i'll call my guy.

Driven by Community: The D&D Market Story with Danny D’Aprile

• Rich Rochlin • Season 5 • Episode 5

Share episode

Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.

0:00 | 59:27

Send us Fan Mail

In this episode, Rich sits down with Danny D’Aprile, the third-generation owner of Connecticut staple D&D Market, to talk about legacy, loyalty, and what it really takes to keep a family business alive for nearly a century. From homemade sausage recipes passed down from his grandfather to expanding into the suburbs while staying true to his roots, Danny shares the story behind one of Connecticut’s most beloved Italian markets.

The conversation dives into entrepreneurship, community, family tradition, and why people still crave places that feel personal in a world of big box everything. Whether you grew up shopping at D&D or just love hearing stories about businesses built on trust and grit, this episode is packed with heart, nostalgia, and real insight into building something that lasts.

Thanks for listening! Follow us on social media for more!

Rich Rochlin Law Group https://www.richrochlinlaw.com/
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/callmyguy.pod/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/illcallmyguypodcast/
Youtube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBsXk87X1_aYtawtZEWPdcQ


SPEAKER_00

All right, Danny D. April, thank you for coming in. Um, I know we've been uh trying to hunt you down for very much. You're a busy guy. Uh I was joking with you that the Secretary of Education was easier to get than you. Um, so I have so many questions for you. You know, I've known you a long time, I love you very much, and I have so many questions because I want to know what makes you tick. Um, and and and the importance of relationships and how you've gotten to where you've you are. So welcome.

SPEAKER_01

Well, first of all, I appreciate you having me on this. Oh sure. Um, it yeah, it has been tough to get here. I'm I'm happy to be here. And you know, we do we do go way back.

SPEAKER_00

We do go way back. We do go way back. We do go way back. Your your son was my summer associate a long time ago. He worked for me for the summer. Now he's a partner in a law firm. So time flies, he has kids, he has a child, right? He does, little baby girl. And then you have uh your daughter has two kids. Yeah, twin boys. Twin boys, crazy, and uh they uh they look like they're all thriving, which is good. Yeah, yeah, which is good. So you're a Connecticut native, right? Correct, right? Where where was your childhood home?

SPEAKER_01

So I actually I I uh lived on um New Britain Avenue in Elmwood until I was four. Like what what's like near what thing now? So my my my grandfather on my my mother's side, my mother's father, owned Elmwood Furniture. Oh, okay, which was where that theater is, uh right on New Britain Avenue.

SPEAKER_00

Oh now it's a wall, it used to be a Walgreens in that closer. Correct.

SPEAKER_01

So we lived like about three houses like South Quaker, is it? Is it Quaker? I believe it was near the uh funeral home. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Right across Puritan furniture. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's we lived in a um, I think it was a six-family home. When you were up to your time you were a five year old until I was four. Okay. Then we moved to Wathersfield. Then you moved to Wethersfield, correct. And then so your your your childhood through high school was all Weathersfield? Uh it was. I went through all Weathersfield, the public schools until high school, then I went to Catholic school. I went to South Catholic High School in Hartford. Okay. And that's a that's a private or parochial school or parochial school. Parochial school.

SPEAKER_00

All right. And what in your childhood, uh your your what was your mom a homemaker or did she work with the business?

SPEAKER_01

Well, in those days, everybody was that had a mom they stayed home because they had to take care of their kids, right? I have three sisters, so it's a family of four. Family of four.

SPEAKER_00

So you so are you the oldest or youngest? I'm the oldest. The oldest. So you're the older brother, so you were looking after your sisters, obviously. Correct. What what is the um and your dad was in the family business, right? That's right. Right. And your grandfather started the business? He did. He started in 1932. So tell me about I know your grandfather is uh uh somebody you care about tremendously and look up to. There's a picture of him in your store, I think. What was his name? Vito. Vito. Okay, and it's uh Vito di April. Vito da Prile. Oh, D'Aprile. D'Arle. D'Aprile.

SPEAKER_01

And what part of Italy was he from? So he was from uh Bari. His the name of his town was um, you know, every time I I hear a different story, the town changes. But he was from the province of Bari. Bari, yeah. Where is that in Italy? Do you know? It's uh on the Adriatic side. Okay, like Pulia, that that that area over there. Did he speak with an accent? Um he did. Okay, so he was he was uh he was an immigrant off the boat, if you will. Correct. He came here at 16. At 16. At 16, but he had already mastered the English language because his family was a little bit well-to-do in Italy. Oh, I see. And he was educated and he he knew English, and thank God, because when he got to Ellis Island, he was able to communicate with the people over there, and he kind of got right in. Plus, to the fact that he had red hair, blue eyes like me and freckles. They thought he was Irish. And in those days, if you were Italian, you were shunned upon. You were not exactly treated very nicely.

SPEAKER_00

Well, wasn't the there's a you know the slur for Italians that begins with a W. It's it stands for without papers. Are you serious? That's what that's from. Oh, I didn't know that. That's what that's that's my understanding of that. That slur is is without papers, just like the K word for Jews, you know, like the K slur. That is the Yiddish, this is my understanding of it. The Yiddish word for circle is kaikel, and they couldn't like people came and couldn't speak English, and they would and they would sign your name with a circle. So that's why people would like some of that was immigration-related slurs. Did not know that. But without papers. That's what that came from. That's my understanding of it. Um, I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that's accurate. So so he so he's red hair with blue eyes. What a combo! Yeah, and freckles, and freckles. So he was able to get in. Uh, and he he came. Did he where did he come right to Connecticut? He did. But what was the connection?

SPEAKER_01

You know, I I I really don't know. I we we somehow we lost that, but he went to work tobacco. Oh, right. Like all the you know, immigrants that came over, they need jobs.

SPEAKER_00

Usually what it is is they had a cousin here that sent a letter that said, Hey, I can get you in, yeah, get over here. I guess I lost that part of the story. You lost that part of the story. So he he he went and uh and worked in tobacco fields. He did. And he worked in tobacco. Um and was he here with did he did he have his uh your grandmother at the time or he did not. He just came by himself at 16. Wow.

SPEAKER_01

And he worked tobacco, he became a foreman, he leased some land up in Windsor Locks, and then he's his he said that in the early 20s, uh they had a hail storm and he used to raise the broadleaf tobacco for the fancy wrappers.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Um, it knocked out his crop and he lost a hundred grand in the 20s. He decided that this was not for him, and he went to work for a uh a grocery chain, and I'm not gonna mention the name because when every time I mention the name, somebody calls and says, Oh, why'd you say it? So I'm not gonna mention the name. But he started as a clerk, worked his way up to a manager, became the general manager and the buyer of like the seven or eight little stores on the corners of Hartford. And a little uh senora, a little Italian lady, comes in, gets a gallon of milk, in those days it was glass, drops it and shatters it. So he says, Signora, don't worry about it, we'll clean it up, no, no problem. My grandfather's boss took him in the back room and said, Vito, you're gonna charge her for that milk, correct? And he goes, No, Mr. X, I can't. She's a good customer, and it was an accident. So Mr. X said, Vito, if you don't charge her for the milk, I don't think you're gonna be able to work here anymore. And my grandfather said, You know what? If I have to charge you for the milk, I don't want to work here. Walked out, opened up his own store in one year.

SPEAKER_00

All right, let's put the guy out. This is amazing. All right, so that wait, how did you know of this story? My grandfather. He told it to you. What's your first memory of him? Oh, God.

SPEAKER_01

Working in the store.

SPEAKER_00

Him working in the store? Yeah, he's always had an apron on with a little bow tie. You you're five, six years old, right? That's when memories start, right? You walk in, your mom or dad took you in there, and you just see you go see grandpa.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, well, you know, remember, I'm in my mid-60s here.

SPEAKER_00

Right.

SPEAKER_01

Um, Saturday was a day that all the ladies went downtown and went shopping. So they would go to Sage's, which is Sage Allen, right? Fox's, which was G Fox. Right. I needed a place to go because I didn't want to go there. So they would drop me off at DD Market. Ah. So I started working with my grandfather, my father at a very, very early age. Right.

SPEAKER_00

He basically what he'd let the store watch you. Correct. Right. You'd say it was like DD daycare. No, right, because you're right. It's you're not gonna, as long as you don't run out like, hey, put this on the shelf here, give you little things, maybe give you 50 cents out of the register, make you a sandwich, something, and you're like thinking it's the best thing ever.

SPEAKER_01

And it was great.

SPEAKER_00

It was so I so so the earliest you remember being at that store was what, five, six years old? Yeah, five or six. Wow. Five or six. So so he so that's the story was he then opens it. So let me back up one second. D'Aprile is of April is of April.

SPEAKER_01

Of April, yeah. So my mother, um, when I started to go to school, my mother said that uh, you know, we we need to um somehow Americanize this uh last name. So we're gonna go by D'April. Oh and that's why I go by D'April. D'April, right? Danny, Danny D'April. Right. But but the Italian way to pronounce it.

SPEAKER_00

It's got a nice ring in Italian. It's got a beautiful, you know, it kind of rolls off your tongue. No, it's it's lovely. So, all right, so he he then at that point had he met your when he was still working there and he left the store. Did he did he meet your grandmother at that point?

SPEAKER_01

So he met my grandmother um when he was about 18 or 19 in Windsor Locks because he he was doing the tobacco and her family lived up that way. Oh, I see.

SPEAKER_00

So um he he so he must have been with her at that point?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, yeah. Okay. There was a big age difference though. I think my grandfather was about 10 or 12 years older than my grandmother.

SPEAKER_00

All right. So he then so you then start the he then says, okay, I'm done. And he he how long is he in the United States at this point?

SPEAKER_01

Well, since the early 20s, so it's it's quite a while. So it's quite a while. He started the store in 32. Oh, 32. 1932.

SPEAKER_00

So maybe a dozen years, maybe. Okay. So he starts, he go, he then opens up as the original shop, the the Franklin Avenue shop. Yes.

SPEAKER_01

So no, excuse me, it's uh was on Windsor Street, it was in the north end. Oh, in the north end. Yeah. So he finds a little sh store. He had a he had a store underneath a um, I believe it was an eight-family or a 12-family home, you know, apartment building that he owned. He had bought that. He had saved some money and he purchased that. Then he purchased the next building over, which um, when my father was young, that became my father's uh olive oil import-export business.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, okay. So so he then opens in in 32, he opens the store. Why is it called D D? So that's interesting.

SPEAKER_01

Um my grandfather's name was D'Aprile, right? And my grandmother's maiden name was Di Michele.

SPEAKER_00

Oh. So it's D D. Oh, I see. So he he he is sort of a tribute to his wife. Correct. And her so D D, and what was what's the full name?

SPEAKER_01

DD Finds Foods, or what was So it, you know, it's it was always DD Stores. Right. I don't know why. Right. My grandfather, maybe with his accent, he couldn't pronounce market or store. Oh, I see, or whatever. So it was DD Stores Inc. I see.

SPEAKER_00

But it's it's it's DD Market. DD Market. Yeah. Okay. I I have an idea. I think you should rebrand to DD Fied Foods Emporium, something like that. Because it gives tribute to the really, we'll get to this of all the the super high quality prepared food and the meat that you have. I think it's like a it'll it elevates it a little bit. But yeah, think about that. But anyhow, so he that so it's DD stores, he opens it up. Who's work is it he's running the store, obviously his store. Is your grandmother working in the store? No, my grandmother was a homemaker. So she how many kids did they have? So they had uh, let's see, my uh four four kids. So this is the this is your paternal grandparents, correct? Right, okay. So they had four kids. Four kids. Okay. And um, how many of them were uh what was the makeup of that? Boys, girls?

SPEAKER_01

So I um my father and his his brother and um they he had two sisters, my oh two and two. Two and two. Okay. Nice little family. So how long are they in the how long are they in the north end for? So we moved out of the north end in 61. So wow. So because at that time, uh that particular area where we were on Windsor Street became like Constitution Plaza. Oh. So the uh they bought up all the property, the city, and my grandfather moved to Franklin Avenue, which was an industrial truck center, um, and about seven or eight pieces of property in between in the back, on the side. And over time he acquired them all. Uh, but in the beginning, um the D market was right there at the industrial truck center. So they kind of knocked down the building, cleaned up the parking lot, and put, you know, put up some walls, and it was like a dry cleaner or something somewhere in there. He made it the DD Market on Franklin Avenue in the southwest.

SPEAKER_00

So and you're and you're born what year? 61. 61 when they moved. Correct. Okay, so 61 when they moved. So your memories of your grandfather are at the Franklin Avenue store. Oh, yes. That's where they bring you. Yeah. Right. So you don't have any memories of the Windsor store. No. Windsor Street store. No, it was already gone. It was already gone. So 61 Franklin Avenue, which was it's I guess it still is, it's the Italian area, it's although it's changed so much. They opened up that store. How many square feet was that store?

SPEAKER_01

It probably was about 3,000 square feet in the beginning, but they kept adding on. Right. They blew out a wall. I remember pushing it uh, you know, out. And um I I think at the end when we closed it, I think it was about 55 or 6,000 square feet of retail space. We had a lot of warehouse space in the back, which helped us with our buying, but the retail uh sales floor was only about 6,000 square feet. Right.

SPEAKER_00

It wasn't very large. So obviously you've got you're going there, you know, you're the DD daycare, you're working there, you're spending time with your uh grandfather, and it was your father um uh working there full-time at some point?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, my father, um so my parents got married uh very early. My mother was, I believe, 19 when she had me. And I think my father was uh 21 when he became a father. I think my mother in those days, you know, you you you got married, and I came like 10 and a half months after. All right. And my grandfather said if I came any faster, it would have been some there would have been some talk, but I came about 10 and a half months after they had gotten married. So, you know, right off the bat, my father had an instant family in his early 20s. I see. And my sisters came, you know, pretty quickly after that too.

SPEAKER_00

So but he but your father probably how what how young was he working at at what age was he working in at the moment? Early.

SPEAKER_01

My father, my father worked as a young guy.

SPEAKER_00

How about how about your father, your uncle? What how about he? Is he working in the star too, or you didn't like that? So my uncle became a priest. Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_01

So uh Catholic priest, yeah. A Catholic priest, and he was very, very happy doing that for many, many years. But after about 25 or 26 years of being a priest, he really didn't want to be a priest anymore. He wanted to get married. Oh, interesting. And and had he had two children, uh, two boys. Um, and my aunt was a nun and wasn't a nun to the day she died. What a story! She came from a very, very uh serious Roman Catholic family. And my grandfather used to call us up every Sunday after we got married. What did the priest say at the homily? I mean, you know, we get we got grilled, we got quizzed.

SPEAKER_00

Wow.

SPEAKER_01

So we made sure we went to church in those days.

SPEAKER_00

Oh my gosh. So your so you're so he took the priest uh sort of path, and then your father says, Well, look, we have this established store, I'm gonna go into this business. Correct. What age do you start working there regularly?

SPEAKER_01

Um well, I I I worked there part-time right along, but after I got out of uh college, I went there full time. Where did you go to college? I went to um Nichols College in Dudley Mass. Okay. I played football there, but I got hurt. I I hurt my knee pretty badly. I tore my cartilage, my meniscus, my ACL, my MCL. Oh and that that was it for sports. So I uh I didn't want to stay there any longer. So I transferred from Nichols and I went to uh Moore's School of Business here in Hartford. Okay, and I concentrated just on business courses. Um, and while I went to school there, I worked for my father and my grandfather, and you know, I I really enjoyed it, I loved it, and I I was actually pretty good at it.

SPEAKER_00

So so you you were working there, but you but like when you were in high school, you're working in the cash register, working butchering all over the place.

SPEAKER_01

But so you always stand on milk crates and slice American cheese. Okay, because I couldn't reach this reach the slicer when I was a kid. And in those days, I mean they didn't care about this. No, they didn't care.

SPEAKER_00

So I so you were serving customers, correct? Right. So you and these were regular customers, you knew the families, everyday customers.

SPEAKER_01

My grandfather always stressed in order for you to work in the business, you have to have a nice personality, you have to maintain eye contact, and the only way that you're gonna learn a personality is working inside this store with other staff members, see how they work with the customers, right? And you interact. And that's he was 100% right. Today, one of the problems is everybody texts, right? They they're poor communicators, it's not good.

SPEAKER_00

So you so the so you get to know all the families that come in, you know their orders, right? You're like, oh, she gets a pound of prosuto. Absolutely. She likes this, she's sliced a certain way. Correct. I see, right? So you do that. So you finish with college, and at some point you're there full time, full time. And what do you what's your role then? Because you're is is your grandfather now retired? Oh no, my grandfather was was still there.

SPEAKER_01

So so it's you, your dad, and you. We my wife and I got married two weeks before we got married. My grandfather had a massive heart attack. Oh gosh, he survived. Two weeks after we got back from our honeymoon, my father had a massive heart attack. So they were both laid up. I took over the company at 23. Oh gosh. And I I didn't stop uh after that. I mean, it was just nonstop. It was seven days a week, 90 hours a week for the next probably 35, 35 years. So what year is that?

SPEAKER_00

Let's see. Um 1984. So 84, you're 23 years old, you're taking over the entire store. Now, at that point, was what percentage of your sales were retail versus wholesale? Oh, it was probably 80% retail to 80%, yeah. Right. And as we know, and we'll and I want to get to this now, but the retail business is a tough, effing business, as you know. Very tough competitive, very competitive, the margins are very slim, and you have and you're competing now, and then not as much, but now you're competing with private equity that can, you know, they can squeeze a wooden nickel till it shits. You know, like they they like they can extract everything and they can buy a huge market. And yet, when I come to your store, I have to wait to get not because of lack of staff, it's just just too many people.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

So I need to, I need to understand that because the I'm sure you've been approached, like these people want to, you know, these private equity guys, they want to buy this because it's it's it's it's uh lightning in a bottle, right? You have you realize that, right? It's the special sauce. The special sauce, the Sunday gravy. So 80%. So you're in the store and you're doing you you strike, I see you still to this day, you're jack of all trades. You'll go make a sandwich, you'll slice meat, you'll do whatever.

SPEAKER_01

My father and my grandfather always said you have to learn every job in the place in order to run this this business successfully. So, you know, I was the the janitor, mopped and cleaned, washed the floor, uh, did the bathrooms. So why is stocks?

SPEAKER_00

I know the answer to this, but I want to know what your thoughts are. I think that's fantastic at business advice. Could you tell me why you think it's good advice?

SPEAKER_01

So you know, and again, uh they they had old school ways of thinking. They said, number one, you appreciate everything, and you also appreciate everybody that works for you because they all contribute to the team. Um you don't look down upon but the poor guy that's got to mop the floor or the poor guy that's gotta slice the salami extra thin for Mama Rosie over there. Um you you treat everybody with respect and kindness because you know how to do their job, you know what it takes, um, and it's part of the team. They they they wanted you to build empathy. Correct. And they wanted me to appreciate every dime, every penny that came in because you know what? As fast as it comes in, it can go and it goes quickly. Look how many businesses have gone by the wayside over the years. Oh, yeah. And you know, I'm third generation in this business. I'll bet you, I'll bet you, probably 25% of the businesses don't make it to the third, third generation. And now I have a fourth. My son-in-law has joined the company, he's been with me for eight years, right? He's gonna take it over, he's ready to go. He's he's learned from me, he's learned my techniques, my buying, he's picked my brain. I've allowed him to pick my brain, and he's wonderful. So I I kind of have an exit strategy.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, that's amazing. So, so they so that's interesting. So their advice, which is old school advice, but it's it's old school because it lasts generations, is they wanted you to build a level of empathy, which is different than sort of that private equity model. It's yours is learn what everybody does so you can relate to the struggle that it is to mop the floor, to, to, to, to lug that thing up the stairs, to empty that dirty water into the slop sink, like those type of things so that you understand when you're delegating that to that person what it takes to do that job and how hard it is. Correct. Interesting. All right, so they have you do that. So you're you learned all the things in the place. So when you take that over, you're you then become the buyer, right? So you're buying and and you have to negotiate prices with with with sellers, right? Yes. Um, you have to then set the the the the pricing on not only like cans of uh tomato sauce, but also like how much you charge for a sub, right? Like what how do you price that? Uh uh, you know, like and that's that requires a degree of skill because you could underprice that by a buck, you sell a hundred of those a day and suddenly you've lost money. Yeah, you're right. So you have to figure out and then in those days, now we have all kinds of computer systems that can do all this for you. Like AI can predict it and can look at numbers and say, look, I mean, that it's coming, right? It's here now. You can literally dump it in and it can predict all these types of things. But you had it, but your your AI, your prediction was the way you did that was in your head. Because it's a combination of like you're, you know, you've look you have to look at the numbers and what you're doing. But kind of get a sense like I can make money on that number. Right? I mean you that's how you do it, right?

SPEAKER_01

Well, you know, it it it's everybody thinks that you take a prosciutto, you just slap that thing on the slicer and you slice. They don't realize, and this this is gonna go for every little small business um what you have to do to get it ready. Hell is you gotta take the skin off. Yeah, you gotta trim it up, clean it up, kind of massage it and romance it a little bit, and then it's ready to be sliced and sold. Right. It's the same thing with all these other businesses. If you really think about it, it's not what the beginning cost is, it's what the end costs. We do what we call cut tests. You get a piece of meat, you take it, you throw it on the scale. It costs you X. After you clean it up, trim it up, slice it, what you get is what you get. Then you figure out your true cost. It's not just what it costs when it comes out of the box. Correct. Right. Correct. So uh an error in the buying can sink you. Absolutely. Sink you. Not everything is about what it costs, it's about what it the end cost is. You know, so many restaurants and we service restaurants say, Well, how much is it? Well, you know what? It it's how much it is, but it's how much you get out of it. Yeah, you could buy a cheaper prosciutto for maybe a dollar or two dollars less a pound, but if you got to trim off an extra third 30%, you didn't save any money, you lost money. Interesting.

SPEAKER_00

So, so you so and that and that has you you you you that your grandfather and father passed that knowledge on top and were you were there times where you screwed up? Oh yeah, you make you make mistakes, you have to. It's how you learn, right? Right. And so sometimes you you bought something too too much, and then you realize, oh shit. Perishables are tough, you gotta be very careful. Did you ever get to a point where like there was weeks where you worried about payroll? No, it was oh you were always able to, you didn't have to worry. Staff always gets paid, but sometimes you don't get paid. No, but but no, staff always gets paid. No, you don't get I get that, I've done that. Um, and but also you string along the vendors a little bit longer, you stretch the trade, as we say.

SPEAKER_01

You know, in in our business, you try to pay your bills as fast as you can because that is also a negotiating piece. Oh, especially oh, I see. You know, and also in in the early days, uh, if we paid our bills within seven or ten days, we got a 1% discount. Right. So we were always looking to get, you know, 1% at the end of the year.

SPEAKER_00

It's it's yeah, it's money. It's real money. So we want to pay our bills as fast as well. Oh, I see. So like I see. So like the vendors and the relationships you have with the salespeople, they know that they can pick up a check from you right there. They're like, Jesus, this, I don't have to chase. Absolutely. Because you know how you know how it is. Sometimes people get behind, they stretch them. Oh, I'm being sure next week I'll get you a check. Oh, yeah. Right. And then suddenly then they're uh belly up and you you're out thirty thousand dollars. I see. So you do it, so you you make it then they'll give you better pricing because they know they can count on the cash flow for their business. Correct. Interesting. Okay. So at 23, you're running around doing that, you're starting a family as well at some point, right?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, my my kids came very quickly. My daughter, uh, I believe we were 25 when we had our daughter. Right. So two years later. Two years later. Our son came uh about a year and a half after my daughter. Two years after my daughter. Right.

SPEAKER_00

So right, so there you go. So you're you're doing and you're in the store all the time, and you're and you're making your home in Weathersfield at that point? We yeah, we are. Okay. No, that's where you did it that at in the 80s there. Right. Okay. So you're running around. Um, is um Rosanna doing um uh is she helping in the store? Is she just primarily raising the children?

SPEAKER_01

No, you know, uh she never uh she never worked at the store until later on. My grandfather always felt that the uh the ladies should not get involved in the business because that you know sometimes that can lead to you know problems.

SPEAKER_00

Do you do you do you think you could work with um because some people I know work with their spouses and it they're doing it? Oh, I work with her now. She's one now. You can deal with it. Yeah, now I can. Yeah, but you don't because some people are either, I always say, like, oh my god, I could never work with my spouse. It's just it just it depends on the relationship. Most people can. Most people can. You can work with your spouse.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, yeah. You gotta you gotta go like this a little bit, like this a little bit, like this a little bit, but you know what? It's you you you can do it. You can do it. Most of my friends and family businesses, they all work with their their spouses and their and their children.

SPEAKER_00

And their children. So wow. So so they're so you're doing that, and then at some point, the um you said it's about 80 20. The store in um you close up the shop in um well, you find a new opportunity in Weathersfield, the old Bliss Market, right? Correct. Um, which was our competition.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, they were they were four or five miles away from the south end of Hartford. You know, it's a it's a the funny thing about Bliss Market was they used to be in Hartford. They used to be on Franklin Avenue, the corner of Bliss Street and Franklin Avenue. That's where they got the name. So when we moved in '61 to Franklin Avenue, they got the hell out of there. They said, you know what? This big guy's here, let's move. So they moved to Weathersfield, they bought an existing business that was a grocery store. Um, and they did great. They did great, but they were our competition. They were our competition.

SPEAKER_00

I didn't realize that they were your competition. And was it uh was that a family business as well? It it was. Okay. It was. Oh, I didn't realize that. See, I missed that part of the story. So they that becomes available, and it and for a while you had both stores going, correct?

SPEAKER_01

We did, right.

SPEAKER_00

You did, and then at some point you close down Franklin Avenue and move everything to our lease had run out, and it you you know, it it it was time.

SPEAKER_01

The South End was great to us for many, many, many years. Business had started to slide in the South End. Plus, we had the Weathersfield store, so people didn't want to go to the South End. They went to the Weathersfield. They were worried, I think, too, about crime and those types of things.

SPEAKER_00

And you know how the cities are. Yeah, cities, cities tough. They can be tough. But then you but but but but your market now is in your hometown. Correct. Which is so cool, right? You ended up like in your hometown. Six-minute commute. Six-minute commute. That's great. And no, it and it's so it's um so you you you take that. Now let's talk about some of the employees. So um, uh some of the employees, what's the your old the the longest running uh what's the employee with the most longevity?

SPEAKER_01

Uh right now his name is Raphael. He's the best. And he's uh been working for us for 58 or 59 years. He's 86. He's amazing shape, right? Tremendous, tremendous shit.

SPEAKER_00

Tremendous. And the thing is, I say to him when I see him all the time, he's always so nice to me. I see him. Um, I always want him to wait on me, you know, because he just he gets picks out the best stuff. He uh, if he stopped working, he would die. You're right. He can't, you're right. Because that keeps him busy, it's a purpose. Yeah, men don't do well with that stuff.

SPEAKER_01

No, they don't.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, unless you have a hobby and you're doing some other stuff, like for him, like this is you know, that's that's the secret to his longevity, I think, is serving people. Absolutely. 86.

SPEAKER_01

Does he still drive? His wife drives him to work. Wow. Yeah, but he still makes homemade wine. Oh, actually, still drinks homemade wine. Is it good wine? Good wine. Yeah, it's very long, I bet. Very good.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, it's got a little kick. Right, and he's and he's your butcher, he's a butcher, right? He's a butcher, so he does physical work. And what is his um you know, I know he works, he certainly works at the counter, but what does he do in terms of uh like isn't his specialty the veal the the cutlets?

SPEAKER_01

The specialty of the house was always the veal cutlets. So in the old days, we used to get you know hanging veal and we'd have to break it down. You know, it didn't come, you know, already sliced. You'd break it down, break down all the muscles, cut the bones, you get osobuco, you get your veal chops, you get your uh sirloins, you make your cutlets. That's that's what he did. He would break down the veal. And in the old days, we sold a lot of veal. Tremendous amount of veal. Today it's it's it's not quite as uh popular. It's more chicken today. Oh, yeah. Chicken, our chicken cutlets are you you can't find them anywhere. They're so thin and perfect. You have a machine.

SPEAKER_00

It's a machine now, then no, we don't have a machine, they're all cut by hand. But I mean, but no, to thin them out.

SPEAKER_01

No way, my hand. All by hand. Wow.

SPEAKER_00

Everything's done by hand. I thought you were a you know, there's a machine that clouds them out.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, no, there's nothing.

SPEAKER_00

So they sit there with a hammer?

SPEAKER_01

You don't pound uh chicken cutlets. Veal cutlets you pound them. Oh, I see. All right, so but how do they how do you do the chickens?

SPEAKER_00

You have to slice them. You do, and you have to slice the veal too. But you're how many, I mean, how many pounds are you selling a week?

SPEAKER_01

You had that's all by tremendous, tremendous, tremendous amount.

SPEAKER_00

So, I mean, I that that's a lot of labor.

SPEAKER_01

But just not in the meat department, it also goes over to the prepared food area. Oh, right, because you guys fry them up as well. I I think we sell about 400 chicken cutlets already cooked a day.

unknown

What?

SPEAKER_01

Every day, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

And somebody and Raphael and those guys are slicing them too. They're slicing them non-stop all day. Who sharpened your knives? We have a we have a knife service. A knife service? Yeah, you're right. There used to be a guy in Wethersfield. You know that guy? Yeah. He's like retired, but you could still, I'm told, go to him and he go to his basement.

SPEAKER_01

You want to sharpen your knife. You don't have to do it. We got the machines. You got the machines? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

No, no, but there was I wanted this experience of like this guy, everyone tells me about him. He's sort of semi-retired, and he's got a where thing you go to his in Wethersfield, you go to his like basement and he sharpens the knives for you. He's like I used to have a. Can't beat a sharp knife. Huh? Can't beat a sharp knife. Because I tell people a dull knife is more dangerous than a sharp knife. Absolutely. You push it, you push it, push it, boom. Wow. Take it from me. I've gotten plenty of plenty of cuts. So that's crazy. So 59, what's the next person for longevity?

SPEAKER_01

Uh well, we had a uh a deli manager that worked for us for close to 50 years, but we've had other uh other people.

SPEAKER_00

Was that the Mike who passed away?

SPEAKER_01

Pardon me?

SPEAKER_00

Who was the guy who passed away? Was that your chef?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, that was Mike Kelly.

SPEAKER_00

Oh yeah. Was that the guy that I talked to years ago? Could be. He got jammed up with some stuff. Like he was a nice guy.

SPEAKER_01

Uh no, that was the other guy. Oh, that's the other guy. Okay. But uh Mike Kelly just passed. But he he really didn't work for us very long because he he he got very sick. He got very sick. Wait, so who's this the second most uh senior guy? Well, let's see. We had a uh we had a person that worked for us till he was 92, and the only only reason uh he left is because he passed. So he he worked for us for 50 plus years also. Wow. We've had another meat manager that worked for us for 50 plus years. Um I think uh other than Rafaela, the the most uh tenured guy is probably 10 to 12 years. But you know, we we we really want to keep staff, especially if it's good staff, so we make sure we make them an offer they can't refuse, so to speak.

SPEAKER_00

Right, right. Well, because it's part of the the appeal of a local business, and I want to get into sort of how you compete with these bigger places, is in my view, you go in and you see the same faces, right? There, you know, like if I go to some of the big places and I won't use any of their names, but I don't know anybody in there, it's just a faceless person. Correct. Maybe you see somebody once in a while and you kind of recognize them, but you don't make any connection with them. It's like Amazon, just you go in, and they're owned by Amazon sometimes. So, but when I go into your place, I I can see you, I can see your uh son-in-law, I can see Raphael, like it's a connection. Hey, how's the family? What are you doing? And so you still have that, which I think is a big appeal. Now, if your store was, if you didn't have a good product, that that can only go so far, right? You have to have it all, right? You can't just have that connection. I go in there and like, oh, this is shit, food. Oh, it's fantastic. Um how how do you train your um your staff, your team to to have the empathy that your grandfather taught you? How do you get them to understand that?

SPEAKER_01

Well, again, it's a team concept, right? Company makes money, everybody makes money, and that's a big motivating factor. Um I tell staff all the time kindness, personality that generates sales, plus superior products. Our products are superior to all the chains because number one, because I buy them, I buy them from people that we've been doing business with since 1932. Right. So, you know, the companies that we buy from have had tremendous longevity too, because they sell the best. I I'm dealing with people that are like third and fourth generation, like me. Um like the Scaffani people.

SPEAKER_00

I saw I saw you did a post on that, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

1932. Right. And they've been in business since 1911. Right. That's a good family.

SPEAKER_00

That's is that a Connecticut company? Yeah. Located in uh Stanford. Now they moved to Norwalk. Okay. Um but so right, so that's so your grandfather dealt with his grandfather. Oh, yeah, yeah. Oh yeah. Wow. So so it's the that what you train the staff is is they you're looking for personality. Like when you look to hire somebody new, what do you look for?

SPEAKER_01

Somebody that's got a little little mojo. Okay. Little, you know, yeah, yeah. A little personality. Personality is important. I I cannot tell you how many people have come to apply for jobs that number one have smelled like weed. Oh booze. They're staring at the floor, eyes are over here.

SPEAKER_00

Um, it's it forget it. So personality. You can train them, but if they but you can't train personality, right? And that's something you gotta have in here, right? You know, you gotta have it. And what what also is nice is they always, I don't know if you train this or not, but the you always offer them a slice of whatever they're putting.

SPEAKER_01

It's the only way you're gonna be able to tell what what what we have. No, but then they give one to the kids, different piece of cheese or something like that.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, no, they always pass out the cheese. That's that's a nice, that's a nice touch, and you do that. So that's how you you have the staff now. How many, how many staff now do you have? Um 44 employees. 44 employees. Wow. And so let's talk about the um the store. So the store you have now is um, you know, there's retail, obviously, and and some of it is you know, your day-to-day supplies. I mean, people can go there for their, you know, you're not gonna get like uh, you know, a 30-pack of uh paper towels, for instance. You don't go there for that, right? But you know, you have a very nice selection of sort of staples, and then you have your whole Italian section, which is good pastas, and there's different levels, different grades. You can get sort of pedestrian grade, then you can get really the the the air-dried, you know, premium you know, pasta, and then you have a fresh pasta section, which is great, your own sauces, and then in the back you have this lovely sort of I don't know, imported section, which has that the octopus that I love. I used to get the tubs of it. I love that stuff. You used to have tubs of chopped octopus salad, and I used to like go in to see them. They're like meat, and I'm like, you know, meeting with him on a legal topic, and he's I'm like, just give me a tub of octopus and I won't kill you. Literally, I love it. I just eat the whole tub of octopus. That's delicious. That's really good. That's very good. And then you have your deli section and then your meat section, and uh, and uh, you make let's talk about what you make in-house. You make all your own sausage in-house. Correct. Correct. What do you use for a casing? Is it like a sheep intestine?

SPEAKER_01

Is that what it is? Yeah, it's a natural casing. Natural casing, hot casing, sheep casing, depending on um the diameter. Oh, you know, uh, you have lamb casings which are very small. They have a smaller intestine, right? Yeah, they have a uh, you know, diameter-wise, so you make the uh, you know, like the breakfast style sausages, but all but those sausages are all in-house. All in-house, and it's a 1932 recipe, right? My grandfather's recipe, all the same spices, everything is all, you know, we we sent our recipes uh to a company. Like a co-packer, it's all packed in little bundles, all in the proper increments, and boom, it gets added to the meat, it gets mixed. So it comes to you mixed from the co-packer, correct. Unless we have to make a special batch. Like, for example, if you can't have salt, we'll make your salt-free sausage.

SPEAKER_00

I see some people.

SPEAKER_01

Uh you want you want a Mexican-style sausage or a um chorizo, you know, uh Lucanico, which is a uh a nutmeg sausage, we hand spice that.

SPEAKER_00

I see. So that comes, and then you you um you have the sausage maker, right? The the extruder. So it's yeah, the uh the sausage, uh, it's a piston. Oh, right. And then the the the casing's there. You mix and then you twist it.

SPEAKER_01

You mix the meat with the spices, you put it in the um I thought you said it comes mixed already. Well, you gotta you gotta mix the meat with the sauce, the the sausage. Oh, with the pork. Oh, I see. You have to cut it with the correct. I see. Okay.

SPEAKER_00

You take the packet, you put it in, you mix it. So they so you do it. Then you blow it through the you know, the stuffer, the sausage. And what many varieties of sausage do you have?

SPEAKER_01

Uh so we make hot, we make sweet, we make sweet with uh with fennel, we make extra hot. We make a uh a lot of chicken sausages now because people have decided that they don't want to eat pork or they want something a little bit on the leaner side. So we make a variety of different uh chicken sausages. But our guys are always doing different things, like they made a uh a blue cheese cilantro uh chicken sausage in patties that you could cook on the grill very quickly, yeah, and it'll knock your socks off. It's really, really good.

SPEAKER_00

So you're making all the sausage, uh, and then you make soup every day too, I see, right? They they make a variety of soups, and then you have, and then what else do you make in the meat section that's not meat from you know, like that's something like that?

SPEAKER_01

Well, we make bergeol, oh right, which is the you know, the rolled up meat that's stuffed with the pecorino romano cheese, salt, pepper, garlic, uh fresh parsley, um, sometimes panchetta, sometimes prosciutto di parma, provolone cheese, it's wrapped up. You know, you you braise it a little bit in on the in the frying pan, you throw it in your sauce, or you could bake it. Um, that's a delicious item. Right.

SPEAKER_00

And then, of course, you have the entire center of the stores, all prepared food. So you have chefs that are making cooked items that you can take, buy them, and heat them up at home and have a dinner. And that's a whole section. Um, which uh, and then you have all the cutlets already pre-fried in the in the in the DD seasoned breadcrumbs, I will add, which are fantastic. Yeah, that's a that's a very good product. That's a very good product. Wow. So what what is how many of your customers on a do you think are regulars? How many, what do you think the repeat rate of coming back is? 100%? Probably you come once, you come twice.

SPEAKER_01

Once you get you, they come back.

SPEAKER_00

We make sure you come back. So do you are you dealing now with customers that are third generation?

SPEAKER_01

Oh yeah, right?

SPEAKER_00

They're like, oh, my parents went to DD. We this is what we do. So I always see you're always walking around, you're greeting customers, right? I mean, is that is that the special sauce, if you will? Because and it I don't want to get to some of the other stuff that you sell too, but like what brings some I can tell you what does for me, obviously, but tell me what you think, what why I coded D D and I don't go to the big box store. Okay, so this the store has a personality.

SPEAKER_01

Interesting. And not only does it have a personality, it also has the wonderful aromas. Like in the wintertime, you smell baccala, which is salt cod, you smell pecorino romano, you smell parmigiano reggiano, you smell uh everything that we're working with. You know, you know, in the kitchen, the kitchen sends over beautiful aromas of cooked uh cutlets, uh meatballs and sauce, um, and it just all mixes up and everybody gets hungry. Everybody gets excited. It's exciting. We do all kinds of tastings. You want to taste some parmigiano di giano, 30 month old? Here you go. It's right here. We have prosciutto that is some of some of them, and this is just coming in now within the next two weeks, 30 month old. Oh, it's gonna be on from Bolivia. Parma stuff? Parma. Oh, beautiful stuff. Oh, I love that stuff.

SPEAKER_00

I love it.

SPEAKER_01

You know, we have San Daniele prosciutto, which is also from Italy, too. It's buttery, it's sweet, it's nice. Um, it still comes with the hoof, right? It's I think the uh uh no they're I like it when it has the hoof. I do too.

SPEAKER_00

I do too.

SPEAKER_01

You just see that in Italy, though.

SPEAKER_00

Well you do you do see it over here, but yeah. Costco has one you could buy with the hoof. You're see that comes from Italy. I think Italy or Spain. Oh, it's Spanish, you're right. It's one of the uh they have very do you like Spanish ham? I do. Yeah, that's good too. I'm a I'm a foodie. You're a foodie, yeah. I like all kinds of food. Yeah, yeah. So so I see. So there's a personality. What else? What else is the secret to this?

SPEAKER_01

Well, you know, it's also the quality. I mean, everything that we sell is top of the line. Um, you're not gonna get cheated. You're not gonna get old hamburger. You're you know, we grind all our stuff all day nonstop, whether it be ground chuck, ground sirloin, or our famous meatball mix, which is uh the old pork and beef, which gives you, you know, a little bit of everything. So you can make either a meatloaf or meatball.

SPEAKER_00

That is the best, but I have a suggestion. I don't know if you do this. You've got to make patties out of that. I make it into you mentioned it one time in your social media. You said that's an interesting concept. I use that to make a burger. It's an awesome burger. It's awesome. It's an awesome burger. It's an awesome burger. It's a you put a little Swiss cheese on that. Oh my god, or some Gruyere with some caramelized onions, some pickles. Well, we just bought a new patty machine, so maybe we'll maybe we'll take care of it. No, I think those are great. I think those, I it's what I do. I buy the mix and make my own patties. I just I put a little egg and a little breadcrumb just to tighten it up a little bit. What is um in the what size are your patties? Are they a tenth of a pound or a third of a pound?

SPEAKER_01

They're uh thirds. Thirds, okay. Well, we have different plates.

SPEAKER_00

We can make them a little bit bigger and a little smaller. And what's cool too is again, think about this personality. You can call up and say, hey, Danny, or whoever answers, meat manager, say, I need this for this party. Could you put this together? Could you order this for me? And you'll do all that. Absolutely. That doesn't exist in the nature. That's what makes us special. I see. Right. And the the people that um that you when they walk in and you you I mean, you're always walking around, slapping people on the back. To me, like that, I that doesn't exist in the world, right? That doesn't. So I I could see why, like, you go in, like for if if I have to go in before a holiday, forget it. And I'm gonna tell people not to go, go, but just leave enough time. Yeah because parking's tricky a little bit. You gotta like park in one of the streets. We're working in the parking. Yeah, yeah. We are. What do you think?

SPEAKER_01

We purchased a piece of property on the side street and we're gonna propose to the town that we're gonna knock the house down and make a parking lot for about 20 spots, which would really make the neighborhood a little safer because a lot of people drive around, drive around, drive around. Now they'll have another 20 spots where they can park. So it it hopefully the town will allow us to do that. I I'm hoping that they need to because you need to it just closed two weeks ago. So that's wonderful.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, you need that. Because I I don't mind walking. I love it because you walk in and then you have uh you know it's like a it's a you know you have a little cart and it's a whole thing. And uh um and then and so you so butchers can do that. What what are what are what other types of um so is it's the person you think it's the so how do you also then compete on buying, right? Because you like you know the the big stores can go to the the big distributors and say, I I'm gonna buy for 30 stores in Connecticut or 30 stores in the Northeast or 100 stores, I want your best pricing, right? Ah you know, the like the small, like for instance, there's toy shop like Amato's, like you know, in Middletown. Like you can't they can't compete with Amazon.

SPEAKER_01

No.

SPEAKER_00

Um, some of the appliance stores that are family run, that I still use Holloways, for instance, in Simsbury, they can work because they're part of an independent, like an IGA almost. They they all buy, right? So then they're as big as a best buy, and they can then compete and they can get some of the pricing. But I love them, for instance, because I can email the owner, the owner gives me pricing, it's competitive to the big stores. They deliver it, they take it away. It's a local people that are working it. Family business. Family business. And sometimes, you know, the the as you know from Home Depot, like if you buy an appliance at Home Depot, they want to sell it for they say we want the price point to be $399, so then the manufacturer will make more plastic parts in it, they won't make it as good for them, and even though it's the same brand, cheap in the quality, and the quality to get the price down. Yeah, so how do you compete on pri on pricing? Or you don't use your pricing again.

SPEAKER_01

Um you know, we stick to what we do best, and that's Italian imports. We are an IGA, so we buy Oh, you are an IGA. Oh, yes, we didn't know that. So we buy our groceries, I see American type groceries uh from a Bazuttos, which is a big you know company that sells, you know, Leando Lakes uh butter. Is this the is this like the Bazoot carding people, like the same people? The no no no I believe it's different. Okay, you know, they sell you know Philadelphia cream cheese. Your day-to-day state yes, okay.

SPEAKER_00

So they're basic staples. So you are part of the towel. We we are right, but that's not a big portion of your sales, right? Well, it's it's it's still a sale.

SPEAKER_01

It's still I want people to be able to buy a roll of toilet paper or uh you know a paper towel or you know, we regular coffee.

SPEAKER_00

But people aren't I mean look, you may come in and say, Hey, I need some toilet paper, you stop there, but you're coming in for the other stuff, right? Because that that stuff is like that you can that you don't want you know you that's that that's the same everywhere, right? The other stuff is distinguishable because it's stuff I can't get anywhere else. Correct, right? So the so you're able to so but but like on the meats, for instance, is is is it that do you focus on price or do you focus on quality or both?

SPEAKER_01

We fo focus more on quality, I see, and we sell more prime than anything else because that's the best. That's the best. You know, remember one thing too. Um cooking shows and and TV over the last 10 or 15 or even 20 years, that's all you see is beautiful cooking shows. Everybody wants to cook, everybody wants to eat good. Where are you gonna eat good? You're not gonna eat good buying some garbage at some big store. You're gonna eat good coming to a little guy because little guy's gonna have stuff, you know. Little guys need to survive. I I you know I I I don't know, that's that's the way I feel. No, the people that come to our store and shop are real foodies, right? They want they want the best prosciutto di parma, they want the parmagiano di giano that's not you know 18 months old, they want 24 or 30, they want um pancetta.

SPEAKER_00

You know, that's Italian cured bacon and use guanciale, because some big item, big item, because most people try to cheat when they're making their carbonara and they try to use pancetta and it's no bueno. You have to use guanciale, which is a peak of it's not really cheating. Well, it's not it's not carbonara. It's it's not like guanjale. Guanciale is guanciale. Well, you sell it. Guanciale is beautiful. So then you have a whole section of all the grinded, uh, the grated cheeses and pecorita. None of it is cellulose, which they do. Like people buy that that stuff off the shelf that's not refrigerated, garbage. Yours is all you know, fantastic, you know, refrigerated cheeses. And then you have a whole section of fresh pastas, frozen pastas you can make them, whatever, and those are branded, right? Those are DD branded. Then you have your olive oil, right? That's a extra virgin, that's single origin, isn't it? Yeah, right. So you don't this isn't like, as you know, a lot of the olive oils, the mafia like is is got involved in Italy, and it's blends. What's that word? Oh, yeah, I'm sorry. They they they blended the uh it's blends of uh blends of oil from different places. They cut it with canola and they label it as virgin uh extra virgin olive oil.

SPEAKER_01

That they used to be able to get away with that. Yeah, so now you're that is that is stopped. And you could tell in a second if it's good oil or not. Sure, you pour it in a plate, and if you see it dart to one side real quick, that's not good stuff. Wow. You could tell by the color, you could tell by the aroma, uh, you could tell obviously the taste.

SPEAKER_00

So so let me ask you this now, because you're the the next generation, obviously your son-in-law, your daughter um is an insurance, and your son is a lawyer, who you still work with me. Um, what lessons do you think that they bring from DD to their professions? That you imparted to them?

SPEAKER_01

Well, you know, I I I think that I've imparted my work ethic in them. You work hard, you're gonna make it. You you slack, forget it. Tell me about that.

SPEAKER_00

Are there any shortcuts, Danny?

SPEAKER_01

No. None. As far as I'm concerned, no. No, but I but I mean there's there's no shortcuts. I told that to my kids. You've got to learn along the way, and what you learn, you remember.

SPEAKER_00

Because you're gonna probably need it maybe somewhere down the line. I I tell my kids that all the time. There are no shortcuts. Like you you want to do it, you have to put in the time. You can't like, you know, could somebody you go in and like play some trading games and maybe make some money, and that's rare. Like the way to make it is you have to and even if you hard work isn't the only isn't the only part of the recipe, right? Because hard work, you plenty of people work hard and fail. Yeah. So so you think you the the the work ethic, both of them are hard workers. Obviously, both of them are like top of their field, they've excelled. Your son's a partner at a law at a prestigious law firm. What um what else in terms of the the the the the things that you learned that you passed on to them? Do you you see them in their profession? Save for a rainy day. Okay.

SPEAKER_01

You know, when opportunity knocks and you got it, you don't have to worry about it. Um I I've been preaching that since day one with my kids. Um save your money. When when something comes up, you're ready to go. Um I'll give you an example. This just happened to come to me. My father and I were um we're on the truck, we were delivering to one of our restaurants, and we happened to cut through Weathersfield. So here I am, I'm driving, my father's sitting next to me. We pull up to this stop sign, and at the stop sign, this guy pulls up in this brand new convertible Porsche. And I says, Hey dad, look at this. This is so-and-so. He had a grocery store too. I'm driving around this this beat up truck box, you know, it was uh three speed on the column, you know. And I said, Are we doing something wrong? He looks at me and goes, No, we're doing everything right. You see where that guy is gonna be in 10 years, and then you see where you're gonna be in 10 years. I thought about it. And you know what? He was right. Guy went out of business.

SPEAKER_00

We're still going strong, 94 years. That's true. You know, it's funny, I say this to like my wife sometimes will say, like, oh, look at them. They have, and I always say, and you know, as a divorce lawyer, I see everybody's financial affidavit. So I know what people mean. And I always say, just because somebody's living in a big house or has these things, they can be in debt up to their eyeballs and they don't have two cents to rub together. So, yes, so a bank loaned them the money, they got a $2,000 a month car payment and they're and they're and the mouth. So you look at it and you're like, wow, they must be successful. But it doesn't that I I've learned long ago, there's people I know that that that are multi, multi, multi-millionaires that are you're driving like a 98 Camry. Yeah. Low-key, low-key. And some people, and look, some people, you know, they're successful, they like something a little nicer. Fine. Whatever. You want a nicer house, whatever you want. But I just I never make judgments out because I see people's financial affidavits, and I'm like, yeah, they they they're way overextended, and they don't do that.

SPEAKER_01

So look look at the people of Italian descent that got involved in, you know, maybe some illicit things. I don't want to use that word because I don't like more organized than the government likes you to be. You you see the guys that probably had longevity in that type of business? They're driving regular cars. The guys that had the fancy $5,000 suits and had the big Mercedes stretches and all this, they went away for a long time and a lot of them died where they went because it wasn't a hotel.

SPEAKER_00

What are you doing now in terms of how many hours are you putting in now? You're 65?

SPEAKER_01

I'm gonna be 65 in September. Okay. So, you know, my schedule has changed. I don't have to go in as early anymore. I don't have to work till you know, uh, we close anymore. I take a day off during the week because I like to spend it with my grandchildren. But I I I probably work about 50, 60 hours still. Oh yeah. And you know, what am I gonna do? What are you gonna do? I I I mean, I enjoy what I do. Yeah. Um, do I go off? Yeah, but I'm terrible. Um I like I like to go to the range and shoot some of my guns. I like to do skeet shooting. But you know what? How how much of that can you do? Um, I I like to fish. Um you like to cook. I love to cook, I love to eat, I love fine wines. That's another part of our business. Was the was the package store. We had a we had a liquor store since 1969.

SPEAKER_00

Is it's gone now? It's gone. Yeah, yeah. You sold the uh the license or whatever. Yeah. So but you so you do that, so it's about 50 or 60 hours. Yeah. Wow. But that's nothing. No, no, I know. Well, you like what you do, Rich. It's not work, it's no work, it's not work, it's not work. Yeah, I don't work. If you uh I'm I'm I am grateful when I wake up, I don't say, oh my god, what do I have today? I'm like, oh how who could I help today? Yeah, and it's so it's so it's not stressful. Who can I help today? I mean, it's still stressful because I'm dealing with people's most profound problems. They put their life in my hands, and so it does get stressful, especially clients. Sometimes they're attacking you, they're they're they're unwell, you know. Sure. So there's stress in that sense, and there's stress running a business still, of course. Like you have issues, HR issues, cash flow issues, you got to make sure people are paying. You know, and we have different things, ethical issues, right? If somebody stops paying, I still have to represent them until I get out of the case. You don't want to have a receivable that's too big. So, you know, we have different types of things. Um, we, you know, we do retail law to some extent, but also, you know, you go to the client and they're putting up, you know, they're paying $500 an hour. It's expensive. And most people, you know, don't have that kind of money sitting around. They put on a credit card, they borrow from an aunt. So we see those things. But yes, you're right. It's still, you still have to put in the hours. There's the shortcuts are there, you have to give good customer service. Um, and and then let's finally let's wrap it up with this. Tell me about so the theme of my podcast is I'll call my guy. I was gonna do I got a guy, but that was trademark. But it's I'll call my guy, and that's what it is, because you're one of my guys, right? I'll call my guy. Or or I would like to think I'm one of your guys. You need something, hey Rich, I'll call you guys. I'm one of my guys, you're one of my guys. Yeah, and you're one of my guys. Like, I'll call my guy. Well, you are Italian. I know you are. I am I'm yes, I I I still have to do the uh the the antistry, but there is that that that element of it. But and I'll call my guy, and that is um the importance, and again, I Sammy hears this for me and she'll roll her eyes, but I, you know, she's young and I'm trying to impart some lessons to her on this stuff, and my kids as well. Is I tell my kids the important of importance of relationships. Took the words right out of my mouth. Right. Relationships or everything. Everything. Everything. Your customers, those are you know, you have thousands of relationships, right? Because those that that that relationship, maybe it's not you go out with the person, they don't have your cell phone number, but you see them every week, they're giving you their business, they're choosing to go to you over the big box store or the even a smaller place. That's a relationship. Then there's a relationship with your sellers and you know, the the distributors, then there's a relationship with your employees, and then there's a relationship with your wife, um, who you've been with for what a long time, right?

SPEAKER_01

40, 40 two years. 42 years. Yeah, wow.

SPEAKER_00

So that's those are all relationships, right? And you've managed in your life to be successful at all of them, right? There's ups, there's downs, of course, and your wife hates you sometimes and loves you sometimes, and that's how it works. That's just how it is. Um, but what what do you think is the special sauce in cultivating those relationships, whether it be your wife, whether it be a customer? There, what's the if you had to give one piece of advice for your legacy to give me, to give the people that are listening to this, what do you think is the one thing that that is the common denominator amongst all the relationships to make them successful as you've been with all of them? Kindness. Kindness, which is somewhat lacking uh today.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, kindness, open your heart. Yes, listen, yes, don't interrupt. Somebody's got something to say. It's so funny you say.

SPEAKER_00

Open up your ears, open up your heart. I have goose pimples thinking about this because I always know what I always say to my my kids, and I always say to them, ABK, always be kind. Because yeah, you get your report card, sure, they can read, they can write, they can take a test. I don't give a shit about that. I really don't. The most important thing, I think this as well, this is that you say this, is to be start with being kind. Because that I mean, what else is there? You're right. Be kind, be kind, be a good person, be happy for people also, and then if you then work hard and do a good job, your business will flourish. Because you want you're gonna try to help people.

SPEAKER_01

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00

Wow, this has been great. Danny, thank you so much for coming in. Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_01

Oh my god, it's been my pleasure. Oh, this isn't stopped for one second. For one second, but I told you there we lag. No lag.

SPEAKER_00

No, because I you're you folks need to um, I know you have a robust social media presence, we do as well. I want to tell people they need to go to your um to your store. It's an experience. I'm there at least once a month. I need to go more. I'm gonna send Sammy there. The food is incredible, the experience is incredible. Ask for Danny, they'll they'll page you from the basement. Ask for me. Meet Danny, take a picture with me. I'd love to, I'd love to meet you. I'd love to talk to you. It's it's fantastic. And make suggestions. That's what I'm here for. You also sell one of my favorite cheeses, which is Cooper Sharp, American cheese. I love the flavor. Cooper Sharp is very, very good. Put that on a nice roast beef sandwich. But yeah, burger too. You know what's hot now in Philly? They're cheesesteaks. People do Cooper Sharp. That's a new thing in Philly. Cooper Sharp on the Philly cheesesteak with the sauteed onions. Wow. Chef's kissed.

SPEAKER_01

I'm gonna give you something different to put on your burger. Yeah. Try the truffle pecorino semi-soft cheese. Oh my god. And you put that on your burger. Oh, not your side.

SPEAKER_00

Talk about your mouth exploding. Right. You get nice, uh, a nice uh one of your nice patties that you have there and your steaks and everything. It's a great place. It's just it, it's it's uh, it's uh the the word I like to use sometimes, and I use this sparingly, is non-prail, which means um it's not those little things that you sprinkle on Sundays. Non-prail means without equal. And it really is, it's without equal. There's nothing, there's nothing like that. Uh, it's it's uh it it can't be replicated. Uh, and it's just such a special place where you can get fresh stuff, you can order stuff special, and it's something it it it harkens back to a bygone era that does, you know, where you go in and to your local like general store. It doesn't exist. It's a labor of love. We love what we do. So thank you so much. Thank you very much.

SPEAKER_01

I appreciate it.