I am so excited that D & D Market is now expanding to Wethersfield, CT. I buy my beef, sausage, olive oil, and other lovely products from D&D and I am looking forward to seeing their new location. Nothing beats family-run stores, and the people at D&D make you feel part of the D'Aprile family!
As the third-generation steward of D&D Market in the city's South End, Daniel D'Aprile Sr. keeps close to tradition, right down to using his grandfather's recipe for homemade sausage.
The family-owned, Italian-American grocery store — founded in 1932 in Hartford and a landmark on Franklin Avenue since the early 1960s — will announce its first-ever expansion into the suburbs. D'Aprile has an agreement to buy the former Bliss Market property in Wethersfield and hopes to have his second store open before Christmas.
"Today, it's fierce," said D'Aprile, whom everyone knows as Danny. "Now, even Walmart has meats."
In a 1986 interview with The Courant, D'Aprile — then running the store with his father, Kelly — described the grocery business as "cutthroat." Not much has changed today.
D'Aprile — sitting in his back-room office at the Hartford store this week — again and again says the store's longevity is built on quality and service, and that is what keeps customers coming back.
The backbone of D&D is Italian specialty goods, groceries like imported olive oil, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese aged 20 months, and that homemade sausage from his grandfather Vito D'Aprile's recipe.
"You'll be able to smell the Parmesan cheese, smell food cooking," D'Aprile said. "You'll feel like you are in your grandmother's house 20 years ago."
The purchase of the Bliss Market building on Wolcott Hill Road and its fixtures is expected to be completed Friday. D'Aprile declined to comment on the price prior to the closing or revenue projections for the new store.
Bliss Market closed earlier this year, two years after the 80-year-old, family-run market came under new ownership.
Danny D'Aprile said he has been negotiating the purchase for about a year.
Bliss was known for decades for its meats, and D'Aprile said that tradition will return as D&D brings its name to the suburbs. D'Aprile said he also expects to beef up a line of prepared foods in the new location.
D&D's deep roots in Hartford are evident as soon as customers enter the store. There are framed photographs of the store's first location, opened by Vito D'Aprile, at the corner of Front and Windsor streets near downtown Hartford.
There are more pictures and sketches of Harford buildings and landmarks in Danny D'Aprile's office. His wife, Rosanna, the office manager, sits at a desk just outside.
The store moved in 1961, the year Danny D'Aprile was born, to its current location when the old Front Street neighborhood was demolished to make way for Constitution Plaza.
"This is where Danny grew up," Rosanna D'Aprile said.
D'Aprile, now 53, started working in the store as a young teenager, was involved in a subsequent remodeling and, in 2010, took over sole ownership.
Whether there will be a fourth generation of D'Apriles running the store isn't yet known. Danny and Rosanne D'Aprile's children both have pursued other careers. Lisa, 27, is a digital marketing manager for an insurer. Daniel Jr., 25, is a lawyer. Both are still local, working in downtown Hartford, and they have come back to help out in the store during busy holiday seasons.
And anyway, Danny D'Aprile said he has plenty of working years left — his grandfather came to the store every day into his 90s. Juggling the two stores, he said, won't be a problem because the Wethersfield location is just four miles away. He expects to hire a couple dozen employees for the new D&D.
"This expansion will not only help us survive," D'Aprile said, "but thrive."
Article courtesy of the Hartford Courant.
If you haven't already, check out D&D Market, and their delicious products!