Roy •
There were likely not as many franchises in South Weber and North Davis County when Dominic Sacco's father first built a small store and fruit stand on old Highway 89 in 1971.
But, in this world of giant box stores and enormous supermarkets, Sacco's still manages to not only survive but thrive by offering a combination of Utah-made products and excellent service.
This an establishment that sells Phelps Honey from Layton, Beehive Cheese from Uintah, Aspen Mills Bread from Ogden, beer from Uinta Brewing in Salt Lake, Weeks' berry juices from Paradise, Storey's pickles from Kaysville, Gossner's Cheese from Logan, Sweets Candy and Western Nuts from Salt Lake City and a Japanese salad dressing from Ogden.
When fruits and vegetables from area farmers are ready for market, Sacco buys them. He said that when sweet Utah corn is in season, for example, he drives a truck up to pick it up from a farmer, making it perhaps an hour old when customers purchase it.
Then there are the 160 kinds of hand-packaged spices that Dominic's wife, Candi, organizes in little paper bags. Or the Christmas fruit baskets, Halloween pumpkins, bulk foods, canning supplies and grains that can make holidays special.
"I buy local," said Sacco, who purchased the business from his dad 30 years ago. "We have homemade things and know local farmers. Things you won't find in a grocery store, you will find them here, but on a much smaller scale. We are often buying from somebody making it right at their house."
The store owner loves the fact that he is his own boss.
"I can try new things and sell what the public wants," he explained. "There is no big corporation telling me what to doâ¦I like being closer to the people, and not sitting in my office."
Sacco comes by his love of the fruit business naturally.
His grandfather Jasper migrated to New Orleans from Sicily as a boy. He married a friend's daughter and worked as a migrant worker cutting sugar cane. He discovered he could go to the dock, purchase some bananas and then go sell them.
Jasper expanded his produce line, sometimes selling at the race track in New Orleans. Then a huge hurricane hit and basically wiped him out. So he went to work for the railroad, a job that eventually brought him to Ogden, where he began selling a bit of produce on the side.
Dominic's father Carlo, the oldest of four, had to quit school and work. He started selling produce as well as newspapers. A weathered black-and-white photo of Carlo wearing a big hat and pulling a little produce wagon decorates the store. His father also opened a saloon, Carlo's Lounge and Grill, in North Ogden, before going back into the produce business, first selling out of a truck.
"He built this place, eventually retired and here I am," Dominic said.
Sacco is a hands-on kind of store owner, who is usually seen behind a cash register or helping answer a customer's question. He knows many of his regulars so well that he can often tell what they are going to buy before they walk into the store.
The little store with the classic Sacco's sign above it and the cement floors is, in many ways, a local institution, the kind of place people return to as much for the owner and the service as what they are buying.
Twitter: @tribtomwharton
