Recently someone asked about when 7-Eleven came to Montclair. Which was about 1958.
I thought I would go back a little farther and tell you about the first store in Montclair.
A little history…
In 1925 the land that 7-Eleven is now on was bought by a man named Otto Schuneman. Mr. Schuneman then built a store. His store was a combination fountain and grocery store and a service station in front.
The original building is still standing behind the 7-11 store.
I haven’t been able to find any photos of the store or the station.
Funk’s Grocery – 1930-1940
In March of 1930, Davis L. Funk leased the store from Schuneman and bought out his remaining stock. Mr. Funk had owned a couple other stores in Oakland.
He called his store Funk’s Grocery.
The Funk family lived at 5677 Thornhill in the mid to late 30s to early 40s.
In the early 1960s the Montclair Presbyterian Church next door bought the house from the owners.
My ex-husband and I worked for the church from 1983- 1987 and we got to live in the house.
This house, grocery store and the Thorn Road Bible School (now Montclair Presbyterian) were all built in 1925-27.
Note – Montclair Presbyterian Church (MPC) was formed in March of 1930 as was the Montclair Library http://oaklandlibrary.org/events/montclair-branch/come-celebrate-montclair-librarys-85th-anniversary-us .
Montclair Food Center 1940-1957
In 1940 Funk took on a partner his son-law Malcom “Scotty” Hodge the husband of his daughter Lenore and the store was re-named the Montclair Food Center.
Funk and Hodge ran the store together until Funk died in 1949 his home on Grisborne Avenue, behind the store.
Hodge and his wife continued on after that until 1957 when they couldn’t work out a new lease with the owner Otto Schuneman. My thought is…it was because he could make more money leasing it to Speedee Mart
When the store closed down in 1957 it was the last one Montclair that had maintained a credit and delivery service. Montclair Food Center was more than just a store to many of the customers of 20 years or more.
By 1957 Montclair was also changing. Payless Grocery Store (soon to be Luckys) and LaSalle Avenue Market were located in the business district and soon a new Safeway would be built.
Speedee Mart 1958-1966?
In about 1958 the store was leased by Speedee Mart Corporation.
In 1964 the parent company of the 7-Eleven Stores bought all the Speedee Mart franchises in California.
They began slowly changing the name to 7-Eleven (7-11)
The End
I remember Hamilton’s Market on a small hill on Broadway Terrace and Glenwood Glade. Would go there for nickel cokes and candy. This would be in the late 1940’s.
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Your work is awesome. Keep it up. So interesting
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Thank You!
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I enjoy these articles so much, keeep up the great work. I was born in Oakland in 1941 and lived there (in Montclair) until 1969. I have a few great pictures I hope to share shortly, one is a overview taken in1879.
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Thank you
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I would love to see your pictures.
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