It was the summer of 1991. Diane Abbruzzi noticed a “For Lease” sign on the vacant store lot at 3211 Route 38 in Mount HistoryLaurel, NJ. The instructions on the sign were to inquire next door to the house on the left. Diane’s knock on the door was answered by one of the owners of the building, Joe Tuscano, an elderly, gentle, tiny “grand pop kind of guy” who loved the store that his family affectionately called “the road market”.

Mr. Tuscano leads Diane to a tour of the building and upon leaving, asks Diane what she had in mind. After responding “I’m not sure”, Diane quickly called her husband, Joe to suggest “we should think about opening that store that we always wanted, an Italian food specialty store”. One dilemma – time. Since Joe works full time as a financial advisor and Diane’s home raising their family of three daughters, who’s going to run the business? In a matter of days, Joe reaches out to his life long friend, Mark Giunta, and the opening of Abbruzzi’s Italian Market begins in November that same year.

Mark and Diane’s determination to deliver food “as good as what momma use to make” became the staple of the store. Delicious Italian specialties and homemade recipes, along with a “throwback” atmosphere helped establish the market’s identity which was driven from their family’s South Philly roots.

By the mid 90’s, Mark and his wife Patty load up the SUV with their family of three daughters and move to Mount Laurel, as the store began to grow, including a thriving catering business.

At the turn of the century, it was becoming more apparent the need for a facility to handle the growth of the business. In 2004, a plan to develop a new store on the same lot was introduced. The completion of the project and the grand re-opening of “Abbruzzi and Giunta’s Italian Market” took place in the fall of 2006.

We are proud of our story and we continue to be committed to our original business plan which stated: We want our customers to shop where they know the owners, appreciate the service, and enjoy the food, just like we did when we were kids on the corner of the street”.