A Des Moines, Iowa, institution for more than a century, Graziano Brothers, Inc., provides customers throughout the Midwest with an authentic taste of Italy. On the centennial of founding of the business, a 2012 article in the Times-Delphic brought attention to the role that Graziano Brothers has played in the community over the years.
Established by brothers Frank and Louis Graziano, who emigrated to the United States as young men in 1903, the business was the result of an arrangement whereby Louis would establish a grocery store while Frank worked on the railroad until his brother’s operation proved successful enough to support them both.
In 1912, they purchased a former drugstore in the rail transport hub of Des Moines, and created a business that offered a full selection of pastas, as well as a deli counter that featured distinctive sausages. The exact recipes of these famous sausages has remained a closely guarded family secret over the years.
As described by company president Frances Graziano, one major reason the business has thrived is that the founders helped out members of the local community during the Great Depression. As she explained, although doing so created debt, “my grandfather made certain there was no one left hungry.” The result was a business that expanded after the war into a wholesale distributor to local restaurants and supermarkets.
