break. At the age of
20, Mirella had the second baby, a son: Franco. In 1949, Pietro’s
father passed away leaving Pietro and Mirella with two children
ages 3 years, and
7 months,
and a great deal of farmland to manage.
In 1952, Pietro immigrated to Canada, leaving Mirella and the children
to look after the farmland. Upon his arrival he first worked at
various jobs, until he found a permanent one and was able to buy
a house.
In
1956,
Mirella and the two children joined Pietro in Canada.
Mirella began working at a Fish Company handling ice ten hours
a day, six days a week, for a weekly wage of $25.00. She worked
there until 1961. Then Mirella decided to open a modest grocery
store. A year later, the business was growing and they wanted
to expand the store.
Five years later, Mirella's original partners, Filomeau and Virgilio,
decided to quit the partnership
in the store, so Mirella and Pietro bought their share. After
school, the children would join to help the parents in running
the business. In 1973, the business, “Italia Food Market”, moved
three blocks away into a store double the size of the previous one.
They operated this supermarket until 1988. In the meantime, at
the
location
of the
former grocery
store, Pietro and Mirella opened the Italia Bakery. Later, they
decided to sell the supermarket in order to concentrate the efforts
on the bakery. Within two years of dedicated work, the business
operations and clientele had tripled. Mirella and Pietro decided
to expand the place. They bought six houses behind the bakery
as
more space was needed. The houses were demolished to expand the
working area and double the frontage of the present premises
adjacent to the old bakery. Today, they employ 20 people at the bakery.
In 1996, due to operational improvement and as a family united
and dedicated to the business, the Mancini family doubled the
bread production. The second floor houses several offices managed
by Franco Mancini (Mirella and Pietro’s son). Their
son-in-law, Carlo Savoni, was in charge of overseeing the operational performance
and product in the bakery. Ida Mancini and Josie Savoni now operate Italia
Bakery full-time
Pietro and Mirella are proud of their sacrifices. They are enjoying
the fruits of their labours with family and relatives in
peace and good health. |
