LITTLE SILVER – “It’s time,” said Dan Levine, as he gave a sanguine nod and looked around at the now closed and largely empty space that for 34 years had been his Little Silver Community Hardware Store.
Levine, who turned 76, decided it was time to retire and close his long-standing local hardware store, 44 Church St, in December.
As to why he’s ending his more than three-decade run providing the community with its needs, Levine offered a not-surprising list: Along with “It’s time” other reasons are “age,” and “There’s nobody in the family who wants to take it over.”
And maybe most significantly, Levine explained, “The retail environment has changed dramatically. How people buy when they buy.”
In the age of the big box stores, “It’s hard for the independent to compete,” Levine acknowledged.
Be that as it may, “It’s been a great run,” in a business that Levine said has been his passion and with the exception of his family, the center of his world.
“It never felt like a business,” he noted. “It was a lot of fun.”
Levine, who has lived in the borough since 1973, bought Little Silver Community Hardware in July 1980, when it was owned by the Maione family, who were general contractors. Back then the business was located at 500 Prospect Ave., now the home of Gold Leaf Jewelry, Levine remembered.
Levine bought the Church Street property and opened his store in the 8,000 square-foot, three story building in June 1991.
Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Levine first moved to New Jersey in 1962, locating in Matawan. His father, Abraham Levine, had a hardware business in New York and then took over the hardware concession in a Family Circle discount department store in New Jersey.
Retail, Levine acknowledged, “is in my blood.” And specifically, the hardware business. “I always wanted to own a hardware store,” he confided.
