Local Business

Located at 3239 Third Avenue (now Ocean Drive), Sprowles Fish Market was owned and operated by Edward B. Sprowles from 1924 until his death in 1941. The store was then managed by Laura Armstrong and her husband Henry (then chief of the Avalon Police Department) as “Armstrong’s Market” until 1946, when Edward’s son, Everett, moved to Avalon and reclaimed the business.

Beginning in 1929, Clarence and Amelia Gehringer (also known as “Pop” and “Mom”) operated two storefronts in Avalon. One of their shops was located at the newly-constructed Avalon Convention Hall, while the other was located on 8th Street. The Gehringer’s were famous for their 10¢ hot dogs and their root beer float, which was known to locals as the “Brown Cow.”

In 1926, Matthew and Letitia Mazza purchased an empty lot on the southwest corner of 21st Street and Dune Drive. The store they built on this lot became a branch of the American Stores Company (also known as ASCO) - a Philadelphia-based grocery chain that boasted almost 2,000 stores. Thirty years later, the building was sold to Robert T. Sullivan, becoming the first location of Sullivan’s Department Store. Today, Circle Pizza operates out of the former ASCO store.

From 1957 to 1995, Sullivan’s Department Store was owned by Robert T. Sullivan. Under the management of his son Brian, then his daughter Barbara, Sullivan’s became a popular destination for locals and visitors alike – especially the lunch counter. After almost four decades in Avalon, Sullivan’s became Hand’s Department Store, which closed in 2005.