All Things Sicilian brings a
Taste of Italy to the rest of the Valley
(and the world)
Tom Duggan
 With customers from all over
The Valley and all over the world,
Italian food store "All Things
Sicilian" has moved
it’s operations form Union Street in
North Lawrence to Sal’s Riverwalk
Properties on Merrimack St., in South
Lawrence, just a few feet away form the
Route 495(S) off-ramp at the North
Andover line.
Owner, Al Zappala, says he and his
partners first opened the store in North
Lawrence but impending construction was
about to severely hamper his customers
ability to get to the store.
All Things Sicilian is actually three
companies according to Zappala; the store
at Riverwalk, a wholesale company and an
internet company (www.allthingssicilian.com)
where All Things Sicilian ships Italian
food products to every single state in
the U.S. and several foreign countries.
“As you know from the history of the
sweat shops in Lawrence, they [Italian
immigrants] were all exploited,”
Zappala said. “So, when we opened
the first All Things Sicilian store we
put it right there on Union Street
because we felt it was an appropriate
place; right in the heart of all the
sweat shops. It took off right away and
it captured the imagination of the people
in the area.”
“But, the reason we decided to move
here to Riverwalk,” he continued,
“is because they’re closing the
Duck Bridge for repairs for two full
years. With 95% of our business coming
from Route 495 or from the Andovers, and
since we get very little business from
the city of Lawrence itself, we needed to
make a move so that we could be
conveniently located for our walk in
customers. It just made sense to take up
space at Sal’s [Riverwalk],
it’s closer to the highway, and Sal
and I have been friends for a long
time.”
Zappala says that All Things Sicilian
immediately took on “a life of
it’s own.”
“I have partners in The Valley who
are of Sicilian ancestry,” he said.
“including Dr. Tom Torrisi with a
Dental Practice in Methuen Dr. Steve
Zappala whose office is in Andover. You
see, our ancestors come from the same
town in Sicily. My grandparents worked in
these sweat shops for 50 years. Our
ancestors did this in the early-mid 20th
century to give the next generation a
chance to succeed in life here in
America.
“I’m a lawyer here and in
Italy,” he explained. “There
are a lot of people who have family in
Sicily whose ancestors die or have land
in Italy that they want to buy, or have a
legal issue over there. I partnered up
with a man named Grimaldi whose wife was
influential in economic development in
Sicily and we targeted about 15
businesses and we negotiated exclusive
distribution agreements with them and
began the process of developing their
products. None of them had done business
in America so, basically the nutritional
fact information on the labels had to be
translated and we had to get approvals
from the FDA. It was a very lengthy
process.” 
To get just one product up and
operational takes a ton of dough. Just
one product in terms of label development
is very expensive and extremely time
consuming. Now we have Marshalls and TJ
Max are distributing our products
nationally and we have become a reliable
distributor of Italian food products that
keep people coming back for more.
Zappala has about 6,000 subscribers to
his newsletter and “literally
thousands of people” from all over
The Valley who come to the store for one
reason or another. “But it’s
not just about food,” Zappala added.
“We try to enhance people
culturally. Five years ago we started at
our cooking demonstrations. We have them
on the third Sunday of every month.
They’re very popular, they always
sell out. And my wife Olga coordinates
our Italian language program which we do
once a week and now we are starting
Italian for kids. So it’s a labor of
love for my whole family and the families
of my partners.”
“Plus you have no idea how many
emails and letters I get from people who
have never made the trip to Italy and say
reading my writings about the trips we
take to Italy makes them feel like they
took the trip with me which people really
enjoy and for me is very
gratifying.”
Zappala says that his mission is not just
to promote the food and culture of Sicily
but to promote a positive message about
Sicilians. “It’s important for
people to understand that not all
Sicilians are Mafioso. What we are trying
to do is show people the good side of
Sicily and the Sicilian people.”
“Over there it’s 20%
unemployment. There’s been a
critical drain, a mass exodus of kids
because there aren’t any jobs in
Sicily, so we are creating jobs here and
over there and it’s something to
really be proud of. Someday I will retire
there.”
Zappala says that shortly after 9-11 he
was in Italy and went to one of the
American military bases to show the men
stationed there how proud he was of their
service and wish them luck. “We made
a lot of good friends there, and now
every time we go back I make a special
trip to the base to see the men and they
are always grateful that one of their
countrymen is so supportive.
All Things Sicilian also serves as a
coffee house on weekend evenings for
aspiring musicians and entertainers.
To order custom made Italian food, sign
up for Italian language classes or learn
more about the culture of the Sicilian
people you can visit All Things Sicilian
on line at www.allthingssicilian.com.
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pictures and material are
(C) copyright, Valley Patriot, Inc., 2008
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