RED BANK – Sometime this fall with the move of Prown’s to Middletown, it will mean the borough won’t have a Prown’s-operated business for the first time in nearly 90 years.
David Prown, whose family operated Prown’s variety store in the borough for three generations, has been active on a number of community involvement fronts. Still, he will be relocating his home improvement business from its current location at 135 Monmouth St. to Route 35 North in neighboring Middletown. His plans are to move sometime in the next couple of months.
“Everything’s the same. The business model is the same,” Prown said. “The only thing that’s changed will be the location.”
Prown has been operating Prown’s Home Improvement as a stand-alone business at the Monmouth Street location for the last 13 years.
The reason for the move, Prown said is to find a higher profile spot to help expand the business. “It’s really about the visibility,” he explained. “It’s just a busier street.”
“You always have to think about growing your business,” he continued.
Prown will continue to live in the borough.
Prown has lived in the borough since 1989, moving here from Connecticut, when he took over operating the family-owned variety store, which first opened in 1925 at 47 Broad St. The first location, whose motto was the familiar “Prown’s Has Everything,” was destroyed by fire in 1960, with the family relocating the operation to 32 Broad, where it continued until David closed it in 2003.
At that time, Prown said his store could no longer compete with large box-style stores and spun off his home improvement business. Relocating to Monmouth Street Prown said, “It was definitely a smart move moving here. No regrets at all.”
In addition to his business activities, Prown has long been active in helping area underprivileged families, especially borough youth, get a leg up, seeing sports as a great equalizer for many of the kids. Over the years, he’s organized various sports leagues to engage the young. And more recently he and other like-minded area residents have been collecting sports equipment donated from a variety of sources for his Red Bank Replay program, making the items available to needy young people.
“Nothing’s going to change on that. I’m actually looking for ward to the next stage. A little bit more energy a little bit more passion, ” concerning his activism, Prown said. “The only thing different is kids won’t be able to walk into my showroom after school to pick up a pair of cleats or whatever.”
The new location, however, doesn’t have as much storage space as the Monmouth Street spot and he’s looking to partner with organizations to help in distributing the equipment.
Brookdale Community College in May awarded Prown an honorary degree for his mentorship and “has built a reputation as a staunch children’s advocate by work- ing directly with local students of color and spearheading a wide range of youth service programs in the Red Bank area,” the college said in presenting the degree.
