F. Scott Fitzgerald said there are no second acts in American lives. Barry and Marilyn Goffin aim to prove him wrong.
On January 19, the couple plans to open a gift shop called 23 South in the Morristown storefront vacated last week by Scotti’s Record Shop.
They have been wanting to return to Morristown ever since closing Goffin’s Hallmark Shop on Park Place in 1994. Barry had been there for 15 years; in good times, he enjoyed foot traffic from shoppers ping-ponging between Macy’s and the Epstein’s department store on opposite corners of the Morristown Green. When Macy’s closed, that traffic dried up, he said.
But downtown Morristown has rebounded, Barry contends, thanks largely to the 40 Park and Vail Mansion luxury condos.
“The fact is, Morristown is a lively, vibrant town right now,” he said over the weekend, inside the green-and-yellow space that only days before had housed thousands of used records and CDs. “There’s an energy on the streets. In the summertime, it’s almost like there’s a festival going on. Morristown has finally come back. We waited all through the ’90s and early millennium, and it’s come back. We want to be part of it.”
“It was timing,” added Marilyn, whose family owned Lobell’s, a children’s clothing store that had a long run in Morristown. “Our youngest daughter is off to college. This fell into place. The location became available.”
The prime storefront, one block from the historic Green on the corner of South and DeHart streets, almost became an extension of the Dark Horse Lounge, a nightclub in the basement. The club’s owner expressed interest during the fall but said there were some lease deadlines that could not be met.
Gary Scotti’s 25-year lease for Scotti’s Record Shop was due to expire next summer. With his business struggling, he opted to consolidate at his Summit location right after Christmas.
Morristown Mayor Tim Dougherty alluded to 23 South in his “State of the Town” address on New Year’s Day. He asserted the shop is an indicator of a healthy downtown where the business vacancy rate is below 5 percent, according to statistics from the Morristown Partnership.
Although the downtown is dominated by banks, restaurants, bars, nail salons and dry cleaners, retail appears poised to make some noise once more. The Goffins are the fourth retailers to sign a lease in recent months. Cheeks Boutique is coming to the former Wilson’s Interiors at 14 South St. Next door, the former Nonchalance bridal shop is scheduled to be replaced by Willow Street, another boutique. And a women’s clothing shop called Top This has just opened in the shopping strip behind the Dublin Pub.
The Goffins, who live in Morris Township and have a Hallmark shop in Rutherford, said the Morristown space is not large enough to support a gift card business. Instead, 23 South will feature women’s accessories by Vera Bradley, gift items by Julia Knight, jewelry by Troll Beads and chocolates by Godiva. The Jan. 19 opening date is meant to coincide with the release of a new product line by Vera Bradley.
It will be a great place to buy wedding- and hostess gifts, said Marilyn, who intends to repaint the walls in coral hues.
Barry acknowledged that some categories will overlap with neighboring retailers such as International Pottery and Enjou Chocolat, but said nobody else in town carries his vendors’ brands. Ideally, he said, people will come to Morristown to browse all the shops.
The West Orange native has deep roots in Greater Morristown. As an original board member of First Night Morris, the New Year’s Eve festival that just celebrated its 20th year, Barry helped set events in motion to save the Community Theatre (now the Mayo Performing Arts Center) from ruin. Hasty renovations whipped the venue into shape for First Night performances after years of neglect. by the late pianist Alexander Slobodyanik. A community drive, sparked by the late pianist Alexander Slobodyanik, would fully restore the theater.
Barry also spearheaded local relief efforts for victims of Hurricane Andrew in 1992. As corporate chairman of the Dope Open, he has helped to raise money to combat drug abuse. And the Goffins’ two daughters attended Morristown High School.
“I’ve been a downtown merchant all my life,” Barry said. “I really value being part of the community. It absolutely killed me to close the (Park Place) store in ’94.”
Hi, Will. Thanks for your comment. I meant to respond sooner but got sidetracked.
First, I want to emphasize that this story does not intend in any way to diminish the truly heroic efforts of volunteers who restored the Community Theatre and gave us the treasure we enjoy today as the Mayo Performing Arts Center. We have noted those efforts in prior articles on MG over the years, including reflections by Steve Wiley, Allison Larena and John Cunningham.
The late, great pianist Alexander Slobodyanik is rightly remembered for bringing the famed Kirov Orchestra to the crumbling Community Theatre in September 1994.
What’s not generally recalled, however, is that this pivotal concert was preceded by First Night events that re-opened the facility after years of neglect, reminding Morristown of the potential resource that was going to ruin.
A photograph in the Daily Record on Christmas Day 1992 depicts James Brown and Harold Craig, wearing masks, swabbing the dilapidated floor of the “former Community Theater” [sic] in preparation for the town’s first First Night celebration. But scheduled performers had to switch to another venue at the last minute because the theater could not satisfy “state specifications,” according to the newspaper.
A year later, however, on New Year’s Eve 1993–nearly 10 months before the Kirov concert–the Belmont Dixieland Band and Lonewolf and the Lonewolf Country Band played on First Night at the Community Theatre.
“One performer in the unheated Community Theater [sic] played the banjo while wearing earmuffs,” reported a front-page story in the Daily Record.
My article erred on one key point. My source incorrectly recounted that Slobodyanik had performed at First Night in the Community Theatre BEFORE his historic Kirov appearance. I should have checked that more thoroughly.
However, his memory was not far off the mark.
Longtime Morristown architect Allen Kopelson, a charter member of the First Night executive committee, said Slobodyanik indeed had been scheduled to play at the Community Theatre. But the unheated stage was too cold for his piano pyrotechnics, and he performed at the Presbyterian Church instead. Weeks AFTER the Kirov show, Slobodyanik was back at the Community Theatre for First Night on Dec. 31, 1994, according to John Cunningham’s excellent history, “The Miracle on South Street.”
Kopelson said he took some heat for suggesting that the frosty Community Theatre be re-opened for First Night. Walls had gaping holes.The roof leaked. Mold and fungi were growing.
“The community had forgotten about it and had written it off,” he said of the venue. “It was a big effort for three weeks. Nobody believed we could get it open. We made it work. It was a disaster over there. But everyone was thrilled. It exposed the community to an asset that everybody thought was going away.”
Not to burst the bubble of the nice article, but Barry Goffin had nothing to do with the restoration or opening of the Community theater. It is irresponsible of the author of this article to make this absolutely false claim regarding a project that saved an Amazing piece of architecture, as well as Morristown History from demolition.
In the future it would be greatly appreciated if this forum would do it’s homework before printing false claims regarding the Community Theater project.
Welcome back Goffin’s
Marilyn…wishing the both of you much success on 23 South! We can’t say enough great things about being in Morristown…love it! Have a Happy New Year! 🙂 Cara from BC Salon.