From the Archives: Neighborhood stores

LANSING - Virginia Dionise and her two sons, Paul Dionise and Patrick "Pat" Dionise opened the Dionise Beer Store in 1947 at the corner of Hosmer and Michigan Avenue.

It later became Dionise Grocery, and it was a fixture on East Michigan Avenue until 1984, just one of the neighborhood grocery stores that once could be found throughout the city.

There are many more "mom and pop" stores that were neighborhood staples, among them: Handy's Food Market on West Willow Street, Hoppe's Market on North East Street, Celentino Brothers Food Shop on Turner Street, Czubak Food Market on South Logan Street, Fortino's on North Pennsylvania Avenue.

Dionise was distinguished by its cold beer.

"My dad (Paul Dionise) was so proud of himself when he bought a walk-in cooler around 1959," said Carol Dionise. "We had the coldest beer in town."  

The large assortment of liquor filled an entire wall, and the penny candy was a favorite of many children: Bazooka bubble gum, wax lips and fingernails, pixie sticks, jawbreakers, tootsie rolls and lollipops. On Halloween, the store could expect 200 or 300 children to come through for treats.

"My parents (Paul and Evelyn Dionise) would go to Capital Wholesale House with their station wagon and come back with the entire back of the car filled with candy," said Virginia Dionise DeLuca.

Their brother, Joe Dionise worked in ,the store as part of his high school co-op. Carol would also work in the store after her classes at Lansing Community College.

When the Civic Center played host to concerts or boxing matches, sometimes the entertainers or athletes might stop in for a drink or a snack.

Johnny Cash came in and bought sardines, saltine crackers and a bottle of Vernors. Danny Thomas was once a visitor.

Paul, his wife, Evelyn and Virginia worked side by side in the store until 1965, when Paul and Evelyn became owners. Virginia continued to work in the store until she turned 70.

The family sold the business in 1984, the year Evelyn died, but didn't sell the building until 2006.

After retiring, Paul's favorite saying was "I been on the Avenue for over 50 years."

One of the area's first neighborhood Italian delicatessens was Paul Fata and Sons. The deli opened in the 1920s at 201 E. Shiawassee St., in Lansing, kitty-corner from where the Lansing Fire Station 41 now resides.

The Fata family lived upstairs. They closed the business in the 1970s when the city of Lansing bought the building to expand the area that Louis F. Adado Riverfront Park now sits on. 

Fata's grandson, Bill Castellani, opened Castellani's Market, an imported foods store in Lansing at 2003 E. Michigan Ave., in the spring of 1978.  They were located next to the Green Door in the space now occupied by Asian Gourmet Restaurant.

The store carried imported foods, cheeses, cold cuts, olives, coffee beans, grains and spices in bulk. And, of course, imported wines and specialty beers. There was a large assortment of olive oils and they grated several varieties of cheeses. Pasta was made fresh and sold by the pound. Castellani moved the store to East Lansing in 1988, and it closed in 1993.

Contact Vickki Dozier at (517) 267-1342 or vdozier@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter@vickkiD.