Updated with new photos March 2024
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 Bit of History.
In 1925, Otto Schuneman bought land on Thorn Road and built a store. His store was a combination fountain, grocery store, and service station. The address was 281 Thorn Road.
Early residents of the area remember the place as a tourist bus stop, where refreshments were served at the fountain and an outdoor terrace.
The original building is still standing behind the 7-11 store.
Mr. Schuneman leased the store. E.G., Nickerson of 408 Florence Ave (now 5800 Florence Terrace) in 1926, and Captain Baldwin in 1928.
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 of other stores in Oakland.
He called his store Funk’s Grocery and Montclair 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 bought the house from the owners.
My ex-husband and I worked for the church from 1983- 1987 and lived 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) and the Montclair Library were formed in March 1930.
Montclair Food Center 1940-1957
In 1940, Funk took on a partner, his son-in-law Malcolm “Scotty” Hodge, the husband of his daughter Lenore, and the store was renamed the Montclair Food Center.
Funk and Hodge ran the store together until Funk died in 1949 at his home on Grisborne Avenue behind the store.
Hodge and his wife continued until 1957 when they couldn’t negotiate a new lease with Otto Schuneman, the owner. I thought it was because he could make more money leasing it to Speedee Mart.
When the store closed in 1957, it was the last one in Montclair to maintain a credit and delivery service. Montclair Food Center was more than just a store for many of its customers.
By 1957, Montclair was also changing. Payless Grocery Store (soon to be Luckys) and LaSalle Avenue Market were located in the business district, and a new Safeway would soon be built.
Min-a-Mart and Speedee Mart 1958-1966?
A Min-a-Mart opened in about 1958.
In 1959, 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)
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.
Your work is awesome. Keep it up. So interesting
Thank You!
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.
Thank you
I would love to see your pictures.
I grew up on Grisborne Avenue right behind the store. We lived there from about 1960 to 1968 and my grandmother stayed in the house, in a unit my parents had built upstairs, for a year or two after that. I wonder if our house was the one that the original owners lived in, as I always thought of us as directly behind Speedee (as we knew it). Does anyone know the address of their house? We lived at 5738 Grisborne.
Hi, The Funks first lived at 5677 Thornhill, next to the Sanctuary. Later they lived at either 5700 or 5708 Grisborne.
In 1980, My husband Larry Brehm remodeled the upstairs above and behind the 7-11, restoring it to its 1920’s style. We had Brehm Architects housed there plus a few other offices, including Bob Wilkins. Our kids went to Thornhill School and they played in the office every day after school. We lived on Robin Hood Way. Our Merriewood World was perfect.
Wow, do you happen to have photos? In the mid-1980s when my husband and I worked at the church and lived next to it, I met the owner of the building and she said she was related to the original owner. We met at a neighborhood meeting about teens and the excessive noise at night coming from 7-11. The noise would echo in the valley. Southland Corporation and the Forest Park /Merriewood Neighborhood Association members were there. I grew up on Capricorn above the hill from 7-11 and below Robinhood Way. Dorothy
We lived on Florence Ave. (Terrace) from 1939 – 1947. I remember when I was about 3 in 1945, my mom would phone Funk’s and order a few things.