Ninth and Montrose: Commerce Becomes Tradition

Near the intersection of Ninth and Montrose Street stands a narrow shop bearing the Di Bruno surname. This is the company's first store, whose name literally translates as “Di Bruno Bros.” The brothers were named Danny and Joe. They arrived from Abruzzo, Italy, in the early nineteen thirties, with almost no money or education, and earned their living working for merchants on Ninth Street.

According to the family story, the decision to open their own business took shape after their employer made the brothers come to work on New Year's Day. Danny and Joe wanted to manage their own time, but their savings were not enough. They borrowed the remaining sum and, in nineteen thirty-nine, leased premises at nine hundred thirty South Ninth Street—where they already knew the customers and the trade from the inside.

The country had not yet recovered from the Great Depression. The brothers sold foods that could be stored: pasta by weight, large cans of olive oil, and salami. They made mozzarella and red wine vinegar themselves. A customer brought an empty bottle, and the brothers filled it with vinegar from a barrel. That was how the shop earned money from the neighbors' everyday food, and Danny and Joe from working behind their own counter.

A quarter of a century later, large department stores spread across the city. With the same range of groceries, the small shop could have been lost among them. Danny brought back a different idea from a trip to Switzerland: sell cheeses that chain stores did not yet carry. The brothers renamed the shop House of Cheese, established ties with foreign suppliers, and familiarized customers with unfamiliar varieties through a free piece and a description of the product. Danny worked with customers, while Joe oversaw operations and equipment. By the nineteen eighties, chefs and food writers were seeking their advice.

In nineteen ninety, Danny and Joe handed the keys over to their grandsons and nephews. They added wholesale trade, restaurant supplies, and new stores. In twenty twenty-four, the family sold the retail chain and trademark; however, third-generation representative Emilio Mignucci remained in the brand's management.

The original shop by Montrose Street is still open. Its production kitchen has preserved a grater used by Danny and Joe. A few parts of it have been replaced; the machine still takes half a cheese wheel at a time.