Romolo “Jet” Orsatti would arrive each morning at his Bentleyville store before 4 a.m. to prepare homemade items such as cheese spread, ham salad, and polenta.
“He always lived at the store,” Leona Kozloff said of her father.
The family store that Orsatti loved bore his nickname, Jet.
Opened in 1930, Jet's Food Center was a cornerstone of Main Street in Bentleyville for 85 years before closing this week. “Jet” Orsatti worked at his store until his death in 2004 at the age of 98.
Orsatti was born in Italy, but came to the United States at age 5 when his father took a job in a coal mine.
He started working in a mine at age 12, but soon became a huckster, selling products mostly in the mining communities like Fredericktown and “Little Italy” near Denbo. He bought his items from the Strip District in Pittsburgh.
“We're still buying out there,” said his son, Bob Orsatti, late last week in the final days of the store.
Bob Orsatti operated the store with his sister, Kozloff.
“Dad and Mom (Connie) had an apartment here (at the store),” Kozloff said.
“This was his home.”
Asked where their father got his recipes, the brother and sister smile and simply point to their heads.
“We sell sausage everywhere,” Bob Orsatti said. “We ground his seasonings fresh and will not give the recipes to anyone.
“That's his recipes.”
At the time of its closing, Jet's was still making fresh chicken, fish, wings, shrimp, pork chops and city chicken. All of the meat was always fresh.
“Years ago, we sold shoes, miner's buckets, towels,” Bob Orsatti said. “But (Interstate) 70 wasn't here then.”
Jet's sold feed, delivered by rail box cars behind the store.
The elder Orsatti bought an old Army truck and painted it red. He purchased bananas in huge bunches and brought them fresh to the store.
“Jet” made contacts with – and bought directly from – major brands such as Kraft and Del Monte.
Asked when the siblings started working at the store, Kozloff smiled and replied, “We were born here.”
“I was in charge of the penny candy counter,” she said.
Kozloff was just 5 when she took over that task. The candy counter was in the front of the store, right next to the checkout.
The family raised chickens in the back yard. Cleaning chickens for the store was done like an assembly line – everyone in the family had a job. Bob Orsatti would fetch the chickens from the coop. Kozloff plucked them.
Jet's remained true to its old-fashioned roots. The siblings said their father kept tabs for customers.
“He knew everyone.” Bob Orsatti said. “He did until the day he died.”
Orsatti would walk around the store giving out samples. At Christmas time, he handed out wine.
Looking at an old photo, Bob Orsatti smiled and exclaimed, “I can still remember those icicles we used to put up in the store at Christmas.”
“He was a go-getter,” Kozloff said. “Nothing was ever a challenge. He just did it.”
As the store closing approached, Orsatti and Kozloff allowed the stock to diminish in recent weeks.
Since they announced the impending closing, people have dropped in to ask why. Bob Orsatti and Kozloff, both now in their 70s, said they want to spend time with their grandchildren.
“We're here seven days a week, morning and night,” Bob Orsatti said.
“Like my daughter said, ‘Life's tick-tocking by,'” Kozloff added.
Chris Buckley is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at cbuckley@tribweb.com or 724-684-2642
