‘We taught Smithy how to make coffee, then he was serving customers’

IT ALL started with squash.

The Zeraschi business empire on Barry Island has been going since 1958 but it all started with a drinks delivery to the Vale of Glamorgan resort.

In those days squash was big business and brothers Frank (Francesco) and Joe would make deliveries to shops and cinemas all over South Wales.

The two WWII veterans were making a stop at the popular seaside town when they saw a property for sale.

The business became the Piccolo and it was the start of the Zeraschi family’s relationship with Barry Island that is now entering its seventh decade and its third generation.

It was the same year that the youngest – and most gregarious son – of Frank was born and his name has since become synonymous with the Island.

Marco Zeraschi turns 60 this year. Sitting at a table in his famous cafe on the seafront at Barry Island, he is a man content.

Over a coffee he animatedly describes his family’s close ties with the Island, but such is his popularity that the conversation is frequently stopped by regular customers, friends, and delivery drivers all happy to see the man who runs a business that is geographically and metaphorically at the heart of Barry Island.

At the moment business is good for the Zeraschi family, but it hasn’t always been that way.

Over the years they seen the good times as well as the bad. The loss of Butlins was an absolute hammer blow to the family and businesses at the resort.

“We went from a holiday resort to daytrippers,” Marco explains. “And day tripper resorts rely purely on the weather. If it is raining they don’t come, if it’s sunny they come.”

Business took such a turn for the worse that Marco left the running of The Rock Shop to his son Nino while he took a job at Cardiff Airport as a baggage handler.

While he enjoyed his five years working at the airport, an opportunity arose that brought him back.

The site of Marco’s Cafe is slap-bang on the promenade. However, despite its prominent position, it was not always a cafe.

Before it became Marco’s Cafe it was a shop selling buckets and spades and other beach paraphernalia.

When it came on the market Marco made his move, with a little help from some friends.

The Sidoli family chipped in with six tables and 18 chairs to help get him started. And it was their encouragement that pushed Marco to start serving coffee from the site.

The advice was “you’ll only sell a customer a bucket and spade maybe twice a year, you can sell them coffee every day”.

Now Marco sees the site as a hub. A gathering place for all people. As we chat, he points out regulars, such as the group he dubs the Mediterranean Mafia, and gives back stories on different customers.

He recalls once how his wife pointed out a solitary customer and told him to keep an eye on her. So Marco started introducing her to other regulars in the cafe. “She now has a better social life than I do,” he laughs.

Community and family are two themes that crop up time and again as you talk to Marco.

He is happy to give fledging businesses a helping hand and sponsored the first GlastonBarry event. That event, in 2013,