October 24, 2018
StreetView/Google Street View
The old Fiorella's Sausage shop and its antique cash register had been in Italian Market, at 817 Christian St., for more than 100 years. The store closed in January 2018, and property's new owner, restauranteur Marc Vetri, said Friday that the antique cash register has been stolen from the building.
Philadelphia restaurateur Marc Vetri is buying Fiorella’s Sausage shop in the Italian Market which closed in January after 114 years of business and went up for sale in September. At the time, the asking price was $775,000.
Vetri posted a picture to Instagram on Wednesday afternoon, calling it a "second act," and he confirmed the transaction to Philly.com’s Michael Klein.
Luigi Fiorella left Italy and began working as a butcher in Philadelphia in 1892. He purchased a three-story structure at 817 Christian St. in 1904, and his family had lived in and sold sausages from the building ever since.
But in January, Fiorella’s closed after the New Year and said in a Facebook post it would be closed until further notice for a family matter.
Unfortunately, Billy Penn reported, Dan Fiorella’s mother passed away during the closure, and the family decided it was time to move on.
Just five days after PhillyVoice’s story about the store going up for sale, Vetri posted this Instagram saying he’d been given a tour of the place and cryptically calling it very interesting.
In hindsight, this was a pretty obvious hint. Well played, Vetri.
The timing is interesting as well. PhillyMag reported in September that Vetri became the first outside investor for East Passyunk Avenue butcher shop Primal Supply Meats.
What Vetri plans to do with the Fiorella’s spot remains unclear. In that same PhillyMag story, Vetri said he “doesn’t really need to open more restaurants.” For now, it’s just one more asset in his restaurant kingdom, and we’ll await his next move.
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