FRANK CATALANO & SON, Cleveland produce dealers from 1880-1929, began as a wholesale house on Woodland Ave., one of the earliest fruit businesses in BIG ITALY. Frank Catalano (d. 30 Jan. 1915), an immigrant from northern Sicily (see ITALIANS), started out importing oranges and later expanded to other fruits and olive oil. This business and others in that area helped Cleveland become the state's produce distribution center. By 1919 the business grossed more than $150,000 a year. Frank Catalano, Jr., ran Catalano & Son after his father's death, until it was liquidated.
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