Sickles Market may have opened shop in Little Silver 100 years ago, but its centennial celebration this year is a bit deceiving. For one thing, the farm stretches much further back in time than a mere century—the Sickles family traces its roots on the property back to a king’s land grant in the late 1660s. And the business today is nothing like the market of just a decade ago, let alone the seasonal farm stand it started as in 1908.
Nonetheless, Sickles Market is in milestone mode, and historical photos are featured as soon as you walk into the sprawling, sunlit building. The market stocks a spectrum of specialty groceries and garden products, including artisanal cheeses, fresh-made entrées, and artfully potted plants. The market’s heritage guides third-generation owner-operator Bob Sickles, whose roots are firmly planted in Monmouth County soil. “One hundred years is a long time, but knowing how much longer than that it’s been in the family, it’s really something,” he says. A married father of three, Sickles, 51, is as likely to be unloading a truckload of perennials as calling in orders in his office. After graduating from the University of Vermont with a degree in ornamental horticulture, he returned to Little Silver to work with his parents in 1978. “It’s the smartest thing I ever did,” he says, “and I’m very happy for what I have.”
What the broad-shouldered, affable Sickles has is an incredibly successful operation, one that he kicked into a new gear when he took steps to grow the business in the ’80s and ’90s, bouncing back after the main building burned down in 1983 and expanding the market’s focus to include all kinds of food. “That [fire] really set us on a growth track,” says Sickles, who became a partner when he moved home and bought the full business in 2002. Today, the building is bustling, the business is year-round, and annual earnings exceed $10 million. The market is known for stocking the best of everything—a reputation echoed by raving customers. “It’s a one-stop shopping experience, especially when I am planning a party,” says Little Silver’s Annie Swartz. “And they have a great selection.”
Local products are a big part of the Sickles Market ethos. Jersey-grown herbs, fruits, and veggies are marked as “Local and Fresh.” Some items, such as peaches and blackberries, still come from the Sickles’ rented farm property or the 6-acre remnant of the family’s original 77-acre tract. (Much of the land was sold to a developer and 11 acres were dedicated as a public park and historical space.) Customers who travel the winding driveway see ball fields to the left and, quite frequently, Sickles’ father (also Bob) cultivating farmland on the right. Once they arrive at the market, they are apt to find the younger Bob Sickles spouting information about heirloom tomatoes (he likes Brandywine and Cherokee purple), the balance of small niche farms and large operations, and the best time to buy apricots. “I learned a lot from my parents about farming and food,” he says. “We always had the freshest of everything, and so my interest naturally grew.”
The business is growing, too, but Sickles has no plans to go beyond his 23,000-square-foot facility. “It’s not in our thought process to expand to another site,” he says. “We just want to be good at what we do.” Nor does he plan to expand the building. As he told the trade publication Garden Center in 2004, “Would I like more parking? Yep. Would I like a larger building and a second story? Oh, yeah. But… it’s important to have good neighbors. It’s good for business.” Good employees help as well, and Sickles makes it a priority to retain a stellar staff. “That’s such a big part of the picture,” he says. “Not all entrepreneurs are able to get and keep good people. At a certain point you can’t do it all yourself.”
He hopes someday to see at least one of his children—he has two daughters and a son—join him. But for now, Sickles is happy to be the guardian of the family business, which he is striving to make better for the next milestone. “There’s really good stuff out there, and you’re going to find a lot of it in a place like this,” he says. “I’m very proud of that.”