64 OCTOBER 10, 2019 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Valentino’s Brings The Best
To Ridgewood In Their Own
Special Way
While Stocking Shelves
Since 1975
FOOD MARKET
One man’s dream of turning his
horse-and-carriage fruit stand in Sicily
into a customer friendly, full-service
mini supermarket has come to fruition
at Valentino’s Food Market, which has
become a staple of the Ridgewood
community over the past 35 years.
Owner Phil Barone explained how
his grandfather Gaetano, who passed
away in 1995, came to the United States
in the 1970’s with just his “luggage full
of clothes” in the hope of providing
people with quality food products at
reasonable prices.
Th e current store, located at 66-64 Fresh Pond Road, has
evolved from a little pizza operation to a grand one stop shop for
residents looking to stock up on a wide variety of produce, deli
products, imported goods, meat items and hot prepared food.
Mr. Barone, who has been involved
with the family business for
the past 20 years, along with his sons
Gaetano and Filippo, has seen his
market grow with the local population
and now caters to multiple
ethnic groups.
In addition to off ering a hard-to
fi nd selection of Italian specialties,
Valentino’s also sells food items from
Poland, Turkey, Romania and a number of Latin American
countries.
But despite the stores variety of foreign and domestic
merchandise, the Barone family is always very careful about not
taking profi ts away from other nearby mom and pop stores.
“We have Polish items, but not a lot because we have a number
of Polish stores here. We all respect
one another and don’t step on each
others feet. Th ey sell their products
and we sell ours”.
What Valentino’s knows is fruits
and vegetables. Th e Barones buy directly
from Watsonville, Calif., New
Jersey, and Long Island. Th ey also receive
regular deliveries from Georgia
and Delaware, not to
mention their daily trips to the Hunts Point Market in the Bronx.
Aft er 40 years in the business, the Barone family knows what it
takes to not only provide the best food, but also what it means to
respect their neighbors by keeping the property clean.
Valentino’s also gives back to the community through regular
donations to senior centers, neighborhood social clubs, churches,
the 104th Precinct, and local schools, such as P.S. 88 and I.S. 93.
When asked what his family’s secret formula for success is,
Mr. Phil narrowed it down to being attentive to the needs of
his customers.
“We are here every day;
it’s not a store where we leave
managers to run the place. We
open at 7 a.m. and close at 10
p.m. If a customer comes in
and sees the owner, right away
they feel more comfortable. If
they tell me they want a certain
item, I’ll go get it for them,
whether it’s fresh parsley or
specialty items” he promised.
“quality and price are also important,
if you give them that,
I don’t think you can fail.”
66-64 Fresh Pond Road Ridgewood, NY 11385 (718)-386-2907
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