Red Bank, New Jersey

I was walking around Red Bank, New Jersey last night because I was a little bored and for the month of October the restuarants in Red Bank are supposed to be offering Price Fix Meals for $25. This was the first Wednesday that I was able to get into town. I ended up stopping at a pizza shop and getting a slice of pizza and a pepperoni wheel.

As I was eating my meal I was thinking about one of the stores that I really missed in Red Bank. Prown's was one of my favorite stores on Broad Street. While the Prown's name is still around as a home improvement company the store on Broad Street is now a Chase Bank. One of the great things about Prown's was that it sold just about everything from blinds for your house or apartment to electric trains.

Restoration Hardware moved in down the street from Prown's a couple of years before it closed but it is not really a replacement.

There was a Army/Navy store in Red Bank that closed a couple of years ago and the building is now being turned into Luxury Condos/Apartments. I think the name of the store was call Kislers or something like that. While I never purchased anything there I did like to walk through it from time to time. The store sold everything you need for a day at the beach or a hike through one of the local parks.

Unfortunately, these types of stores have closed all over the country so it would be hard for them stay in business when they are in high dollar real estate.

On the plus side Jack's Music is still open. However, I seldom buy anything there. I used to be a good customer but now I download most of my music. I do still browse and I occasionally purchase things that I cannot get on iTunes.

Jack's music used to be across the street and had a large musical instrument department. It was a hair band paradise with lots of pointy guitars and big stacked amps.

The Original Soup Man (the Soup Nazi from Seinfeld) just opened up a store on Broad Street across from Starbucks. They have opened up several of these stores in New York. I have always thought that this guy was a creation of Larry David. I have been to the stores in New York and the soup is not bad. However, there are couple of other soup places that I like better.

One of the great things about Red Bank is that even though it is a small town it is always changing. I am waiting for a bike shop to open. There used to be on in town but it closed and the building is now a fashion retailer called Nirvana.