Angelo Caputo’s opens its 10th grocery store, in Norridge, as family business expands

Angelo Caputo’s Fresh Markets, founded by the late Italian immigrant Angelo Caputo and operated by the second generation of his family, has expanded to its 10th location, in Norridge, with store architecture that echoes the rolling hills of Italy.

Caputo’s opened its original store in Elmwood Park in the 1950s, added a second outlet in Addison in 1991 and branched to Carol Stream, Bloomingdale, Hanover Park, South Elgin, Naperville, Orland Park and a recent opening in Mount Prospect.

Though the Norridge store, whose opening was delayed for eight months by a supply-chain issue in obtaining custom-ordered refrigeration equipment, is just 20 blocks north of the Elmwood Park grocery, CEO Robertino Presta said customers demanded it.

“Customers had trouble getting to Elmwood Park due to traffic,” said Presta, Angelo Caputo’s son-in-law. “We like the vicinity right off the Kennedy.”

Caputo’s daughter and Presta’s wife, Antonella Caputo Presta, serves as company president.

To compete in the saturated Norridge and Harwood Heights grocery market, the family chain is offering its large produce department, Italian deli and meat counter, pastries and a “cannoli of the month,” cafe, hot foods and prepared foods. The two intertwined suburbs, enveloped within Chicago’s Northwest side, already offer two Jewel stores, Mariano’s, Aldi, Target, Amazon Fresh and Butera, along with smaller single-store groceries and a bevy of ethnic food retailers.

Prepared foods and hot bars have proven to be big sellers after the company first introduced hot foods in 1996 at the Hanover Park store. Presta said Chicken Vesuvio moves well. A host of traditional Italian dishes are offered. Sold side-by-side are salmon piccata, blackened salmon and grilled salmon.

For cold but fresh foods, American subs slightly outsell Italian subs at the deli, employee Alfredo Paniagua said. Also moving well out of the deli are octopus salad and bocconcini – fresh mozzarella cheese balls.

Store-baked goods are popular, especially the cannolis and other traditional pastries.

But before it can lure shoppers to its food, Caputo’s is first hoping to catch their eyes with the looks of its 40,000-square-foot store at 4410 N. Harlem Ave., Norridge. Architect Peter Theodore of Camburas and Theodore Architects suggested the rolling hillsides and waves crashing on the shore of founder Angelo Caputo’s native Mola Di Bari, a town in Italy’s southeastern Puglia region, via flowing canopies scarcely seen at more industrial-style grocery competitor’s buildings.

“Mindful of Angelo and Romana (his wife) Caputo’s vision of treating customers like family, the architecture builds on that simple principle,” wrote Theodore in a text to the Caputo family. “This unique store embraces the founders’ vibrancy and energy with forms creating the shell of the structure that seem to defy gravity.”

Once inside, time-crunched consumers opting out from home cooking might be hooked by Caputo’s La Bella Romana line of store-prepared meals and soups, and additional hot foods, along with an expanded international stock of foods to serve the myriad ethnic groups of the area.

Paired with a recently-opened 15,000-square-foot ground-floor store in a multi-use Mount Prospect building, Caputo’s has come a long way since its original space-crammed store was founded at Harlem and Wrightwood in 1958. According to the store’s website, he earned his citizenship in the U.S. Army after immigrating from Mola Di Bari.

And while the prepared foods greatly expand Caputo’s original offerings, tradition hangs heavy in the air. Although he died in 2021, recorded telephone greetings from Angelo Caputo, complete with grazie and arrivederci, are maintained at the behest of daughter Antonella when a caller to the store is put on hold. Takeoffs on all-time tunes, such as Frank Sinatra’s “Chicago (That Toddlin’ Town)” and Dean Martin’s “That’s Amore,” substitute Caputo’s in the lyrics for callers on hold.

New workers have joined as the chain has expanded.

Looking for work at the Norridge Caputo’s was a slam dunk for Norridge residentPaniagua. A deli department worker at a now-defunct Treasure Island store in Chicago, he moved on to work in the Sunset Foods deli in Northbrook. He dramatically cut his commute when he applied to Caputo’s, and his deli experience cinched the job.

“I feel fine, I feel comfortable here,” said Paniagua.

Belmont-Cragin resident Lupe Juarez started at the Mount Prospect store when it opened. But when she heard Norridge was opening, she jumped at the chance to work much closer to home. She also got a good recommendation on the work climate from a friend who is an employee of the Elmwood Park store.

“I knew the location was perfect for the business,” said Juarez. “A lot of people going to the Grand Avenue store will now come here. In the short time I’ve been here, I’ve found the company is literally all about the people. This company cares about the staff. It’s a family business and they want you to have a career here. Not like the corporate-run places.”

Going corporate would be anathema to Angelo Caputo’s memory, Presta said.

“We haven’t changed anything,” he said. “It’s a family-run business, and close to its roots. Employees are part of our family.”

Presta declined to provide sales figures, or the total number of employees, for the chain, though he said the Norridge store employs between 100 and 120.

A local job fair proved successful in a tight labor market for the Prestas. Many of the Norridge store employees are first-job youths working part-time. He also said some hires were Ukrainian war refugees, who settled in Norridge in decent numbers due to an existing Ukrainian community in the village. A vocational center in Norridge is busy trying to find jobs for the displaced refugees.

“Knock on wood, Norridge was a great place for employees,” Presta said. “We hired (Ukrainians) at all the stores. I know there were several Ukrainians who also spoke Italian.”

Norridge used to be a heavily Italian-American community, a surefire market for Caputo’s staples. But since Eastern European, Hispanic and Asian populations have increasingly settled in the area, Presta said a food lineup from around the world has been included in the new store.

Inflation has wracked grocery costs since the pandemic. Presta said he has seen “stabilizing” in cost increases lately, including freight carriers whom he depends upon to deliver all the imported goods. Supply-chain issues which beset the economy coming out of the pandemic also have lessened, he added.

With so much sweat equity invested in the new stores, Presta said he and his family members expect to take a breather in further expansion for now and focus on helping the Norridge and Mount Prospect stores succeed.