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Friday, March 31, 2023
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In 1964, Giuseppe Governali arrived
on a boat that docked on the east coast of Canada, at the port
in Halifax, Nova Scotia. This long voyage took him from the
small Sicilian town of Corleone in the province of Palermo,
to the great opportunities
the new world had to offer. From Halifax, Giuseppe, 19 years
of age at that time traveled to Toronto, Ontario with his
family that consisted of his mother and father, two older sisters
and one younger brother. Giuseppe took whatever jobs were available
to him ending up doing plaster walls and ceilings. This job
required him to travel as far as New York City working on
large high-rise buildings that are still standing today.
On August 21, 1971 Giuseppe was married to Giovanna. On August 19, 1972,
two days before their first anniversary, Francesco Paolo Governali, their
son, was born. Fifteen days later, Giuseppe, Giovanna and their newborn
son, Francesco, moved to Windsor, Ontario.
They rented a small commercial unit on Erie Street and opened a business
which they named Europa Imports. The store consisted of one table of
merchandise displayed
in the middle of the unit. The first
day of the business, an old, very
frail woman
walked into the store and purchased one set of |
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Europa
Imports on Erie Street East. Courtesy of Pauol Governali
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crystal
ashtrays. The woman handed Giuseppe the first five dollars Europa
Imports made. The woman left
the store and Giuseppe, worried for the old lady, shortly followed her out
to make sure she was OK. Giuseppe looked both ways across the street, but the
lady was nowhere to be seen as if she had vanished into thin air. Today Giuseppe
still believes that the old woman came into his business to
bless his store.
Business was anything but good in the starting months. Giuseppe and Giovanna
decided to move to a larger location if their business was to progress any further.
Giuseppe did not want to move from the street. He found a building for sale.
This building needed a lot of work. Every night after a long day of working
plaster Giuseppe renovated the entire inside including electrical, plumbing, plaster
walls and ceiling. This four-unit building consisted of two commercial units
and two residential ones directly above.
Europa Imports was facing a dilemma. They expanded their product line, but still
needed to find a product to complete the store. This is when the idea of the
bomboniere as a secondary product line was introduced.
As Europa’s business expanded so did the Governali family. Maria Governali,
Giuseppe and Giovanna’s second child was born. Giuseppe was working three
jobs at the time. As time went on and the bomboniere business was constantly
growing, Giuseppe gave up his plastering job.
Nine years after, a third child, Stefano, arrived in the Governali family. The
family grew as well as Europa Imports. Giuseppe bought two existing houses on
Erie Street and began to tear them down. Then they began the construction of
the 12000 square foot building. The bomboniere was expanding, going
from 200
samples to 2000. Many years later the Governali’s oldest son Paolo took
an interest in the business. He worked beside his father learning the ways of
the business.
Giuseppe and Giovanna Governali are still involved in this growing business. |
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The
opinions and interpretations in this publication are those of the author
and do not necessarily reflect those of the Government of Canada. |
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