Century-Old Russo's Grocery Spruces Up With New Mural

EAST VILLAGE — Talk about a mouthwatering mural.

A century-old Italian grocery on East 11th Street began painting new fresco outside the shop this weekend to advertise the shoebox-sized establishment.

Russo’s, which has been in the neighborhood since 1904 and moved to its current location at the corner of First Avenue in the 1950s, received the appetizing paint job courtesy of celebrated local artist Arnie Charnick, who has done a pair of murals for the store in past years.

The entire side of the building facing East 11th Street recently required a fresh coat of paint, Russo’s owner Jack Cangemi explained, so he asked the artist to come in and do a fresh piece for the shop to replace an older one.

“People like it,” said Cangemi, who took over Russo’s in 1985 and has kept the shop looking much as it did decades ago.

The sprawling new work — which features the grocer’s top-selling items, including homemade pasta, fresh mozzarella and olives — helps promote the tiny store to a whole new generation of shoppers, he said.

"My customers, I used to see them in strollers," Cangemi said. "Now they've got kids of their own."

The owner added that local residents feared the previous mural’s removal might have signaled the longtime grocer’s closure — a rumor he is often forced to dispel whenever the shop makes even the slightest of alterations.

"I have people that come in and say, 'Did you sell?'" he said, noting that the even delivery of new equipment to the address stokes neighbors’ concerns. "We're just keeping it real and keeping it small."

Charnick's prior mural outside the store lasted four years, and the artist said he does them, in part, to give back to much-loved establishments like Russo's.

"You don't see many people doing billboards in paint anymore," he said.

The artist, who has also painted pieces for diner Veselka on Second Avenue, added that ended up negotiating a good commission for his work at Russo’s.

“They don’t pay me in money,” he joked, “they pay me in mozzarella.”