Ferraro’s Market

664 Grand Avenue (former)

Ferraro’s Market, 1973  Photo courtesy Victoria Ferraro

Salvatore Ferraro Sr. and son Salvatore Jr. in the Meat Room. Photo courtesy Victoria Ferraro.

Joan and Salvatore Ferraro Sr. opened Ferraro’s Market in 1973. Salvatore was born in 1928 in Bristol, Connecticut, to parents who had emigrated from Naples in southern Italy. He used his training in the meat business to become a co-owner of the Mohawk Market on State Street in 1952. When the New Haven Redevelopment Agency acquired and cleared the Grand Avenue site as part of urban renewal, the Ferraro family opened a “one-stop neighborhood market” on Grand, directly across from Farnam Courts where there was more foot traffic. In 2020, Ferraro’s had 100 employees, half of them family members. Sal and Joan’s four sons, Sal Jr. (who died in 2010), John, Peter and Mark, started working there when young. Peter ran the business side, with John and Mark “on the [meat] saw.” The third generation worked alongside them. Sal Jr.’s daughter Victoria learned all aspects of the business, having worked at the store since age 14. She began using social media to promote Wednesday specials for seniors and students. Prepared foods were very popular and were cooked onsite by cousin Jason and Chef Giuseppe from Italy. On December 24, 2020, amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, Ferraro’s closed the Grand Avenue store. Orlando and Fernando Cepeda from Brooklyn, New York opened The Meat King Farms at the Grand Avenue site less than a week later.

On April 28, 2021, Ferraro’s opened a new market on Universal Drive in North Haven.

Text sources: Link; “Ferraro’s Market - New Haven, CT - About Us.” Ferraromarket.com, 2020, Link. Accessed 13 Jan. 2020; New Haven Register; Link; Link; New Haven Independent articles; Link; Link; Phone interviews with Victoria Ferraro conducted by Rhoda Zahler Samuel, 2020.