Silvio “Slick” Nicoletti, the original owner of Nicoletti Beverage Center, had a motto: “Service is more than a word to us.”
A tool and die worker, Silvio and his wife Rose opened the business in the summer of 1959 in a garage on the east side of the 7000 block of State Road. The business boomed with retail sales and deliveries to homes, bars, clubs and neighborhood festivals.
Silvio was looking to grow the business and found a prime spot right across the street, as a cement wash tub company was closing.
Nicoletti Beverage Center made its move to 7040 State Road in 1973. Silvio hired people from Tacony to construct the new building and work there.
The 12,000-square-foot space was set up like a supermarket, giving customers convenience and selection for once-popular brands such as Schmidt’s, Schlitz, Ortlieb’s, Schaefer, Ballantine’s, Stroh’s and still-popular beers like Pabst Blue Ribbon.
When Silvio died in 1994, his sons Joe, Mike and Rocco took over the business and enjoyed many good years.
But after 67 years, Nicoletti’s will soon sell its last case of beer.
“We raised our families here, and everybody’s doing good. It’s time to go,” Rocco said.
Joe (soon to be age 72), Mike (68) and Rocco (63) grew up on Princeton Avenue, attending Our Lady of Consolation and Father Judge. They have a total of 11 children, and the children have their own careers.
“Everybody, thank God, has jobs and homes,” Mike said.
The Nicoletti brothers were able to have their children work at the shop when they went on vacation, but the children have their own families and jobs that keep them busy.
Running a family business requires putting in a lot of hours.
“There comes a time,” Joe said. “It’s a commitment.”
Nicoletti’s has sold the ground to a marble and granite company. The business will remain open until Sept. 13, with hours Tuesdays through Saturdays, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The whole Nicoletti family will gather at the shop on Aug. 13 to celebrate memories and take a group picture, knowing that Silvio and Rose would be proud of the way the business continued. Joe mentioned that his dad laid out the game plan for a successful business, and that the entire family worked as a team to make it happen for 67 years.
A wise businessman, Silvio always thought that beer distributors would start to suffer once supermarkets were permitted to sell beer, making it convenient for shoppers to put another item on their list.
Supermarket beer sales have hurt Nicoletti’s in the last decade, and the brothers point to neighborhood economic changes as people move out of Tacony, Mayfair and Holmesburg. The city beverage tax has also taken a toll.
In its heyday, Nicoletti’s was making a lot of deliveries to bars, but most of them on Frankford Avenue have closed and bar-sponsored adult softball teams have dwindled.
Soda deliveries were also big to schools such as St. Bernard, St. Tim’s, St. Matt’s, St. Leo and Father Judge and even the St. Hubert convent.
“We had a lot of wholesale and a lot of deliveries,” Rocco said.
While Nicoletti’s still makes home deliveries to a few longtime customers, beer home deliveries are going the way of the milk man and huckster.
“Back then, it was so much different,” Mike said.
Nicoletti’s still does well supplying beer to places like union halls and Ancient Order of Hibernians halls and has steady retail traffic, but the brothers have come to terms with the sale. They will be going out with many fond memories.
“It’s been a great ride,” Rocco said.
Included in the sale is Nicoletti’s Hockey Complex, owned by Joe since 2004. Attached to the beer distributor building, it is home to a small rink with synthetic ice, boards and a scoreboard. Flyers great Rick MacLeish was there for the grand opening, and Bernie Parent and Joe Watson were among players who stopped by over the years. Joe thanked players and customers and welcomes coaches, players and parents to stop in for 50 percent off and to talk hockey.
As for the beer distributor, the Nicoletti brothers thank generations of loyal customers for their business and friendship and hope they lived up to their dad’s motto, “Service is more than a word to us.” ••
