Bottles By Sickles Liquor Store Now Closed, Owes $92K In Unpaid Rent

RED BANK, NJ — And now, the last vestige of the 116-year-old Sickles family business empire in Monmouth County has permanently closed.

Bottles by Sickles wine and liquor shop in Red Bank closed permanently, and without warning, on Monday of this week.

The Asbury Park Press reports Bottles by Sickles is being evicted by Metrovation, the owner of the Anderson building where they rented the space. The Press reports Sickles owes Metrovation $92,000 in unpaid rent.

This is in addition to the $324,000 in unpaid rent Metrovation says Bob Sickles, Jr. owes for Sickles Provisions, his now-closed market.

Metrovation says Sickles, Jr. wasn't paying rent at his liquor store, either.

And, this comes on top of a growing list of food vendors who say they are owed hundreds of thousands of dollars from Sickles, Jr.

It was Sickles' grandparents who started the original Sickles farmers' market in Little Silver in 1908. Today, all three family-owned businesses are closed.

List of people who say Bob Sickles, Jr. owes them money:

• Metrovation, the owner of the Anderson building in Red Bank, says Sickles owes $324,000 in unpaid rent for Sickles Provisions.
• Metrovation also says Sickles owes $92,000 in unpaid rent for the liquor store.
• Performance Food Group, a food distributor located in Elizabeth, sued Sickles April 2. Performance Food Group says they are owed $75,646 for unpaid food deliveries.
• On March 18, Holiday Meats in Little Silver sued. They say Sickles owes them more than $100,000 for unpaid meat deliveries
• Also on March 18, a joint lawsuit was filed by Farmlind Produce, LLC, and Four Seasons Produce, two wholesale fruit and vegetable suppliers. They say Sickles owes them a combined $298,710 for unpaid food deliveries. They used the same lawyer and filed together. The two companies said they are suffering "immediate and irreparable harm" by being owed such high amounts of outstanding debts.
• On March 14, a Monmouth Beach woman filed a small claims complaint, saying Sickles sold her a $3,000 gift card weeks before the store abruptly shut down all locations. She alleges Sickles knew it was about to close when it sold people the expensive gift cards, some of which are $5,000 - $10,000 in value. She is seeking to be repaid $2,500.

The Sickles drama:

Sickles Sold Expensive Gift Cards Just Before Closing, Complaint Says (March 21)

2nd Lawsuit Against Sickles Market: Meat Vendor Says It's Owed $100K (March 19)

2 More Companies Say Sickles Market Owes Them $298K In Unpaid Debts (March 18)

Vendors, Employees Say Sickles Owes Them Thousands Of Dollars (March 14)