Today we’d like to introduce you to Jim Graziano.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Jim. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Our company was started in 1937 at the same place where we reside today, by my Great Grandfather, J.P. Graziano. Back then this entire neighborhood was The Fulton Market and he was one of countless Wholesale Distributors on Randolph, Fulton and Lake Streets.
Specializing in Italian goods like cheese, olive oil, pasta, and spices, we sold to restaurants, deli’s, pizza places, banquet halls etc as well as wholesale to the public. The business to the public though was for ethnic families that bought in bulk as if they owned restaurants, so when people actually started to live in this area, going back 15 or so years ago, they would come in looking for a half a pound of cheese or one bag of pasta and it would make the older generations here go a little nutty. “what are you going to do with a half a pound of cheese?”, I remember my Uncle Paul saying, “what are you going to use for cheese tomorrow??” When I got into the business as a career after college, I quickly found out we would eventually need to change courses if we were going to survive.
We had been passed up by other distributors over the years. What was started as a trailblazing business and first to market with many ideas and products, turned into a small mom and pop struggling to keep pace. I felt as the next generation to be in line to take over, it was my job to take the business to another level. I felt that we had to go in a new direction opposed to trying to find a new way to compete on the wholesale side.
To me, the natural progression was to start making sandwiches. We had everything that you would need besides the bread, produce and some new equipment. The building we are in is close to 115 years old and most of everything here was original to when my Great Grandpa started here so the authentic and unique setting we have was what could set us apart from everyone else. We started doing sandwiches in 2006 and it was a relative afterthought numbers wise to wholesale that we still did as the main business.
Little by little the sandwiches got more popular and more people started to love and work in the neighborhood. three years ago, the sandwich business had grown enough to become a stand-alone business and I was able to shut off the wholesale division of our business and it really allowed the sandwich shop to grow here. The development in the neighborhood has been off the charts and shows no sign of slowing down anytime soon.
We are fortunate to own the property so are not in any risk of being forced out by development. Being one of the last original businesses in the area, it allows us to be competitive with all the big name restaurants that have moved into the area. It is a true family run business that I run with my sister, DeAna and our Mom, Maryellen. We hold onto the values of integrity that the business was built on and consider all of our customers an extension of our family. You develop a true appreciation for each and every customer that walks in your door when you have been provided for off of them coming in for years.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
haha, no, not a smooth road, but I don’t know of any business, if you own it yourself or not that does go smoothly. The bumps and struggles along the way through are your education and will quickly weed out anyone that doesn’t want to fully commit themselves to making things work. The struggles here were identifying there was a problem, figuring out the solution, or at least what you hoped the solution was and then reinventing a 70 plus-year-old business that changed gears in what we did for a living.
Finding the balance of innovation into the new business while maintaining the family-owned charm, authenticity, and integrity on which the business was founded on. This list can go on for a long time and plenty more struggles to come along the way, but it’s a fun adventure full of ups and downs and the downs make you better and the ups are more appreciated when they come along because you realize how hard you had to work to get there. Its never ending but the fun is the journey, not the destination.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
We are a Sandwich Shop that specializes in walk-in lunch business and catering that offers delivery to homes and offices. Every sandwich we make is sliced fresh to order with the finest and freshest ingredients. What sets us apart is our 80-year history, doing business the old-fashioned way and having a 115-year-old building as our setting.
What were you like growing up?
Growing up, I started working at the store when I was 9, It is kind of a right of passage in our family to start the education of appreciating what provides for our lives. Sweeping floors, stocking shelves, learning how to count back change without a register. When I was getting older, my Dad did not force me into the family business. He tried pushing me away if anything…”work with your head not your back. Find what you love to do”.
At the time I didn’t have any interest in working here as a career so I was happy to hear it, I went to DePaul in Lincoln Park and wanted to go to law school after my undergrad, Halfway through college though I just had this explainable pull to be here and step up as the next generation to take over. I think because I wasn’t forced to do this and was able to find the calling on my own is why it worked out best.
Contact Info:
- Address: 901 West Randolph St.
Chicago, Il - Website: www.jpgraziano.com
- Phone: 312-666-4587
- Email: jim@jpgraziano.com
- Instagram: JPGraziano
- Facebook: J.P. Graziano Grocery Company
- Twitter: jpgraziano
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