Pursuing the “American Dream”

Lou Vinciguerra’s parents immigrated from Ravenusa and Caltanissetta, Sicily and settled in the Cleveland area. They opened their first business, Roma Wholesale, in Big Italy near downtown Cleveland. Their clientele--predominantly other immigrants--relied on Roma’s for their favorite imported Italian meats, pastas and other goods not found locally.

After the business closed in 1946, former customers often asked the family’s oldest son, Lou, to make fresh sausage for them, saying how much they missed the family’s product line from Roma’s. Always accomodating, Lou asked his friend Ben Cangemi, owner of a local meat market, if he could borrow his facility to prepare sausage.

Lou’s sausage caught the attention of Food Town, one of the first food chain stores in Cleveland, and soon, Lou was the exclusive wholesale supplier of Italian sausage in the area. The chain stores were a success and in 1954, Ben closed his meat market and joined Lou to officially open Lou’s Gourmet Sausage.

The 60’s and 70’s saw phenominal growth in grocery chains. Lou’s expanded and began servicing restaurants, pizza shops and import stores. In 1984, Lou’s sons Joe and Frank bought Ben’s share of the business.

The brothers created a new International Gourmet line which included Sicilian, Andouille, Cajun, mild, hot, chicken and veal sausages. Today, Lou’s Gourmet Sausage can be found in Heinen’s Fine Foods, Gallucci’s, Alesci’s, Acme Fresh Markets, select Super Wal*Marts and many other fine establishments in the Cleveland area.