Andrew Balducci, owner of the famous Balducci’s food store in Greenwich Village, died on March 22, 2018 at St. Francis Hospital in Roslyn, Long Island. He was 92 years old and passed surrounded by his family.
Andy was born in Greenpoint, Brooklyn and at 2-months old, in 1925, moved to Corato, Italy. He emigrated to the United States in 1939 at the age of 14 with his parents, Louis and Maria, and his sister Grace. When WWII started, Andy enlisted in the US Navy at age 18. His naval duties involved participating in the invasion of Normandy where he suffered injuries that earned him a Purple Heart, but also put him in the naval hospital for 6 months.
His release from the hospital coincided with his father’s 1946 purchase of a storefront in Greenwich Village and together they opened a fresh produce business. The landmark gourmet store on Sixth Ave & Ninth St. had its humble beginning on Greenwich Avenue as an open-air fruit and vegetable market. The family worked rotating shifts around the clock to keep it open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Andy married Nina D’Amelio in 1952 and they had four daughters. He left the family produce business in 1960 to work in his father-in-law’s masonry on Cutter Mill Rd. in Great Neck, N.Y. During his eight-year tenure there, he secured major contracts throughout the city and Long Island, including laying the marble for several exhibition buildings at the 1964 World’s Fair. Andy returned to work with his father at Balducci’s in 1968.
A quadrupling of their rent around that time prompted Andy to move Balducci’s diagonally across Sixth Avenue. Andy’s vision was to launch a European-style food emporium in the new expanded space that featured “the best of the best” across every food category. Balducci’s already had a reputation for purveying the finest produce in the city. Andy built on that by spear-heading the import of many Italian specialties as well as exotic items such as Iranian caviar, French foie gras, and Spanish Serrano ham for the first time. These international delicacies were not widely available in the U.S. during the late 70’s and early 80’s and their new accessibility put Balducci’s on the culinary map.
Balducci’s became the shopping destination for food cognoscenti and celebrities alike. Mom and Pop Balducci, beloved by Village residents, worked there into their mid-eighties. Many Balducci grandchildren built their careers there as well. Balducci’s was featured on a Perry Como Christmas special in December, 1983 and it aired across the nation. By then, the Balducci catalog, created by Nina, brought high-end foods, and the Balducci name, into households across America.
The business was sold in 1998 and Andy and Nina spent their retirement between their home in East Williston on Long Island, and on Paradise Island in the Bahamas. Andy is survived by his wife, Nina, two daughters, Marta and Andrea, 6 grandchildren and 4 great grandchildren.
“My grandfather was an icon in the food world and an amazing businessman in general," said TJ Murphy, CEO Baldor Specialty Foods. "I looked up to and learned from him the same way I did my father, Kevin Murphy, who often cited Andy as the person who taught him everything he knew about food; Andy helped shape the way he ran and built Baldor. They both believed that the love of good food was shared by many and that food brought people together. They were tremendous risk takers who had the courage to make their big move when the timing was right. Without Andy Balducci, there would be no Baldor. My biggest challenge has been to not only live up to their legacy, but to continue to take risks as they did to keep our businesses growing and relevant in today’s food-centric culture. He was an amazing person who thrived off interaction, and I will forever implement his thoughts and views as I run and grow the company.”
For more information:
Ryan Leonard
Tel: +1 (845) 499-2900