CHIPOTLE & THE BEE

west elm 100815 3Letters for a West Elm sign were laid out on the sidewalk for an installer last Thursday. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

retail churn smallIn this edition of Retail Churn:

• News about Brooklyn-based boho furniture retailer West Elm‘s new store…

• a women’s clothing store called the bee plans to build a nest in a long-vacant space downtown…

• and signs of movement at the yet-to-open Chipotle Mexican Grill

all here in beautiful Red Bank, New Jersey.

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RED BANK: MYSTERY-FILLED “HOUSE” TO OPEN

tone purzycki 071415Anthony ‘Tone’ Purzycki plans to create an immersive, puzzle-driven entertainment facility in the former Dunlap Locksmith building, at right above. Below, the front door.  (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

rb trap door 071415Where might you base a live entertainment called Trap Door Escape Room, in which participants are locked in a series of rooms and have to solve mind-bending puzzles to escape within a set time?

How about a building that already has a giant keyhole cut into the front door?

Fortunately for Anthony ‘Tone’ Purzycki and a partner, one happened to be available in Red Bank.

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RED BANK: WEST SIDE TO GET PHARMACY

224-226 Shrews 040615The facade of the approved proposed three-story structure, shown above in an architect’s sketch, replaced an earlier version, below. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

224-245 shrews 031615Three weeks after it was panned by planning board members for sticking out like a sore thumb, a pharmacy proposed for Shrewsbury Avenue in Red Bank won approval Monday night.

The yet-to-be-named, independently owned pharmacy, which its owner said will sell medical products only, got the go-ahead after a redesign that replaced a proposed contemporary facade with with a more traditional one.

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CHURN: SHREWSBURY TO GET FAST GREEK EATS

89 ns rd 033015Greek Eats has signed to take the corner space, at right above, at the three-store 89 Newman Springs Road, now under construction. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Rcsm2_010508For about five years, Red Bank restaurateur George Lyristis has been developing an idea for a casual fast-food restaurant based on his ethnic heritage, he tells redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn.

Well, the time has come to make the concept real, he says. With the sale of their Zoe Bistro in Little Silver, effective Wednesday, Lyristis and his brothers Charlie and Taso are planning to open a new place called Greek Eats in Shrewsbury in coming months.

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CHURN: SUSHI, GOWNS, YOGA & CHOCOLATE

toki 032515Toki Japanese Cuisine takes over the former home of the Broadway Grille, at Broad and Monmouth streets. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Rcsm2_010508This edition of Retail Churn is chock full o’ news, including:

• the opening of a sushi restaurant in the heart of downtown Red Bank

• the closing of a specialty clothing store

• a change of plans for a chocolatier

and more, right around the corner…

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RED BANK: LONG-VACANT BUILDING SOLD

67 broad 031415After a seven-year vacancy, 67 Broad Street has a new owner, who says he hopes to have a tenant in by summer. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Rcsm2_010508A gaping, long-term and somewhat mysterious vacancy in the heart of downtown Red Bank appears to be nearing an end.

Jeweler Joe Romanowski, who owns two stores on Broad Street, has purchased the building at 67 Broad, next door to his Poor Cat Designs boutique, redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn has learned.

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RED BANK: PHARMACY BUILDING PANNED

224-245 shrews 031615The proposed three-story structure, shown above in an architect’s rendering, would be built on a vacant lot between a two-story apartment building and a restaurant on Shrewsbury Avenue, below. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

224-226 shrewsbury 031015A plan for a small, independently owned pharmacy that doesn’t sell junk food got a warm welcome from the Red Bank Planning Board Monday night.

But the building it would come packaged in, and its impact on area parking, got a chillier reception.

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RED BANK: WEST SIDE PHARMACY PLANNED

224-226 shrewsbury 031015Rcsm2_010508On the agenda for Monday night’s meeting of the Red Bank Planning Board: a three-story structure with a ground-floor drugstore and four apartments above to be built on a vacant lot next door to Lino’s Mexican Café on Shrewsbury Avenue. Developer Asha Realty LLC of Freehold needs variances for the number of floors and shortfalls in both frontage and parking. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

CHURN: RED GOES DARK, SOUTH MOON RISES

red restaurant 030215 1The first-floor restaurant at red, now closed for remodeling, will reopen under a new name in coming months. The upstairs nightclub remains open on Friday and Saturday nights. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Rcsm2_010508Calling his Red Bank restaurant “red” 12 years ago turned out not to be the smartest choice in the era of the search engine, Dan Lynch admits with a laugh.

But that’s not why he shut down the Broad Street restaurant for a first-floor makeover and rebranding last Saturday, he tells redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn.

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CHURN: JEWELERY & CLOTHING SHOPS OPEN

evan piscitelli 022015Jeweler Evan Piscitelli in his new Red Bank shop, Thrill Her Diamonds. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Rcsm2_010508This edition of Retail Churn offers a belated welcome to a jewelry store that opened in downtown Red Bank in December.

Also in this Churn: a new women’s clothing boutique; a new stock brokerage; and an update on the Red Bank Walgreens.

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CHURN: ROOK, GOTHAM, PLATYPUS, NO APPLE

rook 122214 1 Kate Henderson brews one of the first cups at Rook Coffee Roasters Monday morning. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

retail churn smallClosing out a busy year, redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn delivers news of a coffee place and an art-filled nightspot, both in downtown Red Bank, and some churnings in the groves of Shrewsbury, where the perennial rumor of an Apple Computer store is again in the air.

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CHURN: DESIGN CENTER FINDS NEW DIGS

rb design ctr 110914 3Plans for an art gallery are out, but the Red Bank Design Center is in, opening next month at the corner of Broad Street and Harding Road. (Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Rcsm2_010508Five months ago, a giant image of a cannabis leaf in the papered-over windows at the corner of Broad Street and Harding Road led some passersby to wonder if Red Bank was getting a medical marijuana dispensary.

Nope to dope: that was just artist David Benegas being provocatively playful about his plans to occupy the long-vacant Lamplighter space with an art gallery.

Well, those plans have now gone up in smoke. Fortunately for the landlord, however, so did Amy Manor‘s plan to create a design mecca for interior decorators over on West Front Street.

This edition of Retail Churn has the details…

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CHURN: BLING, BUBBLE TEA AND BUSTED DEALS

15 white 101014After just a year and a half, Shore Scoop closes, giving way soon to Chill Bubble Tea at 15 White Street. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

retail churn smallThere’s lots to report here in the 200th installment of Retail Churn, as the comings and goings of storefront businesses and restaurants on the greater Red Bank Green is as lively as we’ve seen yet.

Take it past the jump for a thumbnail tour.

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RED BANK: BLUE WATER TO REOPEN AS CATCH

blue water 091914The new seafood restaurant could be in operation as early as this month, a partner says. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Rcsm2_010508Upping their stake in downtown Red Bank, the owners of the yet-to-open Gotham bar have acquired the former Blue Water Seafood just up the block, a partner confirmed Thursday.

Joseph Squillaro tells Retail Churn that he and his co-investors, who include a Shrewsbury anesthesiologist, hope to open both Broad Street businesses by the end of October, with the seafood restaurant rebranded as ‘Catch.’

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RED BANK: ROOK TAKES DOWNTOWN NOOK

10 white st 091814Rook signed a lease for space long occupied by Laurel Tracey Gallery, at 10 White Street. (Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

retail churn smallRook Coffee Roasters, a rapidly expanding by-the-cup brewer with a rabid fanbase, is opening a shop in Red Bank, redbankgreen has learned.

The five-year-old Ocean Township-based chain plans to open its seventh store at 10 White Street, just a coffee-stirrer away from java behemoth Starbucks, Rook owner Holly Migliaccio tells Retail Churn.

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RED BANK CHURN: PAINT, CLOTHES & HOT YOGA

paint passion 091214Paint Passion took over a space in the Dublin House alley formerly occupied by a jewelry store/surfboard shop. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD & SUSAN ERICSON

Rcsm2_010508Tucked away in the row of small shops next door to the Dublin House Pub in Red Bank is one of two new boutiques featured in this edition of Retail Churn: a specialty paint store called Paint Passion.

The other, located just across Monmouth Street from the pub, combines two businesses in one: vintage clothing and hot yoga.

 

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