Historic grocery chain files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

Big chains have taken over the grocery space and even jumped into niches once owned by smaller chains. Walmart, Target, Aldi, Costco, and others fight fiercely to be value plays.

It’s simply impossible to compete over price as a local or even regional chain. When your rivals do billions of dollars in business, they simply get better prices. That means that smaller companies have to fill a niche.

That has become harder, too, as Whole Foods, which is owned by Amazon, and Fresh Market have become national companies in the high-end grocery space. To crush a local company, they don’t need to take all the business; they just need to shave some off the top and the smaller company eventually dies.

In many ways, it’s the same way Dunkin’ killed off many local doughnut shops. The chain would open nearby, or even in the same plaza as, a popular local player and siphon off some of its business.

People passing through would see the glitzier sign and a brand that they know and pass over the local option. Locals might occasionally opt for something different, and soon the local incumbent would be in trouble.

National grocery chains, like Dunkin’, can afford a slow start in a market and simply wait around to choke out the competition. That’s essentially what happened to one popular grocery chain that has filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy, closing its doors, at least for now.

National chains have more buying power and can offer lower prices. Image source: Shutterstock

Family-owned grocery chain files Chapter 11 bankruptcy

Sickles Market has been a New Jersey tradition for a very long time. It’s a family-owned business that has a deep history in the region.

“Sickles Market began over 116 years ago as a farm, selling its own fruits and vegetables to local stores. Harold Sickles and his wife, Elsie, ran it on farmland acquired from his mother’s family, the Parkers,” the company shares on its website.

At first, it was a seasonal operation, but that changed in 1999 and it became a small, year-round chain.

“Today, Sickles Market is known not only for having the highest quality, freshest produce and plants, as always, but also for its wide selection of gourmet grocery items, international cheeses, baked goods, butcher shop, deli, and a kitchen presenting fresh, chef-prepared foods to satisfy every taste and occasion,” the company added.

That proud tradition has, at least for now, come to an end as the company has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and closed its doors.

Sickles Market hopes for a comeback

While the Sickles Market locations have closed, Bottles by Stickles, a high-end wine and liquor store in Red Bank, N.J., remains open. In its bankruptcy filing the company reported $549,388 in total assets​ and $5.2 million in debt:

“Sickles’ business banking accounts at Northfield Bank and OceanFirst bank have been frozen, according to the filing. The state of New Jersey also put a lien on Sickles’ $400,000 liquor license,” Patch.com reported.

The now-shuttered grocery chain owes its largest creditor, Northfield Bank, $4.5 million. Overall, the company has 47 different creditors including multiple vendors and landlords.

A message on the company’s website shared more details on the closing.

“This closure is not something we ever could have anticipated. We have loved being a part of this community,” the owners posted on the chain’s website. “Whatever the future holds, we hope you remember ‘the Good Stuff,’ and that we have done our very best to deliver for over a century,” the company posted.

Sickles’ Market’s owner, however, remains hopeful for a comeback.

“Hopefully, we can come back, until then, we thank you for giving us the type of customer love and loyalty a family-owned business work their whole lives for,” the owners added.