The retailer Aly & Joshua closed its one brick-and-mortar location 22 months after opening its doors at 8 Purdy Ave.
The store, named after the children of owner Kelly Farley, continues to sell on its website the company’s “creative collective of ethically produced clothing and US/women-owned brands for women, children and men.” Farley did not respond to requests for comment.
84-86 Purchase St. LLC applied to Rye’s City Planning Commission and Board of Zoning Appeals in February for permission to knock down existing properties at the corner of Purdy Avenue and Purchase Street (including the former home of Aly & Joshua) to build a new residential and retail building. That application is currently suspended due to the city’s moratorium on downtown commercial development.
At 27 Purchase St., Framebridge, a national online and retail framing stores, opened a Rye location on Sept. 12 in space previously occupied by the Gentlemen’s Grooming Lounge.
The store follows a colorful design template that Framebridge has used to expand to nearly five dozen outlets across the U.S. in recent years. A gallery showcasing framed art includes several eye-catching Rye-specific items, including a felt pennant for Rye Beach and a watercolor of City Hall and the library.
Meanwhile, work resumed in September at 11-15 Purdy Ave after a long pause. Developers there are building a complex that will have eight apartments and street-level stores.
The developer, MM Real Estate Partners, discovered underground water on the property after they knocked down buildings last December that housed The Town Dock restaurant and several other businesses, according to Guy Carpenito, Rye’s building inspector.
That complicated the developer’s original plans for a building that had a basement. The developers paused construction for months to reengineer their plans to eliminate the basement and get the building departments approval, Carpenito said.
