BAYONNE — If you ask someone in Bayonne what “Resnick’s” was, they may point you to the new 10-story mixed-use building planned for the corner of 46th Street and Broadway — one of many several developments popping up throughout the city.
Others, however, would point you to Resnick’s Hardware — the locally-owned small business that has been a staple of Bayonne for more than a century.
“It’s good and bad publicity,” Larry Resnick said of the controversial development plan.
Resnick recently sold the previous home of the family business and moved the hardware store 10 blocks south to 800 Broadway, at the corner of 36th Street. It marks the first time the business has relocated in a century, and represents a fresh change for the store that has now seen four generations of the Resnick family work in the store.
“People ask why we’ve moved and… if you don’t change, you get stagnant, and then you’d end up going out of business,” Resnick told The Jersey Journal.
His grandfather, Harry Resnick, opened the business in 1912 at Avenue E and 19th Street but moved it to 46th and Broadway in 1918 after purchasing the C.E. Jones Hardware store.
“Actually, Jones owned it since 1896 — so (that property) has been a hardware store since 1896,” Larry Resnick said.
Larry’s father, Al, who is 99 years old, took over the store from Harry and eventually handed it off to Larry, who now runs the business with the help of wife and three kids.
Larry has seen an interesting change as a result of the 10-block move.
“I’ve seen a whole influx of new people that haven’t been in our store before,” he said. “When I told people we’d be moving to this spot, they said that now we’d be closer to their house.
“(The old location) was on the tail-end of Bayonne, so three-quarters of the population lived south of that spot,” he added. “We’re actually closer now to most of the people that live in town.”
While his store continues to function as a friendly, neighborhood small business with 12 full-time employees, the third-generation owner recognizes that change is necessary for a business to continue to thrive — especially with new competition.
“We were in business for so long because we changed with the times,” he said.
In the ’50s and ’60s the store sold telephones. Five years ago, Resnick’s started a rental business, and today offers a complete party rental line with tents, chairs, tables, popcorn machines available.
It’s this type of change that Larry Resnick says has allowed his business to endure for more than a century.
“It’s all about finding niches that you don’t find in big stores,” he said. “We’ve got stuff in here that you won’t find in those stores. And we have service.
“Residents know that when they come in here they can speak to somebody that knows what they’re talking about,” he added. “Most of the time we have it on the shelf or we can order it for them.”
And yet he can’t help but see new developments in Bayonne as a positive change, but said he — like others — has reservation about certain aspects of the developments.
“I think Bayonne needs changes — even my father thinks it needs some changes. Change is always good,” he said. “The controversy I think is more the size of the building to the rest of the surrounding area. if I had relocated my store in the middle of the residential section of Avenue B, people wouldn’t be happy about it. It doesn’t fit. Most people feel (the development) doesn’t fit in that spot.”
Larry, Al and their family will be joined by Mayor Jimmy Davis and city council members for an official ribbon-cutting ceremony on March 7 at 1 p.m. to mark the store’s relocation.
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