New York's Family Grocer

Paul Schmitz is an Associate Teaching Professor in the History and Society Division at Babson College and has taught courses on the Modern American City, the History and Culture of American Business, and Immigration and Race. His research focuses on issues of food, business, and identity within the Italian and immigrant communities of New York City.

"From the shelves of the grocery store aisles to the pages of this book, this biography of a New York city grocery store, drops us into immigration history, Italian American history, food history, business history, and the life story of a great city. Everything has a history worth telling and this book on D'Agostino's surely demonstrates that." - Hasia Diner, Professor Emerita, New York University "Poignant, incisive, and full of judicious insights into the inner workings of the American grocery business and the immigrant entrepreneurs who transformed it, this deeply researched, beautifully written book stakes out the intersection of ethnic identity, business history, and the culture of food in twentieth century America. Investigating New York City’s most famous upscale grocer, Schmitz explores the transformation of D’Agostino’s and similar businesses from immigrant fruit sellers to successful supermarket chain. New York’s Family Grocer demonstrates how D’Agostino’s Italian roots and its founders’ gruff, earthy style – the very ethnic authenticity that originally labeled it lower class and a public nuisance – eventually became the secret of the market’s appeal to upscale consumers. This book will make major contributions to business history, the study of ethnicity, and the politics of food in the modern United States." - Bruce Schulman, William E. Huntington Professor of History, Boston University "Paul Schmitz's landmark study transforms a single family business into an epic of American life, taking us behind its store counters and into the boardrooms, storage rooms, and living rooms where New Yorkers reinvented commerce and culture. Meticulously researched, this dramatic saga shows how Italian immigrants and their descendants changed American foodways, turning modest pushcarts into a supermarket empire while navigating suburbanization, urban renewal, and the shifting appetites of diverse consumers. A compelling account of kinship, big city politics, and dynamic business practices, New York's Family Grocer is essential for understanding ethnic identities, how we shop and eat, and the making of the modern United States." - Stephen Pitti, Professor of History, Yale Universit "Studied account of the building of the D’Agostino Supermarket chain punched up by bloodline access to family archives and oral history. This access reveals much that took place in and around the empire that was being built; immigration and the back and forth with Italy; determination to survive and thrive; entrepreneurship and its challenges, successes and failures. This story is dramatic, chronicling family members and their styles; personalities chock full of moxie, flaws and strengths of key players. The history recounts myriad challenges, how they were handled, and strategies that did- and didn’t -work. It’s a rich portrayal, fact-packed and human, of the evolution of D’Agostino into a household name in New York." - Annie Hauck, co-editor of Gastropolis: Food and New York City "Entrepreneurship, Italian style. An eye-opening history of an immigrant family, upward mobility, and New York food culture. Long before global brands discovered heritage marketing, the D’Agostinos blended their Old Country work ethic with American ambition to create a grocery chain beloved by all New Yorkers. A history lesson for foodies – and an inspiration for all new immigrants chasing the American Dream." - Regina Lee Blaszczyk, Professor Emerita, University of Leeds

• 1. Italian Immigration and the Currency of the Ethnic Merchant 12. Immigrant Grocers and American Dreams (1880–1946) 303. The Grocer in the Gray Flannel Suit (1946–60) 744. One of the Nice Things About New York (1960–82) 1295. New York’s Family Grocer (1982–2025) 177Acknowledgments 245Notes 247Bibliography 301Index 321