ITALIANS OF WOLLONGONG: December 2022

One Saturday night in 1955, Ebe Formigoni met his future wife Margaret Morris, at the Trocadero, in Sydney. The Trocadero was Sydney’s most glamorous ballroom at the time. Holding many Saturday night dances, with the Trocadero band, it was frequented by many young men and women looking for a great night out and ready to dance the night away.

Ebe had already been in Australia for 5 years, arriving in December 1950 aboard the ship Toscana. Ebe`s first job was at Bunerong Power Station at Matraville, Sydney, NSW. It was the largest power station in the Southern Hemisphere.

Around 1956, Ebe worked for a short time at Testoni Australian Wines, situated in the city, Haymarket, Sydney. In 1957 he began to work for E.Guido & Co in Ultimo, Sydney. The store in Ultimo, was a delicatessen/Italian groceries and wine shop.

In 1958 Ebe Formigoni married Margaret and they were living in Croydon. E. Guido & Co also had a second shop in Wollongong in the Fazzolare building, Crown Street, Wollongong. The Wollongong store was on the street level of the building and occupied two shop fronts. They asked Ebe to work in the Wollongong store, as they wanted someone to help manage the shop, as they were not happy with it’s progress. Ebe accepted and traveled daily, from Sydney to Wollongong, to work at the shop.

Soon, Ebe and Margaret moved down to Wollongong to live. They lived at Corrimal for approximately three months, before finding a flat in Wollongong closer to the shop, where they lived for 2 years.

When Ebe came down to Wollongong to live and manage the shop, all the staff were let go except him, and Ebe had to find new staff to help him run it. There was an office clerk and 3 girls who worked on the floor with Ebe. The shop had all things Italian and more. Wines of course, small goods, pasta, olive oil, Italian canned and dried goods, as well as other grocery lines. They made Italian style sandwiches from their deli too. They also sold Bomboniere (party favours) after all, one never left an Italian wedding without one and E. Guido & Co had quite an array.

There was a delivery driver who worked at the shop as well. Home deliveries were done daily with runs being local and going all the way down to Ulladulla. The wines were delivered already bottled from Sydney. They had a large store room at the back. E. Guido & Co. bottled their own wines under the label, Moro. You would find a variety of dried pasta, Nanda of course, in the draws under the front counter. Pasta in packets did not exist at the time. Nanda pasta had their factory in Queensland, operated by the De Pasquale family. Etna Olive Oil, Buton Liqueurs and Moro Wines were just some of the quality items that they sold.

In 1959 Margaret began working at Lavis Electrical on the switchboard. Later, she began working as a Stenographer for Lysaughts, at Port Kembla and finished in 1966 with the birth of her first child, David. Two years later daughter Jilda was born. Once the children went to school, Margaret would help out in the shop. By this time they were living in their own home at Figtree, that they had purchased some years before.

Ebe was well liked and well known in the community. They were very generous and were always donating prizes for fund raising and community projects. The Miss Guido pageant was an annual event that was usually held at The Italian Centre, Stewart Street, Wollongong. Ebe was often invited to wedding receptions and other functions. Many times he would also Emcee to many an Italian wedding reception at Luccarda`s, in Tarrawanna. Ebe was also Emcee for the EPT balls that were also held annually. Years later, he would join the Ferrari Club of Wollongong, where they also were involved with community events and fundraising.

In 1972, Ebe purchased the business from E. Guido & Co and went into partnership with his brother Bruno, They began bottling wine on site, but eventually they purchased a house in Auburn street, Wollongong, to house the kegs and bottle the wine there, before bringing it back into the shop to sell. This made it so much more convenient, and freed up space at the back of the shop. E.Guido and Co deli was a bustling place, not only for shopping, but to gather and catch up with friends. Many social gatherings were had with the staff as appreciation for the work they did. Ebe ad Margaret served many customers and many would become friends as well. People soon identified the deli as Formigioni`s, even though the name E. Guido and Co was always the name above the door.

After 12 months, he finished his partnership with brother Bruno. Around 1980, and after another two partners, Ebe and wife Margaret were now sole owners, running the deli, with the last business partner taking the Liquor licence with him. This changed the business entirely. At first they scaled down, and operated out of the one shop, with a few casual staff and under a different landlord as well. They operated the deli out of the one the shop for a while until they got their bearings and then went back into the second shop and expanded their products. They began selling LaGostina, quality Italian stainless steel cookware, cooking utensils and more espresso coffee pots, lots of them! Coffee pots of all sizes and I can remember as a young girl walking past the shop and seeing the display in their window. They also began to sell small domestic, electric coffee machines. Margaret said that they were one of the first businesses to sell them in the Wollongong area. They were unavailable in other stores at the time. They also created a large sandwich bar and this saw many local workers coming into the shop for their daily lunches.

In 1982 there was a major downturn in the Steel industry and this had a huge impact on Wollongong. The Port Kembla Steelworks provided jobs for so many immigrants, and they began laying off hundreds and hundreds of employees. It also affected Ebe`s business greatly. The Port Kembla Steel Works employed thousands of men and women from the Illawarra area.

They scaled down their shop again and operated out of one shop. The second shop was now partitioned off from the first shop and it had a new tenant. Ebe and Margaret and another staff member, were running the shop.

They would open Monday to Friday plus half a day Saturday. Sunday, the shop was closed, but Ebe would go in and clean the shop front and do other duties, and it happened by chance that he would end up trading on a Sunday too! People saw him working there and wanted to come into the shop, buy some lunch or just to purchase some items. So Ebe gave in and opened on a Sunday. It turned out to be a good decision, as the deli was only a short walk to the Wollongong show ground and many people would frequent the shop on their way home after the sports events on the weekend. The lunch trade was seven days per week.

By this stage, they no longer did home delivery and retail shopping was changing rapidly. Many items were now available at major supermarkets, and many people shopped for convenience. The once bustling trade to purchase specialised Italian and Continental groceries was just not the same. It really relied upon locals for the lunch trade and those who lived in Wollongong city itself, although they still had their loyal customers who purchase all their deli items from Ebe and Margaret.

As time went on, Ebe`s health was not the best. He was suffering from Emphysema and his eye sight was deteriorating. He fought to keep his beloved deli going, but he didn’t have the strength to do it. They had a final closing down sale with items 30 - 50 % off. After 45 years, in 2003, Ebe and Margaret closed the doors of their deli. E Guido and Co was Wollongong’s premier Italian delicatessen. A fond memory for so many in the Italian community. Ebe Formigioni passed away June 17, 2013, he was 82 years old. Margaret still lives in Figtree and enjoys spending time with her friends and family.