La Dolce Vita: run by the grandchildren of its immigrant founder, Claro's Italian Markets has thrived in the face of changing demographics and tougher competition. (Small Business).IN front of a standing-room-only crowd at Claro's Italian Market, Mary Linda Daddona, along with her sister and two nieces, is chattering through a cooking exhibition dispensing advice culinary (eight recipes on this day), literary ("If you read Janet Evanovich's first novel first, the rest will be easier") and personal ("Eat the dish with someone you love -- that way they're garlicky gar·lick·y adj. Containing, tasting of, or smelling of garlic. Adj. 1. garlicky - relating to or tasting or smelling of garlic; "garlicky sauce" too"). It's the kind of homespun atmosphere you would never find at a standard Ralphs or Vons -- and it apparently strikes a chord among discriminating food shoppers. Despite the proliferation of chain supermarkets carrying an expanding line of specialty foods and ingredients, the San Gabriel-based company, whose six Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, stores specialize in hard-to-find Italian ingredients, continues to hang in there. "We've been going to the West Covina West Covina, city (1990 pop. 96,086), Los Angeles co., S Calif., in the San Gabriel valley; settled 1905, inc. 1923. Before World War II, West Covina was a small rural community where walnuts, wheat, and livestock were raised. store for years, but this is a special trip," said Irene Acedo of San Dimas. "I'd hate to see a store like this go out of business if Ralphs or someplace some·place adv. & n. Somewhere: "I didn't care where I was from so long as it was someplace else" Garrison Keillor. See Usage Note at everyplace. else started carrying the same stuff." Larger chains have no problem getting much of the products Claro's carries. What they lack, said Daddona, is the will. "If they don't sell enough of (a certain product), they lose their line space," said Daddona. "I don't care
"Don't Care" is a 1994 (see 1994 in music) single by American death metal band Obituary. if I sell two jars of Mustarda (a bottle of candied fruit Noun 1. candied fruit - fruit cooked in sugar syrup and encrusted with a sugar crystals crystallized fruit, succade confiture - preserved or candied fruit crystallized ginger - strips of gingerroot cooked in sugar syrup and coated with sugar in mustard sauce) a year. I'm going to sell those to customers who want them because they're not going to find it anywhere else." Generations Founder Joe Claro, who was born in Bari, Italy, took a number of jobs in Vernon-area slaughterhouses after immigrating to the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. . In 1948, he swapped his home in Gardena for a small convenience store -- with a residence in the back -- on Valley Boulevard. Frank and Geraldine Claro, his son and daughter-in-law, bought the business in 1955, at which point the store was expanded and began to specialize in Italian food products. While Joe Claro died five years ago, the business had long since given way to his grandchildren. Frank and Geraldine Claro, both 72, continue to oversee food ordering and maintenance, but much of the day-to-day operations are handled by their daughters, Daddona, 49, and Rosemarie Lippman, 50. (Of the company's 95 employees, 10 are family members.) The stores, which range from 2,000 to 3,500 square feet, have an extensive grocery line (eight different kinds of anchovies anchovies a cause of diarrhea, vomiting, salivation, lacrimation, depression, miosis, polypnea, tachycardia, hypothermia in cats. and 45 different cuts of pasta), as well as prepared items like frittatas and pizza breads. There also are the cooking exhibitions, which on a recent Friday afternoon included creamy ham and fontina fon·ti·na n. A ripened cheese of variable texture and flavor, originally produced in Italy. [Italian.] rolls and almond polenta po·len·ta n. A thick mush made of cornmeal boiled in water or stock. [Italian, from Latin, crushed grain, barley meal.] Noun 1. cake. Recipes are taken from a combination of old family favorites, Frank and Geraldine's annual trips to Italy, visits to restaurants and discussions with customers. "Since we started the cooking classes, people think of us more as recipe people, not just a place to buy tomatoes and olive oil," Daddona said. Growth in prepared loads Amid these changes, the business continues to grow -- despite Claro's having half its stores in the San Gabriel Valley The San Gabriel Valley is one of the principal valleys of southern California. It lies to the east of the city of Los Angeles, to the north of the Puente Hills, to the south of the San Gabriel Mountains, and to the west of the Inland Empire. , where Asian immigrants have supplanted much of the Italian-American population. The company rang up $7.2 million in revenues last year and projects $7.5 million in 2002, up from $6 million in the mid-1990s. "You would think (the chain market's product expansion) would cut into us," said Daddona, who estimated that about two-thirds of Claro's clientele is Italian-American. "But more and more people are looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. places like us. They don't want just ham, they want the roasted Italian ham with rosemary." The prepared food line has been the primary source of revenue growth. "People want something fast but not fast food:' said Daddona. "They're really interested in something that's home style." The premium approach has worked well at Claro's even though the chain has had to raise prices because of a weakened dollar (80 percent of its products are imports). "People complain because we've had to raise our prices," said Daddona. "But I'd rather pay more to get a better product and I think most serious cooks feel that way too." Still, there are concessions to be made. While Claro's makes its own sausages at a USDA-approved plant on Valley Boulevard, stringent FDA FDA abbr. Food and Drug Administration FDA, n.pr See Food and Drug Administration. FDA, n.pr the abbreviation for the Food and Drug Administration. regulations prompted an outsourcing of butchering operations two years ago. And like other small businesses, Claro's has had to contend with minimum wage and workers' compensation workers' compensation, payment by employers for some part of the cost of injuries, or in some cases of occupational diseases, received by employees in the course of their work. hikes, both of which put a damper on thoughts of expanding beyond its current group of stores. "We would like to expand, in a way, but with all these different regulations, I'm not sure we could actually handle that," said Daddona. "If I had a few more kids, maybe." RELATED ARTICLE: PROFILE Year Founded: 1948 Claro's Italian Markets Core Business: Grocery stores Revenues in 2001: $7.2 million Revenues in 2002: $7.5 million (projected) Employees in 2001: 95 Employees in 2002: 95 Goal: To broaden line of Italian grocery products and to grow revenues by 8 percent annually Driving Force: Customers looking for a combination of hard-to-find food products and personal service. |
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