Selling Quality Fresh Food: A Family Tradition for 100 Years

For a century, Danny Gargiulo's family has sold fresh food. The tradition started when Gargiulo's great-grandfather moved from Italy to New Jersey, where he opened a supermarket, Gargiulo said.

Today Gargiulo and his wife, Nicole, own and operate on Clearwater-Largo Road. The current market is named for the couple's three sons, Josh, Adam and Michael. The Gargiulo Family has had a produce market in Largo since the mid 1970s, Danny Gargiulo said.

Gargiulo, 35, says he was born into the produce business, and he loves it.

"I like the excitement of it. The constant buy at the right time, sell at the right time. It's usually a gamble dealing with perishables. There's an excitement of that. I like the hands-on," he said.

Jam's goes to the market and buys produce daily. The staff was busy unloading a truck when Patch arrived. The market had heaping bins of corn, tomatoes, peppers, plums, peaches, garlic, pineapples and more.

Customer service is a key part of the business, too. The market has a loyal following with customers coming from as far as Spring Hill, Odessa, and South Tampa, said market manager Byron Brooks.

"We take pride in doing the best we can for the customers," Gargiulo said.

If you go:

Address: 1451 Clearwater-Largo Rd.

Phone: 727-585-6463

Hours: Monday- Saturday 8:00 a.m. until 6:30 p.m., Sunday 8:30 a.m. until 6:00 p.m.