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Asbury Park native Kay Harris, among one of the first business owners to take a chance at running a year round venture along the Asbury Park Boardwalk, closed the doors to her Asbury Galleria shop inside Convention Hall Monday.

“My business was originally born or created out of my love for Asbury Park, as well as my enjoyment in capturing pictures of the many iconic images of the city as it was going through its decline [and] its resurgence in recent years,” Harris said.

Having first opened in May 2005 inside the Fifth Avenue Pavilion, Harris said she learned in November that her lease would not be renewed.

“I didn’t know it was coming,” she said in a telephone interview. “I think because they are redoing the pavilions, they wanted to put another business in my spot.”

While Harris would not go on record about the rental increase, she did say boardwalk redeveloper Madison Marquette did allow her an extension to stay open through Monday.

“I have been moved around so many times along this boardwalk,” she said of previous locations in the Third Avenue Pavilion and the south end of Convention Hall. “My sales did increase by 35 percent this year but I guess that was not enough.”

In a written statement, Madison Marquette offered this comment:

As with all Madison Marquette’s retail and mixed-use developments across the country, at Asbury Park we continually strive for a vital and robust tenant mix, engaging and cultivating emerging brands and local retailers.

We are extremely grateful to Kay Harris for her dedication and contributions to the Asbury Park Boardwalk and for her many years as a member of our Boardwalk family. While we were not able to extend her lease, we look forward to conversations with Kay Harris to determine how we might work together to assure that her offerings continue to be represented at the Boardwalk via pop-up shops, events and bazaars.

2018 will be a year of exciting changes and new shopping, dining and entertainment offerings on the Boardwalk and in the Boardwalk neighborhood. We invite our shoppers, diners and visitors to check in regularly with apboardwalk.com to keep updated on these changes and to participate in the many activities and cultural events that make Asbury Park such a landmark destination year-round.

Councilwoman Yvonne Clayton, another Asbury Park native, said she was very upset to hear the news.

“I am very upset that the one African-American owned business on the boardwalk is being forced to close,” Clayton said. “Kay has been there during the bad times and the good times, and this is how she is being paid back for her contribution to the city. I think Madison Marquette is being insensitive, particularly when you consider that this a community that is comprised of more than 50 percent African American residents, and they chose to take the one business that is owned and operated by an African American and raise the rent exorbitantly and say they are choosing to go in a different direction.”

Harris, whose original business model included bringing pop up offerings from downtown venues to the boardwalk, said there were only eight businesses, including restaurants when she first opened her doors.

“My original store was an attempt to bridge visitors to the boardwalk to our downtown shopping area which was really struggling to make a comeback,” she said. “I did this by inviting  other businesses, whose main locations were on Cookman and Mattison avenues, to share a large retail space. It even included a coffee and bagel counter for the convenience of the boardwalk visitors. I would always try to promote all of Asbury Park and invite them to explore Cookman Avenue and its side streets, in addition to the offerings of the Asbury Park Boardwalk.”

Harris, the author of From Amistad to the White House: Teachable Moments, is the granddaughter of well-known artist Lorenzo W. Harris Sr. who created elaborate sand sculptures along the beach in the early 1900s. Her shop not only featured novelty items and her photographs but she supported the local artistic community by offering copies of area authors books and local artists work.

While she is unsure of moving to another brick and mortar location, Harris said her venture will continue online and she will most likely participate in area festivals.

For more about Kay Harris, visit asburygalleria.com.

[Photo courtesy of Kay Harris]

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