Gaudino's

The original Gaudino’s Italian Market opened in the early 1940’s on the corner of Mack and Drexel in Detroit by Peter Gaudino (aka Mr. Pete or “Poppy”). Mr. Pete came to Michigan from the town of Marsala, Italy in 1920 and opened the small corner market specializing in Italian food. Peter had two children, Dominic and Mary. Both children worked in the store at a young age. Dominic went on to college and left the business but Mary continued to work at the market. In 1949 Mary married Jack Genovesi and the operations of the business were taken over by them. In 1971 Jack and Mary commissioned the construction of the building located at 27919 Harper Ave and relocated the market to St. Clair Shores. Jack and Mary had three children, John, Sandy and JoMarie. John worked in the business at a young age and after graduating from Western Michigan joined his parents in the operations. Sandy worked in the family business at a young age as well. In 1979, Sandy married Salvatore (“Sal”) Rubino, and he also joined in operating the business. From 1971 to 1988, Gaudino’s Italian Market was known as one of the premier Italian specialty markets on the east side and was famous for their Italian sausage sold as regular, cheese & wine, hot, and Sicilian style.

JoMarie, Jack and Mary’s youngest daughter, worked at the store as well and there she met Thomas Amato, a resident of St. Clair Shores who began working at Gaudino's to reduce his bicycle commute as compared to working at Pete Geloso's Italian Bakery, where he made pizzas after school. Both JoMarie and Tom worked at Gaudino’s on weekends and summers while they attended college. As fate would have it they were married seven years after they met.

In 1988, Jack Genovesi decided to retire and the building was sold to another provider of Italian food. After several years the subsequent owner ceased operations after which the building sat vacant for nearly five years.

In October of 2015, JoMarie and Tom purchased the 27919 Harper building and began an intense restoration project, originally just with the intent to clean up the site and restore the building for general purpose use. However, as time went on, they quickly turned their attention to the idea of re-launching Gaudino’s, re-engineered as an Italian gourmet market eatery. They engaged the renowned Ron & Roman architectural firm of Birmingham, Mich., and a full-service leading general contractor, BrenMar Construction, to bring their vision to life. They've assembled an incredible management team which will run the day to day operations, and all of whom have lineage to either the original market or their extended families. JoMarie and Tom, as co-founders of the new Gaudino's, are very excited to bring this destination project to the City of St. Clair Shores, on the original site, to serve residents and visitors.

La vita di breve mangiare bene
(Life’s short, eat well)