Community Check-In: The Birth Of Red Star Paint

Before he became a Verona resident, my dad bled Montclair blue, and he still does if you ask him. Like the rest of his family, he was born and raised in Montclair. He grew up there with his four siblings, dozens of aunts and uncles, and twice as many cousins.

Before becoming store owners, my dad and his brother John DiGeronimo owned a painting business. Then, at 24, my dad and Uncle John bought the local paint store where they got supplies. Without knowing, buying that paint store would make Rich and John a part of Montclair’s local business history.

“My senior year of high school, I started painting houses with John; we did that for about six years. We had ladders on top of his Buick Regal and painted houses, and we finally bought a van. Got some signs on the van–The DiGeronimo Brothers,” he said. “We were doing good. Thought we were doing good for someone who’s in their twenties.”

Besides buying their supplies, the brothers didn’t spend much time on Bloomfield Ave. Growing up on Gordonnhurst Ave, they tended to stay around Uptown Montclair. They spent a lot of time between Edgemont and Anderson Park.

“We spent time on Bloomfield Avenue because the paint store where we bought paint from was there,” he said. “One day, we were there buying paint, and she asked John if we wanted to buy the business. John, who excelled at making business deals happen, said ‘Sure’.”

That was in 1994. Rich and John bought the building in 1996, then in 2001 they added a two-floor, 6,000-square-foot addition that would become four residential units – another successful deal led by John. During that time, after six years of learning the business, John, who is also a Verona resident, left Red Star in 2000 to pursue real estate. Rich has owned Red Star Paint for the past 24 years.

Most of my dad’s childhood stories revolve around growing up in Montclair. When he talks about the town, it doesn’t sound like he’s talking about where he grew up. He’s talking about the place that shaped his life. As cheesy as it sounds, it’s hard to think about the DiGeronimo family without thinking about Montclair.

Becoming Community Members

There’s a difference between living in a town and being an active member. I wanted to know when my dad went from being a Montclair resident to a Montclair community member.

I asked him when he started to notice this shift. He listed off different interactions and memories from years ago that stuck with him. When my dad talks about his past, it always feels like he’s telling me a story. “When I was younger, I played football on the Cobras, that was the youth Montclair Cobra team, and one of my favorite moments where it all came full circle was when Howard Finney, who ran the Montclair Cobras, came into my store. He needed to buy 10 cases of blue spray paint, and I knew exactly what he was doing with it,” he said.

These kinds of things started to happen more frequently. There were many times when his past popped into the store. “One of the main events for the Cub Scouts was the Pinewood Derby car race,” he said. “I saw a father come in with his son, and I asked him what he was painting. He told me it was a Pinewood Derby car, and it all just kind of came full circle again because I remembered doing that.”

The boy’s project wouldn’t be the last Pinewood Derby car donning Red Star Paint paint. Owning a small business in the town you grew up in opens the door for interactions like these.

I asked him why these moments stood out, and he said, “I realized that I was a part of something that was really good. You feel like what you are to the community is not just what you get out of it. It’s what you give back.” That’s a motto my dad lives by.

I’ve spent a lot of time at Red Star Paint, from working there during the summer to hanging out with my dad and cousins who worked there. It’s hard to predict what a day at the store can bring, but something I can always count on is someone stopping by to chat with my dad. He keeps a stool by the front counter so anyone can take a load off and talk. Sometimes it’s a customer my dad’s known for 15 years or a friend or family just stopping in to say hello.

After being in the same location for 30 years, Red Star Paint became a sort of hub for people to not just buy paint, but somewhere you can go for a familiar face.

“When you come into my store, you see the same person over and over and get good advice,” he said.

Many of those relationships have exceeded the Montclair boundary and bled into neighboring towns. Since we live in Verona, my dad wanted to find ways to give back whenever possible.

“I stretch from Montclair to Verona, where I sponsor all the baseball and football, and got involved,” he said. “When Glen Ridge redid their field house for the football team, I donated all the paint and was just happy to be a part of it as my nephew played football for them.”

I always liked how involved my dad was. Some kids’ parents were on the PTA or coached sports, but instead, my dad was the one adding color and life to our town. “I very much felt a part of what was good about Montclair, Glen Ridge, Verona, parts of Bloomfield, West Orange, Cedar Grove. Most of my business is local.”

Growing up with a dad who owns a paint store, you learn to be aware and curious about where paint on the walls comes from, but when I’m in Verona, I don’t have to wonder. It’s usually from my dad.

Old-School Montclair

“Back then, it was an antique haven,” he said about Bloomfield Avenue 30 years ago. “There were about 10 or 12 antique stores. So those are the people that we met first.”

Being so centrally located for the past 30 years, my dad has seen Downtown Montclair grow around him. “We watched the town change from antique stores to trendy restaurants and boutiques,” he said. “I’ve watched all the neighbors change, and when I look around, there’s probably only two or three businesses that have been there as long as I have.”

It must be bittersweet, I said, thinking about the stores that aren’t there anymore. He always talks about how great it is for Montclair to grow and change, but I also hear a sense of nostalgia when he talks about what it used to be like.

“I’m what I would call a person of the community now, but I also would be considered old-school Montclair. It’s always refreshing when you see somebody come into the store who’s considered old-school.”

He talked about how, at first, watching the town shift from “old-school Montclair”, something he said he can’t define, to a new type of Montclair was uncomfortable. “It’s like a small New York City with eclectic people. It’s just a good place to be,” he said.

Now my dad knows how much Montclair has benefitted. “I’ve seen a lot of change since 1994, including his store, but,” he says with a smile, “it still feels like home.”

Julia DiGeronimo, Verona High School Class of 2019, is a freelance writer. Check out her blog, juliadigeronimo.com, for more Community Check-Ins.