Remembering Stanley Grossman, Kensington's Original Sleep Doctor

Dan was going through some old Kensington videos recently and came across a set of commercials that plenty of South Jersey will remember: the Sleep Doctor spots, starring his grandfather, Stanley Grossman.

If you watched local TV around here, you know the ones. Stanley, in his 90s, grinning into the camera: "Whether you're 90, like me, or 29, you're gonna love an adjustable base." And the all-timer, delivered on his birthday: "It's my birthday. I can discount if I want to."

Stanley started his career with Kensington in 1955 — right in the same building, as he liked to point out — and he was still at it 63 years later. "Go figure," as he'd say.

In 1967, Stanley and his brother Buddy took over as part owners of the store and set out to bring new energy into the business. Kensington had been serving the South Jersey community since the early days, but the two of them wanted that energy to reflect who they were: bold, loving, and fun.

That era gave Kensington so much of what people still know it for today. Stanley and Buddy moved the store from Atlantic City to Tilton Road in Northfield, where it stands now. They brought in the popcorn, the cookies, and the snacks that generations of shoppers grew up on. And they ran marketing campaigns fun enough that they're still memorialized on the walls inside Kensington.

In the video, Dan shares something he never told his grandfather before Stanley passed away a few years ago: watching what Stanley did at Kensington had a huge influence on the person Dan wanted to become. And now — after years of telling Stanley he'd never join the family business — Dan is working with his uncle Michael, and he can picture the smile on his grandfather's face.

"For 91 years, I loved spending my life in this community with people that I love." That was Stanley. Honestly, it's still the job description around here.

Here's to the people who influenced us, and to the ways they still live through us today.

About Kensington Furniture — Kensington Furniture is a family-owned furniture and mattress store on Tilton Road in Northfield, New Jersey. Founded in 1912, it's one of the oldest retail businesses in Atlantic County — if not the oldest — and has served South Jersey families for more than a century, from first apartments to forever homes. Visit the showroom in Northfield or shop online at kensingtonfurniture.com.