Looking Back: The J. Stern General Store in Holmdel

Jacob (Jack) Stern was a Jewish immigrant that owned and operated J. Stern General Store on Main Street in Holmdel from 1924-1959.

Jacob was born in Russia on October 11, 1893 and emigrated to New York City through Ellis Island as a young boy in 1902.

The Stern family fled the small farming community of Yarmolyntsi, Ukraine, Russia to avoid religious persecution.

Settling in New Jersey, his parents sent him to Baron de Hirsch Jewish Agricultural School in Vineland.

In 1912 when he was 19 years old, Jacob Stern bought a farm in Perrineville and worked it until 1924 when he moved to Holmdel. Jack married Annie Kreutner and had a daughter Pearl Lillian Stern.

Prior to Stern’s move to Holmdel, Fred Kinhafer of Freehold operated the former J. Alex Guy’s General Store.

In 1919, Kinhafer formed a partnership with Thomas S. Conover and added groceries but dissolved his partnership shortly after that on October 11, 1921.

During that time, Main Street was called Red Bank - Freehold Turnpike. Kinhafer advertised his goods for sale in the January 1, 1919 edition of the Red Bank Register, but for reasons unknown, Kinhafer declared bankruptcy November 17, 1922.

On August 6, 1924, Jack re-opened the business, now renamed the J. Stern General Store. Stern installed a new electric gas pump and sold a full line of merchandise and various kinds of stock feed. He sold Sunoco gasoline and supplies such as motor oil, tires, sponges, cleaners, baskets, twine and other items a general store would stock.

Jack was a good athlete, being noted as a distinguished boxer at impromptu boxing matches held behind Harry Helm’s barn, and he played on the Holmdel Basketball Team in the 1920s.

Jack was a generous businessman, donating gasoline to the county trucks when they paved Main Street, donating a radiator to the Holmdel Baptist Church, and selling uniforms and equipment to the Holmdel Baseball team at wholesale prices. He was also a religious person, closing his store in observance of the Jewish Holidays.

Stern sold the business September 21, 1959 to Myron and Vesta Bersch. He died September 3, 1982 in Shrewsbury.

Since then the store has changed ownership several times. In 2011, it is now known as Villa Somma, an Italian delicatessen at 37 Main Street, but for many years, Jacob Stern’s General Store was an integral part of Holmdel’s history.