29-04-2025
Obituary: Teddy Glorioso, co-founder of Glorioso's Italian Market on Brady Street, has died
Salvatore J. "Teddy" Glorioso, one of three brothers who founded their namesake Italian grocery on Milwaukee's east side, has died.
Glorioso, 95, died on April 17, according to his obituary.
Glorioso, one of six children of Felice and Theresa Glorioso, joined brothers Joe and Eddie in 1946 to open Glorioso Bros., a Brady Street market. Felice Glorioso was a Sicilian immigrant who worked on Commission Row, in the Historic Third Ward, selling produce from a pushcart.
The brothers operated other businesses, including Trio's Pizza — which opened in 1951 and was one of Milwaukee's first pizza parlors. Teddy also owned and operated Glorioso's Gold Imports, and his civic activities included serving as a charter member and president of the Italian Community Center.
The grocery, later known as Glorioso's Italian Market, operated at 1018 E. Brady St. before moving to its much bigger location in 2010 at 1101 E. Brady St.
The Glorioso family sold the market in October to a group owned by the Presta family, which operates Valli Produce. Valli owns four grocery stores in northeastern Illinois.
Teddy was the last of the three Glorioso brothers who launched the grocery. In his later years he worked as a greeter there.
"Teddy was still working at the age of 95 when he passed, which is the only way he would have it," said his obituary. "He was a hard worker his entire life and lived to provide for his family and the many people of his extended family."
"He took great pride and comfort in helping so many people who needed and relied on him throughout their lives," it said.
A 2012 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article about the three brothers included this passage:
"Teddy recites in Italian, and then English, an old saying that reflects the family's view of how to care for a business, how to make it grow, but most of all how to make sure it survives," the article read.
"'The horse is not going to get fat alone,' he says. 'You have to feed him.'"
Visitation will be from 10 a.m. to noon May 8 at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist, 812 N. Jackson St., followed by a funeral mass. Memorials may be directed to St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital.
Tom Daykin can be emailed at tdaykin@ and followed on Instagram, X and Facebook.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Obituary: Teddy Glorioso, co-founder of Glorioso's Italian Market
