Posts Tagged corner store

    The house at 414 Division Avenue doesn’t look to peculiar from the street except that it has two front doors from being transformed into a duplex. However, once you see a glimpse from the side, you notice that the building stretches back forty yards to the alley. Some might recall seeing two large delivery trucks with big bold letters stating “Mrs. Smith’s Noodles” parking inside the garage doors at the rear of the building.
    Considered one of the strongest businesses in Ellwood City, the Mrs. C.H. Smith Noodle Factory at 414 Division Avenue was considered among  National Tube Co. and Mathews Conveyor as the business leaders of Ellwood City. Employing all women (except the truck drivers) Mrs. Smith mass produced one of the tastiest noodles of its time. Unfortunately, her secret ingredient – wheat from Russia, is what also forced the Noodle factory to close during World War II.
    The Noodle Factory was the first company to put their noodles in “kerosene bags” (clear plastic polyethylene bags) and sold their product to the many corner grocery stores in town and beyond to neighboring states. Mrs. C.H. Smith started the business in 1921 after developing the recipe herself. The business thrived for many years and was one of the few businesses that actually grew during the Great Depression. Mrs. Smith Noodles continued to grow and plans were made to enlarge the business and go national with their special noodle, until June of 1941. That summer, Hitler invaded Russia and Mrs. Smith was unable to get her special wheat. The business came to a standstill until finally closing sometime after 1942.
    If you recall these noodles or have any memories of Mrs. Smith or the house at 414 Division Avenue, please leave a comment below or email us at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com. We would like to thank Louise Carroll for all of this information that we got from the terrific article she wrote for the Ellwood City Ledger.

    Frank Paglia (also known as Frank Straw) had the commercial building at 817 Second Street built in 1918 for his store. Frank’s first wife died in 1921 and he remarried Linda Giovanno of Naples, Italy. The two of them along with Frank’s children, operated a store in the two story brick building. After Frank’s death, the property was sold to Nick and Emma Rocco who owned the Rocco Store across Second Street at the time. Mrs. Paglia took her share and invested it in a small store with a house at 32 Line Avenue (corner of Line Avenue and Smiley Street). Many people have shared their memories about Paglia’s store across from Barry’s.
    We have heard that Mrs. Paglia was the only store in Hazel Dell that would give you the refund on empty soda bottles and PEM Morris shared how his mom often sent him to Paglia’s for milk and DeRosa’s bread. He also recalled getting his first baseball cards of the season at Linda’s as she always seemed to get them before anyone else.
    He also shared with us his memories of years later taking his own children to Paglia’s store when they were small to pick out penny candy. Linda, as always, waited patiently for them to make their choices. For the young children, it was one of the highlights of the family trips to Ellwood City and they still remember it today.
    If you would like to share your memories of Paglia’s store, please leave a comment below or email us at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com

    We have driven past the building on the corner of Fifth Street and Hillside Avenue and could tell that the house was previously a business of some sort but could only speculate. I vaguely remember a sign on the side that once read Rocco’s but it has since been covered and the building would remain a mystery. That is until we talked to a couple of the people in the neighborhood who had lived there their entire lives.
    Ms. Carmel Conti ran her corner grocery store there for many years. The store was originally called Conti’s until Ms. Conti married Mr. John Rocco and the name of the store was changed to Rocco’s which is what many of the people remember it as.
    The memories of the store and of Mrs. Rocco were all very kind and she is remembered fondly by those that depended upon that store. We spoke with Mr. Hockenberry who recalled as a child going into the store for penny candy and spend an hour looking at the glass display case with a nickel trying to solve the difficult decision. He recalled the whole time he would stand there, Mrs. Rocco would stand there patiently waiting upon him never rushing him, all for only a nickel.
    Another memory that the locals have of the store was the running bill that Rocco’s kept for all the families in the neighborhood. At anytime a mother could tell a child to run down to Rocco’s to get a loaf of bread and Carmel would simply add it to the families tab to be settled up on payday. This was a common practice in Ellwood City at the time, but Rocco’s took it a little bit more personal and actually looked out for the families in the neighborhood. As the mill workers seemed to either be laid off or on strike every two years, Rocco’s helped when they could. One gentleman told us that when his Dad was laid off Carmel would let the family keep a tab for the extended time until he was back to work and was able to pay the bill off.
    If you recall Rocco’s and would like to share your own memories, please leave a comment below or email us at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com