Corropolese Bakery named Lansdale business of month
LANSDALE — July’s Business of the Month from Lansdale’s Economic Development Committee has only been in the borough for a year and a half, but has already become a local fixture.
EDC member Steve Malagari presented Joseph Corropolese Bakery & Deli with the monthly award Wednesday night, thanking owner Gerry Fitzgerald for taking a chance on Lansdale last year.
“The moment you walk in the door, you identify the smell of tomato pie, the freshbaked bread and pastries, the buzz of customers placing orders, and the employees interacting with customers as they prepare their orders,” Malagari said.
“These are the signs, sounds, and smells of Corropolese Bakery and Deli,” he said, as the assembled crowd snacked on tomato pie and cookies brought by the business.
Originally established in a home on Airy Street in Norristown in the 1920s, the Corropolese family baked bread in home ovens for decades, before merging with a nearby deli at the time they opened a retail location in Norristown in 1984.
That Norristown location is where Fitzgerald got his start with the company, Malagari said, and after the company expanded to Limerick in 2001, Fitzgerald sold company owner and namesake Joseph Corropolese on a Lansdale location.
“They selected Lansdale for several reasons: they liked the population, and felt that Lansdale and the surrounding community needed a store like theirs,” he said.
The Corropolese location in The Pavilion shopping center on Broad Street at Whites Road was idea thanks to its “proxim- ity to large employers, good store frontage, solid traffic flow, nice looking facade, walkable neighborhood, and many other businesses in the shopping center to attract customers,” Malagari said.
The Borough’s Department of Community and Economic Development staff helped optimize the available space before the business opened in January 2013, Malagari said, and Corropolese has not only exceeded sales projections in its first year and a half, but also helped supply bread wholesale to local busi- nesses who lost power this past winter.
“Gerry’s favorite menu item is the Italian hoagie. Try one out for yourself, or try another menu item - you will not be disappointed,” Malagari said.
Joseph Corropolese Bakery and Deli is located at 541 South Broad St. in The Pavilion Shopping Center in Lansdale, and is open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. week days, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sundays. For more information call (267) 436-3192, visit www.CorropoleseBakery.com, search for “Corropolese Bakery” on Facebook or follow @Corpbakery on Twitter.
Lansdale’s Economic Development Committee did not hold its monthly meeting for July, and will next meet at 6:30 p.m. on Aug. 18 at the borough’s Wissahickon Park building, 765 East Main St. For more information or meeting agendas and materials visit www. Lansdale.org or follow @LansdalePA on Twitter.