After 66 years, the historian «Alimentari Cantoni» in via Masone will close its doors towards the end of June. “The mini market open on the street contributed to our losing customers.”
Marisaowner of the historic shop together with her husband Maurizio, thus begins to explain the reason for the closure and to talk about the “long life” spent between the shelves and the counter of freshly sliced cured meats, sitting in the lounge created a few years ago overlooking the shop window to offer a moment of conviviality and rest for customers who often elderly people. The change in habits of the new generations also contributes. «Young people prefer the supermarket and “hit and run” shopping. They are not looking for a relationship with the local shop. Our daughter Veronica would like to continue the business, but she is in financial difficulty because there are fewer and fewer customers» explains Marisa.
Once upon a time everything was different
She, who arrived in the shop at the age of 17 in 1968 and then married the owner’s son in 1977, as she speaks looks melancholy at the many objects on the walls often given as gifts by loyal customers, such as «the tea set given to me by Don Carlo’s housekeeper ( historian curate of Pignolo, ed.)» says Marisa proudly showing the cups. «Everything was different here, it was another life with the many families with whom we had a bond. Now many apartments have become offices and the street has emptied. I remember the afternoons spent writing notes for home shopping to bring bread and milk. We all knew each other. We were also friends with the police who had barracks at the end of the street. There was a good relationship and having them here made us feel safe”, says Marisa melancholy, who promises to put up a large poster outside the shop window to thank “my faithful and good customers who I often remember in my prayers”.
Marisa still can’t imagine the future of the shop. The shop will soon be empty, but the stories that have passed through it will remain. «We had a good life within these walls. For us and our customers it was a home. Here (indicating the mini lounge, ed.) there was an elementary school stall where my daughter studied until middle school. Her chair is still there, only now my husband sits in it. We will take her away with us», smiles Marisa.
