JUDY PUTNAM

What's next for the owners of Roma Bakery? After 50 years in business, they're closing Sept. 30

Judy Putnam
Lansing State Journal

LANSING – Tears.

Lot of tears have been flowing since Monday when Sostine and Filomena "Mena" Castriciano announced the Sept. 30 closing of Roma Bakery and Deli.

The couple started the business together as young Italian immigrants in 1969.

After a half century of hard work, it’s been an emotional time as they count down the days to the bakery’s closing.

“I call it Chinese food – sweet and sour,” said Sostine, 73, who still puts in 12-hour days six days a week.

Mena, 71, agrees. “It’s bittersweet,” she said.

Sostine and Filomena "Mena" Castriciano pose for a portrait Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2019, at their Roma Bakery in Lansing.

As more and more goods are sold online or in big box or chain stores, some customers say they feel a deep loss at the closing of a unique business. The Lansing store sells imported Italian foods and baked goods. The couple also has strong relationships with customers.

“We love you Mena. Live and enjoy your life,” Teodora Porati, another Italian-born resident, said to Mena Wednesday as she waited at the baked goods counter, tears streaming down her face. The two have been friends for 40 or 50 years, she said.

Pam Smalley of Potterville, teared up as she asked Mena to sign a cookbook she authored, “Cooking with Mena.” The book has sold nearly 3,000 copies since 2014.

“All the old-time places are disappearing,” said Smalley, 70. She’s been a Roma bakery customer since she was a young woman, shopping with her grandmother.

For three or four years, the Castricianos tried to sell the bakery, offering it as an outright sale or a partnership with a chance to work with them and learn the business.

“We weren’t successful in doing that even though we had some good looks,” said Gino Baldino, a commercial real estate broker and Mena’s brother. “I don’t think people want to work as hard as my brother-in-law and my sister. It’s very hard and very difficult.”

Mena Castriciano of Roma Bakery, left, shows Sue Watson pictures of her grandchildren, Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2019. Watson has been buying baked goods at Roma since 2007.  "Lansing will never be quite the same. Roma is a big piece of its history," she said. After 50 years of serving Lansing with their authentic Italian foods and pastries, Mena and husband Sostine will close at the end of September.

The couple’s three daughters all grew up working in the bakery but none was in a position to take over the family business.

Anne Marie Dionise, of DeWitt, a cosmetologist now at home raising three children, considered it but decided against it as her young son has special needs.  Her sisters, Elisabeth Vorce of DeWitt and Filomena Castriciano work as an engineer and dietitian, respectively. Elisabeth also has a son.

“It’s not for lack of trying to keep the Roma Bakery alive in our community,” Baldino said.

When a buyer came along who wanted the building on Cedar Street, he urged them to take the offer.

Anne Marie said she and her sisters hope her parents get time together. Even as she grew up and visited family in Italy, it was usually with one parent. The other stayed home to keep an eye on the business. She grew up in the bakery and recalls taking naps as a young child on 100-pound sacks of flour.

“It’s been emotional for all of us. They’re very proud of what they’ve accomplished,” she said.

Jim Farhat of Lansing waits in line Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2019, at Roma Bakery in Lansing.  "They made our wedding cake. It was one of the largest cakes they've made,"  he said. Farhat said he and his family have been coming to Roma since they opened 50 years ago.

She said their success is due to their positive attitudes and strong work ethic.

“They treat everyone like family. That’s always been their motto,” she said.

The couple told their employees Saturday and the rest of the world on Monday.

All 18 employees said they plan to stay until the bakery closes.

“I call them family,” Mena said.

Jo Ankney, a manager who has worked there for 14 years, said employees are willing to help them stay open until the end before searching for new jobs.

“We’re happy for them,” she said. “They deserve it.”

Jo Ankney pulls freshly baked bread for a customer Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2019, at Roma Bakery in Lansing. She has worked at the bakery for 14 years.   Roma will be closing at the end of September after 50 years.

Mena, the oldest of seven children, grew up as Filomena Baldino in southern Italy, living in a two-room home without running water. At the age of 12, she and her family moved to Lansing where her paternal grandfather, Luigi Baldino, ran a small grocery store, NorthTown Grocery.

When she was 17, a cousin introduced her to Sostine Castriciano, an immigrant from Sicily, who was learning the baker's trade from a cousin in Hamilton, Ontario. He was two years older and quite handsome, Mena recalled.

His love of baking complemented her love of cooking, she wrote in her cookbook and biography.

Sostine Castriciano, co-owner of Roma Bakery in Lansing, pulls baked chicken from the oven, Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2019, at Roma Bakery in Lansing.  The baked chicken will be dinner for him and wife, Mena, who will retire at the end of September after 50 years of serving Italian foods and pastries.

Mena fell in love immediately and Sostine wanted to marry her. She insisted on waiting until she could graduate from high school.

She graduated in 1968 from Eastern High School and the two were married that fall at St. Therese Catholic Church in Lansing.

The next year, they purchased a small grocery store on Erie and Cedar streets called Frank Antonio’s. They launched Roma Bakery and seven years later moved to their current location on North Cedar Street.

“We said we should do a bakery together, so that’s what we did,” she said.

The business grew. Sostine said the peak was 1985 and after, when they had a thriving catering business. The 2007 recession took a toll and so did a stroke that Mena had 14 years ago from an aneurysm. It forced her to slow down and it took time for her to regain her speech, especially her English.

Shoppers peruse a selection of pastries Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2019, at Roma Bakery in Lansing.  After 50 years of serving authentic Italian foods and pastries, Roma Bakery will be closing at the end of September.

She said the best part of the business has been working with people.

“I love the people,” she said, more than once.

“Lansing has been good to us,” Sostine added.“The most important thing is our employees and our customers.”

Mena said they have no specific plans when they close the doors Sept. 30. She expects them to grieve the end of the business for a while before deciding their next step.

She's looking forward to more time with their four grandchildren who live in DeWitt.

“One thing at a time. We’ll take a little rest and will try to do something,” she said

Baldino, Mena’s brother, said it’s possible that a Roma Bakery spinoff could happen. The bakery is especially known for its cannolis, rum cakes and bread. And Sostine is unused to sitting still.

“He really doesn’t want to sit in a rocking chair because that’s not him,” Baldino said.

Mena said one customer already has given them an idea for the name of their next business: Little Roma.

Judy Putnam is a columnist with the Lansing State Journal. Contact her at (517) 267-1304 or at jputnam@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @judyputnam.

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