Italian food shop to close after 57 years in Worthing

Sheila Del Greco has taken the decision to close P&S Del Greco Italian Food Shop in Pavilion Road.

It comes eight months after the death of her husband and fellow business owner, Pasquale, at the age of 88.

Sheila explained: “I need to move on with my life. My husband passed away in January. Now is the time to close the shop.

"I’ve only been opening on Saturdays. I’ve given so many years of my life to this business.

"It’s sad to see it go. Our customers are loyal customers. I’d like to thank them all dearly and wish them all the best.”

Paying tribute to her husband, Sheila added: “He was a straightforward man, always willing to help people. He didn’t stand any nonsense. He was a fair man and tried to help everybody.”

Tony Del Greco – one of five children who have all worked in the shop over the years – said: “It’s been such a big part of mine and my brothers’ and sisters’ lives.

"I was born into the shop. I understand why my mum wants to do it but it’s not easy for us as well. This is part of us and we’ve grown up with it. I wish my mum all the best in her retirement.”

The exact closing date is yet to be confirmed but the business is holding a closing down sale.

Tony wrote on social media: “With much sorrow we will be closing the business date yet to be confirmed. My mum has decided she want to sell and enjoy her retirement after more than 57 years trading in Worthing.

"It has been a big part of my family and we want thank all of our customers over the years. We still have a lot of stock and will still be selling the fresh products as well.”

After Pasquale moved from Italy to Bedfordshire in 1954 – where he met Sheila – they later set up a mobile business in the Worthing area. They then opened a shop in Clifton Road and then Pavilion Road.

Tony explained: “My dad moved to Bedford with a lot of the Italians. He worked for Terroni of Clerkenwell – it was a huge Italian deli and warehouse in London. They have still got a massive Italian community in Clerkenwell.

“He started doing the south – Littlehampton, Horsham and Worthing.

“In it’s hay day, the shop sold everything and it was open six days a week. People did their weekly shop there.

“All five of us kids have helped in the shop over the years. I was five, helping on the old-fashioned tills. I soon learned how to add up properly.

"We did wholesale to a lot of the restaurants in Brighton – up until 2009 – every Wednesday.

"We delivered pallets and pallets of grapes up until last year.”

The shop became ‘a hub’ for the Italian community – with Sheila and Pasquale ‘sorting out flight tickets’ and taking passports to London for renewal.

They also ran their own amateur football team called Worthing Juventus.

Tony said the Italian community has ‘dwindled over the years’.

He added: “There were about 3,000 Italians here at one time but there’s not many left.”

Sheila and Tony recounted a challenging period when they became a lifeline for the local area during the Covid-19 pandemic.

"We stayed open all the time in Covid,” Tony said. “You couldn’t get pasta anywhere else in the south. They were going so quick. Pasta and toilet rolls. We always had big stock of it.

"Once this pasta goes – you won’t get it anywhere else. That’s what the Italians are worried about. There’s no where in the south you can get. It is a shame but it’s the way things are. Supermarkets don’t have the same selection or high quality."

Paying tribute to his dad, Tony added: “My dad had been planning to for years but he never really meant it because he loved it too much. Everyone would come here and he loved to talk to people and meet people.

"It became more of a hobby. He was very ill before Christmas but still working. He hated not being here. Two weeks before he died, he was still working in the shop.

“He was a very strong man. He would sell anything and everything. He was very entrepreneurial. He was a bit of a Del Boy really."

P&S Del Greco Italian Food Shop will be open today (Saturday, September 7) from 8.30am until 1pm.

It will be cash only with ‘plenty of stock left’.

Tony said: “Come and see us before it is all gone!”