LITTLE SILVER – Monmouth County's landmark family-owned Sickles Market, which started as a farm stand more than 100 years ago, has closed its doors, nearly a month after its Red Bank location closed.
“Today we closed our doors,” said Bob Sickles Jr., third-generation owner of Sickles Market, which was founded in 1908. The year has been quite difficult for us and we didn't quite get there, so we're closing in the hope that we'll be able to reopen soon, but we don't know how soon.”
“My family is a little devastated,” Sickles said.
Sickles closed the Red Bank market in the Anderson Building on Monmouth Street in mid-February. The store, located on the borough's West Side, is a promising fit for Sickles' market, giving him the opportunity to expand his customer base further into Red Bank and Middletown. The closure was delayed due to the pandemic, and although it opened in August 2020, it never reached its potential.
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“It was a beautiful building and everything was great, but it wasn't that great for us or our business model,” Sickles said. “I think the past few years have been tough for small and medium-sized businesses.”
Anderson Building owner Metrovation filed a lawsuit in state Superior Court on March 1 alleging it owes more than $324,000 in past due rent and fees over the Red Bank store's closure, according to court documents. filed a lawsuit.
Bottles by Sickles in Red Bank remains open.
Sickles Market has had to lay off more than 80 employees in recent weeks.
Family history dating back to 1663
The market, located on Harrison Road just off Rumson Road in Little Silver, is steeped in Monmouth County history.
The land on Harrison Road was first cultivated by Bob Sickles' grandfather, Harold Sickles, over 100 years ago. According to the Sickles Market website, the land was purchased by Harold's mother, the Parker family, in 1663 with a land grant from the King of England.
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Bob Sickles' father, Robert Sickles Sr., also farmed over 125 acres around Monmouth County, and his wife, Adelaide, sold their produce to the public at a seasonal farm stand. The produce market later expanded to include a garden center and became a year-round market.
The market has been “sluggish for some time now” and is in a downturn, Sickles said. “Reorganization is necessary and there are many meetings scheduled,” he said. “Basically, I just wanted some breathing space.”
Some customers stopped by Monday evening for dinner. Some people had heard rumors of the store's closure and wanted to know if it was true. They held a sign that said: Further updates will be shared soon. Have a nice day. “
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“It was amazing.”
Joanne Strang of Little Silver said she has been shopping there for the past 35 years. She had heard rumors that the company was in trouble. She noticed some of the shelves were empty before Christmas, but wasn't sure if that was a bad omen. For the past few weeks, she'd heard that Booskeldoo was planning to open an in-store coffee shop, and Sickles' large cheese section had a sign announcing that her favorite cheeses were coming soon.
“It's a shame,” Strang said, hoping someone would recreate Sickles' turkey London broil. “It's really crazy. The last few years of Thanksgiving and Christmas catering has been great.”
Clayton Pendergrast, 24, of Rumson, went to Sickles almost every day to buy a sandwich for lunch and something for dinner. He said a friend of his who worked at Sickles told him the store was closing. He couldn't believe it, so he drove his car around to see for himself.
“It's been great for the community,” Pendergrast said. As children, “we used to come to Sickles all the time and get pie for the holidays. It was the place to be, to say the least.”
Sickles hopes it's not over.
“I never expected something like this to happen,” Sickles said. “In every sense of the word, we want to make a comeback and I think we will someday.”
David P. Willis, an award-winning business writer, has covered business, retail, real estate and consumer news for 25 years for the Asbury Park Press. He writes his APP.com What's Going There column and can be reached at dwillis@gannettnj.com. Sign up for his weekly newsletter and join his What's Going There page on Facebook for the latest updates.
