The Libertella Business Empire

How an Immigrant’s Mobile Store Launched and Early Sea Isle Success Story

Exterior of Libertella’s

The Sea Isle City that is so popular today is the result of the individuals and families who cast the foundation for the city of today. They came from all over the world, literally, and all walks of life. Some vacationed here while others made it their home. But they all shared one common thread: a love for Sea Isle City. Some even gambled on the business climate. This is the story of one of those families: a family that invested in Sea Isle City and showed what dedication and hard work can accomplish. And although the family name of their business has been missing from Landis Avenue for nearly 60 years, the impact that family made on the city is not lost.

Long before Amazon, the service that delivers your every need right to your door, there was Giuseppe Libertella. In rural South Jersey, where farmers were busy in the fields seven days a week and their wives often did not drive, Libertella saw a need. So, he brought the dry goods that families needed conveniently to their homes: clothing, towels, sheets, shoes, everything for the family.

“My dad started with a sack on his back and taking a bus,” his daughter, Virginia Dillon, says from her home in North Carolina. “He then bought an automobile and eventually a large truck.”

Thanks to amazing retail intuition, a strong work ethic, and a savvy instinct for real estate investment, Libertella grew his business from that “sack” into a lifelong passion that provided well for him and his family. And his family’s family.

Giuseppe and Madeline Libertella in front of their store on Landis Avenue.

“My dad was my hero,” says his son, Charlie. “He instilled a work ethic in all of us. It was about survival in those days. We were always comfortable – we never wanted for anything.”

At one point, Libertella owned more than 10 real estate properties that he would rent out. Not bad for a guy who emigrated from his native Italy in 1923, stepping off the S.S. Chicago with a mere $22 in his pocket. In his new country, he met and married Madeline Alfano in 1928. Together they would successfully operate their business and raise a family. Libertella became a naturalized U.S. citizen 10 years later, in 1938.

“My dad never liked having debt,” explained Charlie. “He’d prefer to make purchases for cash. He had no desire to be in debt.”

Apparently through his travels, he learned about the magic of Sea Isle City.

“We vacationed there in the ’40s,” Charlie Libertella says. “We stayed in the Pennsylvania Hotel at 40th and Pleasure. My dad liked the area and became friends with many of the local fishermen – most of them were Italian immigrants like him.”

Dillon still has memories of her father playing bocce outside The Pennsylvania. “There were two bocce courts right outside the hotel,” she says, “and he enjoyed playing, and the friends that he made around town.”

Vacations lead to the desire for a more permanent situation. That is when Libertella purchased a large lot across from The Pennsylvania.

“There was a big storage barn on the lot,” his son says. “I think it was used to store beach chairs in the winter. My dad used some of the wood from that structure when he built our first bungalow. That was probably 1948.”

According to Dillon, her father would expand his buildings each year. Retail stores, apartments, he was always building more.

In the 1950s, Charlie Libertella took over the mobile dry goods business while his father concentrated on his new brick-and-mortar operation at 4005 Landis Ave. Libertella’s Dry Goods opened its doors in about 1953.

“It was like a mini-department store,” Dillon explains.

Point of purchase sign from inside of Libertella’s store.

“Bathing suits, linens, sheets, clothing, shoes – all out on display in retail cases,” adds her brother. “The cash register was in the back of the store.”

When it came to home goods or dry goods, “there was Libertella’s and Pfeiffer’s in town, that was it,” Dillon says. “There was no five-and-ten, and this was before Sands Department Store, so people in Sea Isle City depended on our store.”

Aside from quality merchandise and great service, customers at Libertella’s also got another bonus with each purchase: S&H Green Stamps. Cutting-edge marketing for the day.

The Libertella family quickly blended into the fabric of small-town Sea Isle City. Evenings were often spent sitting on benches in front of the store, greeting customers. They would discuss the amount of traffic coming into town with their neighbors, the Diamonds, in front of their liquor store. Lots of cars meant a busy day in the store.

Dillon also has memories of her father loving to crab: “I remember that he’d stop at Mike’s Seafood for bait and normally he’d come home with a bushelful of crabs.”

Libertella kept his store well-stocked, making a trip every Tuesday to Philadelphia to pick up new inventory. His Philadelphia trips usually included a detour through Vineland and a visit to the fresh farmers’ market. Libertella’s Dry Goods operated seasonally from 1953 through 1959.

Grandson Joe Riccardi across from the S&H Green Stamps sign, 1956.

Giuseppe proudly displays a big one that he landed.

“Fifty-nine is about when we moved to Sea Isle City full time,” Dillon says. The store remained open all year until sometime after the March 1962 nor’easter. “My dad was evacuated by helicopter,” she says. Following that experience, “He didn’t like the possibility of flooding.”

Giuseppe Libertella continued his love affair with Sea Isle City until his death in 1974 – maintaining dual residences on 39th Street and in Glassboro. His children, now grandparents themselves, still have vivid memories of the streets, houses and people of Sea Isle – along with the life lessons taught by their father.

Libertella’s Dry Goods is long gone from 4005 Landis Ave. But the effects of Giuseppe Libertella, his family and Libertella’s Dry Goods will always be a part of Sea Isle City’s vibrant past.