Classic Bristol Market Thrives After 102 Years In Business

For 102 years, a small grocery store in Bristol Borough has defied competition with the larger chain stores. It’s still in business, still thriving.

Mazzanti’s Market on Lincoln Avenue almost makes time fall away for those who enter. There’s the green striped awning that shades the storefront, the wooden floors, and the scarred butcher block counter near the cash register. All those things have the touch of 1917, when Guido Mazzanti, a newly arrived immigrant from Italy, and his wife Elvira, opened the market.

So, what is that keeps a flow of buyers crowding the small aisle at lunch time and weekends and manages a steady stream of business during the day?

Two answers. First, the family, said Irma Mazzanti Nocito, who is among the six children born to Guido and Elvira, and the second of four generations that have kept Mazzanti’s a happening business.

“Family is very important, it makes a business survive. Even after the kids were born, we would come back to the store to help. You really have to like people to succeed,” said Irma, who at 90, still shows up every day to stand behind the counter, slice lunch meat, answer the phone, and ring up purchases.

The “we” she’s talking about includes her late sister, Isolina Marozzi, who worked alongside Irma for decades and until her death in 2013 at the age of 94.

The second component needed to stay alive, in the midst of crushing competition from the big stores, is keep up with market trends, said Mario Marozzi, who took over the store 25 years ago when his dad, also Mario, became ill and later died.

About five years after his stewardship, he realized that the demand for grinding out ground beef, stocking chickens, steaks, hams, and other meats was waning.

“A lot of people just weren’t cooking anymore, so I decided that sandwiches were the trend,” he said.

New meat cases were installed to show off the fresh lunch meats and cheeses. Of course, Mario’s hoagies, introduced about 20 years ago, are famous, both regular size and the 22-inch Italian-with-sharp-cheese.

 “Customers keep coming because of our customer service. I treat them like family. About 98 percent of them are happy. There are few complaints,” Mario said with a grin.

“I serve only quality food. If I can’t eat it, I won’t sell it,” he added.

There’s one rampant rumor Mario wants to squash. He is not retiring. Mazzati’s is not closing.

“I’m not going anywhere,” he said.

The mix of modern and old fashion touches fit together like gloves. A customer can run in and pick up groceries to put a dinner together or buy milk, coffee, tea, dish washing soap and other items. The warm weather brings in a flock of little kids to buy candy or ice cream.

All are greeted with conversation, or a question about school, or how is your mother. Irma knows just about all of them.

Tara Girton is 16 and a patron of Mazzanti’s since she was too small to see over the counter. Her happiest memory, she said, was when she was old enough to walk the one block to the store by herself to buy snacks.

There were afternoons when, after school, she would run the one block to get one of her favorite sandwiches: bologna and cheese on a roll, hold the mustard, mayo, and ketchup.

“I like going there because their food is so good and everyone is so welcoming” Tara said.

Borough resident Mary Elentrio said she always liked Mazzanti’s because it was like revisiting the mom-and-pop stores in Philadelphia, where she grew up.

“It’s quaint, it’s wood floor just reminded me of where I used to live. Before they stopped selling meats, is used to buy them and the fresh dough that they sold,” she said.

Elentrio recalled when she and a friend walked almost knee-deep in snow, during a blizzard when many places were closed.

“It’s another thing I liked about them, they were always there,” she said.

The four generations of the extended Mazzanti family followed in its founder’s footsteps. Guido was a native of Ascoli Piceno in Italy. He moved to America after serving in the Italian military.

Among the many family pictures displayed on shelves  near the cash register is a black-and-white photo taken in 1935. It shows Guido, Elvira, and all the children – Woody, Isolina, Mabel, Louis (who was later killed while serving in World War II), Irma, and Guy. In the photo, then-5-year-old Irma stands between her father and her grandfather.

There’s another picture, a fourth generation of the family, Mario’s children, Marissa, a senior at St. Joseph University; and Mario, an engineer; his wife, Laura; and the couple’s two boys, Mario, 4, and Isadore, 2. They also have a new baby, Louella, 3 months.

Like previous generations, family members, no matter what they’re doing, all show up during the holidays, and other busy occasions, to lend a hand.

On a recent afternoon, Irma’s daughter Elvira turned up at the store after attending Ash Wednesday services at nearby St. Mark Church. When she walked in and saw a line at the counter, she took her coat off and got behind the counter to help.

“That’s the way we are. There is so much love in our family,” Irma said.

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