From farmstand to farm market, Sickles marks 100th year
Market finds a niche and evolves as a lifestyle retailer
BY ERIN O. STATTEL Staff Writer
Sickles Market is a sign of the times. With large-scale farming quickly disappearing from the Garden State, the Sickles family has managed to stay in tune with the needs of the area and retain a foothold in the community it has called home for the past century.

The timeline from farmstand to lifestyle retailer is summed up in two photos. Above, Bob Sickles is framed by greenery in the greenhouse at Sickles Market in Little Silver, which is celebrating the 100th anniversary of its founding. Below, Sickles' grandfather, Harold, who founded the market in 1908, and father, Robert, (both standing) are pictured in this vintage photo with an unidentified man.

"I always knew we would need to do something different in order to survive here," said Bob Sickles, owner and proprietor of Sickles Market on Harrison Avenue. "As a lifestyle retailer, we have to supply what the customers in the area want."

And what customers in the area want is fresh produce, delicious prepared meals, high-end meats and cheeses and a local roof to find it all under.

ERIC SUCAR staff

Sickles Market has been providing that roof for 100 years in Little Silver.

The market's roots date to 1908, when Harold and Elsie Sickles moved their produce stand from Red Bank to land farmed by his mother's family, the Parker homestead in Little Silver.

The Sickles family had married into the Parker family, which had been given land in the area via a king's grant in 1663 from the King of England.

The family continued to grow various vegetables such as asparagus and tomatoes and fruit like peaches there. It would be those tomato vines that would lay the roots for Sickles garden center.

"People always loved our tomatoes," said Bob, a graduate of the University of Vermont with a degree in ornamental horticulture. "They would ask us if they could have a tree or a vine so they could grow Sickles tomatoes at home and so we opened up a garden center to meet that demand."

A development, a park and the remaining Sickles farmland border the market, making it a hub of sorts for families enjoying the outdoors in Little Silver.

Today the garden center has a staff of approximately 30 employees and offers all kinds of plants and flowers.

But the garden center would not stand alone for long. In 1998 Sickles decided to open the market year-round.

"It is a hard life being seasonal," Sickles said. "So, we decided to stay open all year round."

Some of the customers were skeptical of the change but the Sickles brand had been established.

"We have a very faithful older clientele and we reassured all our customers that it is still us and we still do business by the same set of values; providing fresh merchandise at a fair price," Bob explained. "And our following stayed and thankfully it grew."

In order to satisfy customers' needs, Sickles Market provides produce from around the world when certain fruits and vegetables aren't available locally.

"We buy local as much as we can, as long as it is the best quality, but we also buy internationally," he said.

Bob's father, also named Robert, is 81 and still farms the remaining 6 acres of farmland adjacent to the market.

"We grow some things here, but mainly we are in the business of selling," Bob Sickles said.

With his father being a grower and his mother, Adelaide, being a good cook, it was almost inevitable that Sickles Market would begin to prepare meals and offer fine meats, eggs and cheese.

"We have four chefs and a high turnover of food so everything is very fresh," Bob said. "I did not know the food business at all, but I met two guys, one of whom is a chef here, and they helped build the kitchen and the business has worked out pretty good."

The deli department employs about 20 people and the cheese department has a staff of three, but Sickles is looking for a fourth.

"I learned a lot from a lot of good people," Sickles said. "I am glad that we did the cheese department. That is such a draw for the community."

According to Sickles, the cheese department is among the top three in the state, offering all types of cheeses from Europe and the Americas.

"We have an eclectic store here," he said.

Eclectic indeed, but everything in the store is centered on the home and garden. Walking through the sunlit shop, patrons can find organic goods as well as regular groceries. Candy lollipops line the aisle connecting the store to the cash registers; child-size garden clogs hang on a display, subtly introducing children to the love of gardening; and the aromas from the bakery and prepared food counters invite customers to take a closer look, all of these engaging the community within which Sickles is enveloped.

With Gov. Jon Corzine proposing to do away with the Department of Agriculture, Bob Sickles wishes the sate would take some of his advice.

"I wrote letters everywhere calling for fairness," Sickles said. "Having a voice in government is important. Large farms are steadily declining in New Jersey, but niche farming is very popular; there is still a need for the Department of Agriculture."

But for Sickles, Little Silver is where home is and where he would like the remainder of his family to work.

"I have three children and I am hoping my oldest daughter will come back," he laughed. "We'll see, time will tell."

A young Robert Sickles (center) poses with his uncle and his mother, Elsie. At right, Bob Sickles.

Marking its 100th year, the Sickles family market has already passed the test of time and will continue to adapt with the changing face of New Jersey.

Sickles Market is definitely a sign of the times.

Erin Stattel can be reached at estattel@

gmnews.com.

COURTESY OF SICKLES FAMILY