Community Cheers Glorioso’s Reopening
Italian market, closed since October fire, back in business on Brady Street.
Glorioso’s. Photo taken Jan. 7, 2025 by Sophie Bolich.
There were hugs, high-fives and even happy tears at Glorioso’s Italian Market on Wednesday morning, as shoppers and employees celebrated the store’s reopening following an early-October fire.
By lunchtime, it was back to business as usual: customers queued at the deli counter, rummaged through coolers of cheese and munched on overstuffed sandwiches in the dining area, seated beneath framed photos of the Glorioso family.
Everything was in its place—but it took nearly three months to get there, said Carmine Presta, who co-owns the store, 1011 E. Brady St., with his brothers Dominic and Paolo.
“It was a long three months,” Presta said, noting that crews from ServiceMaster Restore worked round-the-clock for nearly a month to empty and clean the store. “They actually did two shifts—24 hours a day—for seven days a week. It was literally nonstop.”
Though the blaze was contained to a portion of the second floor, smoke wafted throughout the entire building, affecting equipment, decor and thousands of grocery items. In the days after the incident, Glorioso’s disposed of its full inventory and shipped electronics and appliances off-site for professional restoration.
Construction then commenced on the upper-level IT and laundry rooms, where the fire originated. The work took longer than expected—approximately six weeks—delaying the store’s initial reopening goal, while lead times on overseas shipping caused additional holdups. Even so, the store continued paying employees during the hiatus.
“Nobody missed a paycheck,” Presta said. “There’s a lot of management and employment staff that have been here for years and years. That was important to us, so that when we did reopen the doors, it was with the same staff, same people, same recipes—we kept the whole store the same.”
Presta recalled the morning of Oct. 3, when he first received news of the fire. “There was a lot of emotions,” he said, noting that the incident occurred almost exactly a year after his family took ownership of the store.
Though recent weeks have “been a little bit of a roller coaster,” Presta is grateful nobody was hurt. “That’s the most important thing, everything else can get rebuilt,” he said. “We’re open, we’re here—that’s the best part.”
He has also found a silver lining in the store’s customers, many of whom offered assistance in the fire’s aftermath. “A lot of people reached out to us…asking how they can help,” Presta said. “It just shows you what the Glorioso family has done, how they’ve made a special bond with residents and customers.”
It’s a connection that Presta and his brothers hope to maintain as new owners. “When we came to be involved last year … we saw that people were coming here because of the brand, because of the Glorioso’s name, because they love the product, the quality,” he said. “It means something. So we’re honored to keep it going.”
Glorioso’s plans to host a grand reopening celebration in tandem with its 80th anniversary later this year. Though full details have not yet been announced, guests can expect promotions, giveaways and a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
“We’re really excited to be able to thank our customers for their patience, so there’s going to be a big celebration,” said Christine Pfaffenbach, marketing manager at Glorioso’s.
“We can’t wait to keep serving the community,” Presta added.
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