Generations-old market continues to serve Philadelphia community

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- This week, we have two Hometown Heroes and they're brothers who are well-known and well-loved in their Philadelphia community.

Capriotti Brothers is the anchor of a block where people walking by used to outnumber the cars racing by. Now, as steel doors and closed signs pop up on Frankford Avenue in Mayfair, the business is defying the times.

"When you're here for 52 years and you've got a good name, they know they're going to get quality stuff for the right price," said Mark Capriotti, who owns the store with his brother, Michael.

In the store, there are two aisles of fresh fruits and vegetables with a couple of preserved items in between. In one sense, it's been like this for generations.

"That's my grandfather behind the counter. This picture was taken around 1930," said Capriotti, pointing to a picture on the wall.

"Generations have been shopping here for Thanksgiving, for Christmas and they keep coming back," he said.

2020 is like nothing the family has ever seen.

"It was 10 weeks of Saturday business, every day of the week, lines down to the end of the block," said Michael.

"All these stores were full last year at this time. There are now 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 stores that are empty," said Mark.

On the rest of this block, all but one of the other businesses have shut down. A lot of them are victims of the pandemic. The brothers said they worried they could be next, but for now, their retail business is doing better than ever.

"We still care about the neighborhood. We're here for the community," said Michael.