By the end of the year, Palumbo’s Italian Market will be in the hands of current co-owner Kate Wilkinson, who is taking over the business from founders Cindy and Paul Palumbo, who are retiring from the Granville business after 14 years.
Whether it be the scent of fresh Italian herbs and seasonings that coax customers to the deli-style counter – or the wide selection of pastas, wines, sandwiches, and desserts that tempt them from the glass case; or the friendly staff that welcomes them with a smile – entering Palumbo’s feels like a warm hug.
The family-owned and operated small business is at 937 River Road on the south side of Granville. It was established in 2012, and the founders prided themselves on having healthy, unprocessed, and locally or authentically Italian sourced “gourmet meals to go.”
Cindy, 60, and Paul, 68, of Newark, have owned Palumbo’s for about 14 years. Cindy began her career as a corporate quality manager, a job that allowed her and Paul to travel the world for 28 years, but eventually stopped to be with their children at home.
But there was one particular location where inspiration struck the couple.
“The only place that we ever went that we never went (to) for work was Italy, and we fell in love with it,” Cindy recalls.
“My husband was raised in the restaurant business in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,” she said. “I had a nanny come stay with my kids and she cooked terrible food, so I … always thought it’d be nice to have a place where somebody could come get food for their kids. It’d be healthy, it’d be good – not real expensive. So that’s where the whole concept came from.”
Of the more than 24,500 Italian restaurants in the U.S., about 1,400 of them are in Ohio, according to the National Restaurant Association. So about 5% of the cuisine prepared in Ohio is considered Italian, and even less is considered authentic Italian.
But Palumbo’s prides itself on authenticity and freshness.
All of the pastas, meats, and cheeses, as well as most of the wine sold there are imported from Italy. Other food items, such as produce, bread, and nuts, are locally sourced from Ohio and neighboring states. Palumbo’s does not sell processed foods with preservatives, additives, or GMOs.
And the shop’s sandwiches are authentic to the couple’s family.
“Our sandwiches are named after me, my husband, and our kids,” Cindy said. “When we went to France when one of our kids was getting their master’s degree in foreign service, we were eating sandwiches from this little Italian vendor by the Louvre. We sat there on the wall, and I said, ‘If I open a place, I’m gonna name … (the sandwiches after) what everybody ate.’”
Because of its business model that focuses on deli and heat-and-eat prepared foods, Palumbo’s not only survived the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, but it also flourished at a time when many other businesses were closing.
In the year between March 2023 and March 2024, the U.S. Small Business Administration reported that 25,604 small businesses closed in Ohio alone. But between 2020 and 2022, Palumbo’s business grew by 30%.
“That’s when we really took off – during COVID,” Cindy remembers. “We already had the to-go thing down pat, because 90% of our business is to-go. So we just had people order over the phone, they pulled up, they texted our register, and then we’d take their food out to the car, contactless.”
She said the business now sees between 350 and 420 customers a week – about 80% of whom are regulars.
And soon, the Palumbos will turn over the business to co-owner, cook, and front-of-house attendant Kate Wilkinson, 30, who has been working at Palumbo’s for almost 10 years.
Wilkinson, of Heath, will become full-time owner, a role the Palumbos say she is well suited to take on, and they are happy to pass it to her.
Wilkinson has been easing into her new position at the market, and while she has plenty of experience and is confident in her role, she knows she is still learning.
“There’s big shoes to fill,” she said. “So I don’t want to screw anything up.”
She assures Palumbo’s regular customers that they will see few – if any – changes at the market.
“I might do something a little different than Cindy might, so you might see little things here and there, but I’m not changing menus, (and) I’m not changing recipes,” Wilkinson said.
She said the community has played a significant role in giving her great joy in her work at the market.
“I am a people person,” Wilkinson said. “I love catching up with teeny, tiny kids, all the way up to grandparents. I’ve got great customers. … And being in this industry, you get to watch big moments. … We’ve done baby showers, we’ve done birthdays, we’ve done weddings.”
And Wilkinson’s enthusiasm for the future of Palumbo’s is palpable as she talks about how Palumbo’s is “just getting busier and busier, so being able to participate in different things that we haven’t in the past… (and) just being able to continue and do bigger and better things” in the future is exciting.
Meanwhile, the Palumbos plan to spend more time where the business started.
“We have a place in Italy,” Cindy said. “We’ll be spending much more time there.”
But she plans to continue helping Wilkinson as she navigates her new role as owner.
“The community’s been very good to us,” Cindy said. “I’m so happy that we’re not closing the doors because we’re retiring, but it’s going to keep going with somebody that loves the place as much as we do.”
Jadyn Cash writes for TheReportingProject.org, the nonprofit news organization of Denison University’s Journalism program, which is supported by generous donations from readers. Sign up for The Reporting Project newsletter here.