The Italian Centre Shop has grown from a single Edmonton grocery store into a $140-million retail operation. Today, the family-owned business operates five locations with about 800 employees, and is positioned for further expansion across Western Canada.
Owner Teresa Spinelli took over the company in 2001 and has overseen two decades of The Italian Centre’s steady growth. She credits this growth to a focus on customer relationships, employee engagement and a willingness to adapt to changing consumer expectations in an increasingly competitive (and global) market for food.
The company, founded by her father in 1959, now serves a broad and diverse customer base and continues to expand beyond its original footprint, including opening new locations in Calgary and the potential for entry into other provinces.
Spinelli says the business is well positioned for continued growth as it builds on its community-focused model and in-store experience, even as more competitors offer similar imported products. She says future expansion plans include additional stores in Calgary and possibly new markets such as Saskatchewan as the company looks to scale its operations – all while maintaining its emphasis on service, product selection and customer connection.
When contemplating the reasons behind the brand’s success and longevity, Spinelli turns to her father’s example.
“My dad was a very, very generous man. He died 27 years ago, but to this day, every week, I hear some story about how he helped somebody. We try to keep that legacy going, so we’re always helping people, part of the community, doing whatever we can,” she explains. “And our team. We’ve got a really, really great team. We really believe that the better we treat our team, the better they treat our customers.”
Operating in today’s world can be a challenge for any business to succeed.
“The thing I love the most about my job is people. The thing that I hate the most about my job is people,” she jokes. “For me, it’s been really interesting to learn how different people are motivated by different things. Some people want a pat on the back, some people need a raise, some people need both.
“Some people need public recognition, some need private recognition. Trying to find what makes that person tick has been really interesting because we’re all so very different . . . Just trying to give people what they need in order to grow.”
Twenty or 30 years ago, the Italian Centre had few competitors in the market. Now, not only are there more Italian stores, there are also other stores that sell many Italian products.
“It’s a very global market now,” Spinelli explains. “You can get pretty much everything we sell everywhere. That’s been a big change.”
She says in essence, the Italian Centre Shop exists to create community. “We create community through food and cultural experiences. That’s really why we exist. Yes, we sell olive oil and pasta, but that’s kind of a byproduct of creating community. It’s a really important part of who we are.”
When customers walk into a store, Spinelli wants them to feel like they’ve stepped into Europe. She wants them to feel like they’ve been transported somewhere different.
“I want them to feel connected to our team, to us, and to the place. I want them to feel like they’re part of our community. I want them to feel that we are there to serve them and that we will do whatever we can to make sure they have a really great experience.”
The broader food culture, with a proliferation of food channels and cooking shows, has been beneficial for the Italian Centre. Spinelli says customers often come into the store looking for ingredients used by a famous television chef they’ve seen on television or social media. As people travel more and learn more, she says, they also want to experience different things.
“People really love to know the stories behind the food.”
With three successful locations in Edmonton, the Italian Centre Shop’s home base, Spinelli is also feeling positive about the market in Calgary. Its initial south store has been a smashing success, so launching a second store in the northwest part of the city was a natural progression for the brand.
That doesn’t mean everything is perfect. Spinelli says that the current economic conditions would be challenging for any grocery or food brand.
“What people are taking home for $200 now is very different than even five years ago. We try to minimize that as much as we can.”
The Italian Centre takes pride in making its products affordable, as well as offering options for different budgets. “We have a cheap olive oil, a good olive oil, and a great olive oil, so people can choose based on their budget. Integrity pricing is really important to us,” notes Spinelli.
“Because we import from Italy, we can only bring products in during the fall and spring. Even pasta bags crack at minus 40, so we can’t ship in winter. That means we carry inventory longer, which can be challenging, but it also helps because we may still have older pricing when costs go up. That’s how we manage our pricing strategy.”
Whether it’s being in the store shopping the aisles, getting an order in at the deli, or having something to eat and a coffee in the cafe, the mix of customers is diverse and spans all nationalities, age groups and demographics. “It’s interesting because in business courses they say to define your ideal customer, but that’s hard for us. We have young millennials and older Italian ladies and everyone in between.”
“What makes us different is that we really listen. If someone asks for a product, we try to bring it in, because if one person is looking for it, others probably are too.”
It wasn’t in the plan for Spinelli to take over the family business, even though she pretty much grew up in the Italian Centre Shop her father Frank started in Edmonton in 1959.
“I had a brother, and we were a very traditional Italian family. My brother was going to take over the business. That’s just the way it was because he was the boy,” recalls Spinelli. “He was very smart. Way smarter than me for sure. That’s just the way it was. I was supposed to get married, have a bunch of kids, live happily ever after, that kind of thing.”
But her brother Pietro died suddenly just before his 33rd birthday in 1996. A few months later, her father was diagnosed with cancer. He died in 2000.
“I had worked at the store since I was 13 years old as a cashier,” she explains. “When I graduated university I was trying to find my way, trying to figure out what I was doing, and I was working with my dad in the office doing accounts receivable, accounts payable, all that kind of stuff. I never had another job.”
When Spinelli first took over the business it wasn’t the easiest thing to do, although her entire life already revolved around the store. Still, she persevered and put to use some of the things she learned from her Papa while growing up.
“I think the most important thing I learned was that you have to put in your time. Nothing happens overnight and you have to create loyal relationships. Building those relationships was very, very important to my dad, as it is to me whether it was relationships with our customers, our vendors, our team. All of them are equally important,” she says.
“My dad did that very well and I think that I do that pretty well too. My dad had a big sign that said customers are always right. I don’t believe that customers are always right. I don’t believe anybody is always right. We all make mistakes. I just want to make sure that we’re all very safe and that we’re all treated respectfully.
“My dad was very much the boss. It was his way or the highway. I’m pretty much bottom up, where he was top bottom. He was the boss and what he said went. And I’m the very opposite.”
Spinelli carries on her father’s legacy of spending time with customers in the stores.
“I think it’s important because that’s where you hear what your customers are really looking for or your team,” she says. “Customers will tell me something whether good, bad or negative and I’m able to work on those things. And my team will tell me something that they probably wouldn’t pick up the phone to tell me.”
“Life is very different from my office than it is at the floor level.”
Writing Contributor | BRAND & Family Psychology Magazine
Mario Toneguzzi is a veteran of the Canadian media industry with over 40 years of experience as a journalist, columnist, and editor. Based in Calgary, Mario brings a wealth of expertise in storytelling, news reporting, and strategic communication to his role as a contributor for both BRAND and Family Psychology Magazine.
