Now celebrating 90 years, Colosimo's is named 'Best Sausage Shop' for 2013

Colosimo Original Standard Market

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In this vintage photo, brothers Gale Colosimo (left) and Ernie Colosimo display sausage patties they made together. Courtesy photo/Colosimo Original Standard Market

MAGNA — Colosimo’s Original Standard Market in Magna was named Best Sausage Shop in City Weekly’s Best of Utah 2013. Colosimo’s is also celebrating its 90th anniversary this year.

"What a prestigious award to receive. We certainly didn’t expect it," said Danny Colosimo, who now runs Colosimo’s Original Standard Market with his brother Charlie. They are grandsons of the market’s founder.

In 1921, Ralph Colosimo traveled from Calabria, Italy, to the mining town of Magna, bringing with him a passion for making authentic Italian sausage. He opened Bungalow Grocery, which later became Rome Grocery in Magna 90 years ago; his family lived above the store.

"I was born into the grocery business," said Ernie Colosimo, now 85. "My father opened the grocery store first and later integrated sausage into the business. Sausage was a traditional food for Italian people and there were a lot of Italian miners in Magna at the time. The basic recipe was Italian for many years before it expanded into other recipes."

Ralph Colosimo grew up an orphan in Italy before coming to the United States. "He used to tell me the reason he was so short was because he didn’t get enough to eat when he was young," said his grandson Danny Colosimo. "That may be true, but I think one of the reasons he went into the grocery business was so he and his family wouldn’t starve. He came to the United States in his early 20s and married my grandmother, who came from another province in Italy. He also worked at Kennecott and when he retired, he used to come down to our store and trim lettuce and was kind of the produce manager."

Ernie Colosimo followed in his father’s footsteps. He opened his first grocery store, Center Grocery, which later became Standard Market, when he was 20 years old, with his brother Gale Colosimo. Gale also worked at Kennecott and would join him after work.

"Sausage was a staple and the demand was there," said Ernie. "We never thought of ourselves as ethnic or coming from Italy because we were born in this country. At that time, a lot of people made their own sausage and there were a lot of Italian families in Magna and the surrounding areas."

Ernie and Gale did everything together, said Danny Colosimo, Ernie’s son. "Their two minds were amazing together. Certainly one couldn’t have accomplished on his own what they accomplished together."

The store moved to its present location on Main Street in 1948 and Ernie talked Gale into coming on full time. That was before the big supermarkets, so it was a viable grocery store. The store was also a place for the Colosimo children to work. Gale had eight children and Ernie had six. "The children helped out; that was the Italian way," said Danny.

The sausage business continued to grow when Ernie and Gale experimented with spices and recipes and expanded into different kinds of sausages, said Danny.

In the 1970s, Ernie and Gale also expanded with the invention of the Colosimo Press, which they patented. It was a way to make skinless sausage in various sizes, from three-quarter inch in diameter to one and a quarter inches in diameter and also in various other wide, slot forms.

When Gale died in 2005, Ernie worried about the business, even though they sold seasonings and the patented press all over the world, said Danny Colosimo. That is when Danny and his younger brother Charlie came into the business, as did Shara Gager, who also grew up in Magna.

"I call Ernie ‘the palate,’ because if we have questions about seasoning or anything else, he is still there for us," said Danny. "Ernie still comes down to the store, and when he does he waits on customers and helps out making sausage. Customers always ask ‘Where’s Pop?’ when he isn’t in the store."

Colosimo’s Original Standard Market, 9009 West Main St., Magna, is open Tuesday - Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Contact Colosimo’s at 801-250-1088 or www.colosimosoriginal.com.