by Catherine Jozwik
Glorioso’s, the Italian grocery store and East Side favorite for 64 years, is planning to expand and move to a different location. Luckily for its loyal patrons, Glorioso’s won’t be leaving Brady Street. Its owners have purchased the building that formerly housed the Brady Street Pharmacy and the new store is projected to open in spring 2010.
After retiring from eighteen years of working in
the corporate food and beverage industry, Michael
Glorioso decided to join his family members in
the grocery business, including his father Ted,
uncle Joe, and cousin Felice a year and a half ago.
Some of the Glorioso family have been working in
the business their entire lives.
“It’s a labor of love and passion,” said Glorioso.
“We have a great time and work hard.”
With Milwaukee’s East Side still experiencing
growth in development despite rough economic
times, Glorioso decided that it was time for the
store to expand. With a little convincing, the rest
of his family jumped on board.
Not wanting to leave Brady Street, they were
fortunate to have the opportunity to purchase the
Brady Street Pharmacy – directly across the street.
With help from a Small Business Administration
loan from US Bank, Glorioso’s has begun working
with Mehmert Store Services, a contracting firm
with experience working with grocery stores, to
discuss remodeling plans.
The new store will boast such features as increased
deli space, an expanded meat and cheese
department, and a more expansive wine and spirits
department, according to Glorioso.
Glorioso said that a 27-chair sampling area, which
will allow customers to taste-test certain unusual
meats and cheeses, will help draw business into
the new store.
“We see ourselves as moving into a lot more food
service,” said Glorioso. He said that the new store
will offer a lot more hot food – including pastas
and sandwiches. A special treat that will delight
long time customers is the family’s plan to bring
back their famous Trio’s Pizza, available frozen
or hot. The grocery stopped carrying their pizza
a while ago, but customers have never stopped
asking for it.
But Glorioso insists that despite these new upscale
touches, Glorioso’s won’t lose its familiar sights
and smells of an old-fashioned grocery store that
has retained loyalty over six decades.
“We’ll still be an Italian grocery store. We don’t
see ourselves as a Pick N’ Save or Sendik’s,” said
Glorioso.