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LITTLE SILVER – Sickles Market, a landmark family-owned Monmouth County business that started as a farm stand more than 100 years ago, has closed, nearly a month after it shuttered its store in Red Bank.
“We closed the store today,” said Bob Sickles Jr., the third-generation owner of Sickles Market, which was founded in 1908. “Between COVID, the lockdown and the new store (in Red Bank), the last three years have been pretty difficult for us and we didn’t quite make it, so we’re closing down, hoping to reopen again soon, but I don’t know how soon that is.”
“My family’s a little devastated,” Sickles said.
In mid-February, Sickles closed its market in Red Bank, located in the Anderson Building on Monmouth Street. The store in the borough’s West Side offered promise for Sickles Market and an opportunity to expand its customer base further into Red Bank and Middletown. Delayed by the pandemic’s shutdown, 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 good for us or our business model,” Sickles said. “I think the last few years have been tough for small businesses.”
Metrovation, the owner of the Anderson Building, filed a lawsuit in state Superior Court on March 1 over the closure of the Red Bank store, claiming it is owed more than $324,000 in back rent and late fees, according to court papers.
Bottles By Sickles in Red Bank remains open.
Sickles Market has had to lay off more than 80 employees over the last few weeks.
Family history dating to 1663
The market, located on Harrison Road just off Rumson Road in Little Silver, is steeped in the history of Monmouth County.
The land on Harrison Road was first farmed by Bob Sickles’ grandfather, Harold Sickles, more than 100 years ago. It was acquired from the family of Harold’s mother, the Parkers, who bought the land in 1663 in a land grant from the king of England, according to Sickles Market’s website.
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Bob Sickles dad, Robert Sickles Sr., who also farmed over 125 acres around Monmouth County, and his wife Adelaide, sold their produce to the public from a seasonal farm stand. The farm market would later expand to include a garden center and become a year-round market.
Sickles Market has been “weak for a while” and is in its slow selling season, Sickles said. “We need to restructure and we have a lot of meetings coming up,” he said. “We just wanted to basically have some breathing space.”
Some customers stopped by Monday evening hoping to get dinner. Others had heard rumors of the store closing and wanted to see if it was true. They were met with a sign that read: “So sorry, we are closed. Further updates will be shared soon. Have a nice day.”
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‘It was so great’
Joanne Strang of Little Silver said she had shopped there for the past 35 years. She had heard rumors that the company was struggling. She noticed some of the shelves were empty before Christmas, but she wasn’t sure if that was a bad omen. In recent weeks, she had heard Booskerdoo was going to open a coffee shop in the store, and Sickles’ large cheese department had signs saying your favorite cheese was coming soon.
“It’s just a shame,” Strang said, hoping someone could duplicate Sickles’ turkey London broil. “It’s so crazy. Their catering for Thanksgiving and Christmas the past couple of years, it was so great.”
Clayton Pendergrast, 24, of Rumson, went to Sickles about every day to pick up a sandwich for lunch and something else for dinner. He said a friend of his who worked at Sickles told him the store was closing. He didn’t believe him so he drove to see for himself.
“It was great for the community,” Pendergrast said. Growing up, “we used to always come up to Sickles and buy pies for the holidays. It was just the spot, to say the least.”
Sickles hopes its not over.
“It was hard to anticipate this would happen,” Sickles said. “For all intents and purposes, 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 at the Asbury Park Press for 25 years. He writes APP.com’s What’s Going There column and can be reached at dwillis@gannettnj.com. Please sign up for his weekly newsletter and join his What’s Going There page on Facebook for updates.