Family gets a unique ‘thank you’ from boro
BY JOHN DUNPHY
Staff Writer

CHRIS KELLY staff Anthony ‘Skeeter’ Spitaleri (center), with his father Tony and his wife Jill, hold the new street sign presented to them on Monday.

SOUTH RIVER — A century of business has paved the way for a unique birthday present.

The Borough Council on Monday presented Anthony “Skeeter” Spitaleri III, owner of Spitaleri Furniture, with the symbolic renaming of a street in the family’s honor. Klausers Lane, which is adjacent to the store’s Ferry Street location, will now have the honorary name Spitaleri Centennial Way in recognition of the business’ 100th anniversary.

The Spitaleri Furniture operation began with Skeeter’s grandfather, the first Anthony Spitaleri, a Sicilian immigrant who came to America in the late 1800s. He founded Spitaleri Furniture in 1905 at the same location it is today. Skeeter, 50, said it is the oldest family-owned furniture store in New Jersey.

Skeeter, who grew up in South River and now lives in Edison, said being born into the Spitaleri family pretty much meant he was going to be involved in the business practically from the time he learned to walk. He was working full time in the store by the age of 15, and took ownership of it about 10 years later.

“[Taking over the business] was something I looked forward to,” he said. “It gave me a lot of ambition. It really was a driving force.”

“I knew I had some serious shoes to fill,” he added.

Tony Spitaleri, Skeeter’s father, was also in attendance at Monday’s council meeting, along with Skeeter’s wife, Jill, and their children, Anthony Spitaleri IV, Jennifer and Justina, all of whom work at the furniture store.

Skeeter said running the business is very different from an ordinary job.

“When you own your own business, you take it home with you,” he said. “It’s always with you. It makes you grow up really fast.”

Skeeter said he received his nickname, which has stuck since his childhood, when his grandmother likened her energetic grandson to a mosquito. With her broken English, it sounded like “skeeter.” Even his license plate says it.

“I’m the only one in New Jersey,” he said. “I’m the official Skeeter.”

In addition to running the store, Skeeter is chairman of the South River Parking Authority and vice chairman of the South River Economic Development Commission. He has long been involved in organizing the borough’s Cruise Night program, which brings thousands of people to town each year.

Skeeter said a primary component that sets his company apart from others is the customer’s ability to custom-order anything they want to purchase from the store.

“It’s not what you see [in the showroom] you’ve got to take,” he said. “That makes us very different. Nobody else does that out there.”

Though Skeeter said he is unlikely to ever retire from the business, he said he will start passing on his management knowledge to his children, with the goal of eventually relaxing a bit.

“It’s a demanding business,” he said. “You just can’t go in overnight and do it. There’s a lot of things they have to learn. I’m lucky all three of my kids are very mature for their age. I could get up and walk away from that place and know it’s well taken care of.”

During his tearful speech following Mayor Robert Szegeti’s presentation of the shiny, green street sign with bright white lettering, Skeeter said that being honored in such a way by the town he has always loved trumps all other awards and accomplishments.

Though it is a symbolic renaming of Klausers Lane that will not affect those who live on the street, it is an honor that Skeeter holds dear.

“This is by far the highest [honor] ever,” he said. “And the nicest.”

“The Spitaleri family has long been dedicated to the borough,” Szegeti said. “It shows how businesses can get involved in the community.”

Skeeter said not much has changed in South River in the years since he took over the business.

“It’s still a very tight-knit, small community. I think that’s why Spitaleri Furniture has lasted so long,” he said. “It’s just a beautiful, friendly town. It means a whole lot to me. A whole lot.”