Mangone's: Nearly 80 Years on the Post Road
by Marina Kiriakou -
Not many businesses in Mamaroneck date back to the years just after World War II. Ask Rick Mangone which ones have stood the test of time, and he’ll count them off: Walter’s, Roberts, House of Flowers, Strauch Jewelers and Miller’s. His own family’s story began around the same time. In 1947, his father, Anthony, rented the house behind Walter’s to test the waters with a produce stand. The business took hold, and soon afterward he bought the lot where Mangone’s still stands today. What began as a small produce operation grew into a business selling produce, plants, Halloween decorations, and Christmas trees from the same corner of Boston Post Road.
In a village where so much has changed, there's something special about businesses that remain in the same hands and on the same ground. Now, with Thanksgiving pies and Christmas trees soon to fill the lot, we stopped by to catch up with Rick, now 80, and hear how business is going and what's new.
The Family
Anthony Mangone came from Italy as a boy and worked as a statistician on Wall Street when the market crashed in 1929. After losing most of his savings when his bank failed, he took a job at the Mamaroneck post office, eventually becoming superintendent of mails. He ran the produce business on the side while his wife managed the stand.
Rick, the youngest of three sons, came early and was very nearly born on the property. He says, laughing, that this probably explains his attachment to the place. He took over in 1973 and still works seven days a week. "I enjoy it," he says. "I'm an outside guy." These days his daughter Shelley and son-in-law Michael help run the business.
Since COVID
When the pandemic hit, Rick was told he'd have to close because Mangone's wasn't essential; then he learned the produce side qualified. The store stayed open and brought in whatever people couldn't find elsewhere: toilet paper, tissues and sanitizer. Back then they were selling 20 or 30 boxes of bananas a week. Now, Rick says, they don't sell that many in a whole season.
Customers told him they'd never forget what Mangone's did for them. But once life returned to normal, business slowed. "You know what? I have no regrets," Rick says. "We made a living doing it, and we helped the community."
Produce, the business his father started, is now the smallest part of the operation; delivery services like FreshDirect have taken a good share of it. Corn used to be a dollar a dozen and sold so fast that the Mangones bagged it ahead of time by the half-dozen and dozen. Now, Rick says, if somebody buys three ears, "that's a lot." He'll also tell you the corn is better than it used to be, because newer varieties stay sweet longer after they're picked. Produce sales did pick up a little this past year, with customers crediting the quality. There's also the appeal of choosing locally grown fruits and vegetables in person, much like at a farmer’s market.
Pies, Soup and the Lunch Shack
The pies were Michael's idea. He came in one day and told Rick he'd ordered key lime pies from a baker who made only that one pie. "I said, 'Are you crazy? We don't sell pies,'" Rick says. They sold, so Mangone's added fruit pies and more. Bread came later, and Rick expects more Thanksgiving pie orders than last year. "People that buy them love them and they come back; they tell their friends."
The latest addition is the lunch shack. Look for the little red stand at the end of the driveway, easily visible from the Post Road. Open Wednesday through Sunday from 11 to 5, it offers a rotating lineup of soups, including tomato basil, Italian wedding, beef barley, minestrone, chicken noodle, broccoli cheddar and lobster bisque. There are hot dogs, grilled cheese, lemonade, mac and cheese, chicken fingers and tater tots, too. A soup, hot dog, chips and soda special makes an easy lunch, while a quart of soup is an option to take home for dinner. Soup prices range from $8.50 for 12 ounces to $18 for a quart.
Rick has two audiences in mind for the shack: kids walking home from school who might stop for an after-school snack, and parents looking for an easy, wholesome dinner. The kids haven't quite caught on yet, even after the shack tried baking pizza to tempt them. Dinner, however, is beginning to find its audience. In recent weeks, customers have been stopping by around 4:30 or 5 to pick up soup for the evening. "We're in for the long haul," Rick says.
Old-School Values
People who buy plants at Mangone's tend to say they do well. Rick credits the growers he deals with. "I'm a loyal guy," he says. "I can buy cheaper from other growers, but if the grower that we deal with supplies us with the quality I want, even though I have to pay a little bit more for it, I stick with them." He admits he can be loyal to a fault. "I'm old school. It's worked for me."
Prices can run higher than at a big-box store, but Rick backs what he sells. Bigger orders can be delivered for a small fee. Mangone's used to install everything it sold, but without enough workers it now takes only a few jobs.
The busiest stretches are still Christmas, spring and early summer, though Halloween has grown to nearly rival Christmas. Rick still can't get over people ordering trees and wreaths online. "I don't know how you can buy something like that without seeing it and kicking the tires." After Christmas the store closes until about mid-March, which doesn't mean a vacation. "There's always something to do," he says.
The Post Road Proposal
The bigger worry sits right out front. As the Observer has reported, the New York State Department of Transportation is reviewing a "road diet" for Route 1 through Mamaroneck and Larchmont (see HERE). The proposal would reduce the Boston Post Road to one lane in each direction, add a center turn lane and bike lanes, and set a 30-mph speed limit. The state says the designs aren't finished and nothing has been decided.
Some residents support the plan as a way to make the road safer for cyclists. Many merchants and residents oppose it, citing traffic backups, congestion on side streets, slower emergency response and lost business. Rick is firmly in the second group and believes the project could take a corner of his property. He says petitions against the plan have collected more than 3,500 signatures across three sites. "We're gonna fight it with everything we got."
Seventy-Nine Years
Nearly 80 years after Anthony started the business, Mangone's remains a family operation, with Rick outside seven days a week, Michael, who first came to work there at age 13, and Shelley handling the Instagram. Rick admits some days are slow, but he's not ready to call it quits. There are pies to order, plants to buy, Christmas trees to pick out, and now, soup to take home for dinner. For a business that's been part of the neighborhood since 1947, the best way to help ensure it reaches its 80th anniversary and beyond is to stop by.
Mangone's Farmers' Market, 1427 E. Boston Post Road, Mamaroneck. (914) 698-3865. The main store is open from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m.; the lunch shack is open Wednesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The store closes from just after Christmas until about mid-March, but the Mangones hope to keep the lunch shack open through the winter.
Instagram: @mangonesgardencenter
