“This business is steady. We can’t complain, thank God,” Domenico says with a smile.

“Those kinds of businesses, you can’t get rich. But you make a living, that’s all.”

So what’s the secret to the success of a small corner store which has gone without a sign — neighbours know it as “Dom’s store” — for all these years? The Cozzis’ customers gush that it’s the hardworking couple from Italy and their old-fashioned style of business: Keep it simple, honest and rooted in community.

For Domenico, it’s about staying true to the family centred, Catholic values he and his wife grew up with. To this day, he keeps a tab for customers, one of the few stores that still does so. This echoes the same Golden Rule principle he learned from his parents.

“A little boy from school, sometimes a girl, says, ‘Domenic, I am hungry but I have no money. Can you make a sandwich? I pay you tomorrow,’ ” the long-time grocer said.

“In Italy, we used to say, ‘Fai bene e dimentichi. Fai male e pensi.’ ” Translation: “Do good and forget about it. Do bad and think about it.”

After they serve their customers, Domenico and Rosa are eager to share their story. Domenico met Rosa at a party in the town of Modugno, in the southern Italian region of Puglia. He asked Rosa’s grandmother if he could go out with Rosa. Her grandmother said “Yes” and the courtship began. Then came their engagement.

Rosa’s brother lived in Toronto and asked her to come here. She did in 1958. He followed two years later and they were married in their new homeland.

On April 17, 1966, the Cozzis moved into their house-plus-grocery store at Arlington and Tyrell Avenues. At $33,000, it seems a bargain now, but Rosa says that was a lot of money at that time.

Domenico had been working at a big Toronto chain grocery store and wanted to own his own business. They also needed a new house.

The Cozzis have three daughters (Rosa, Angela and Giuseppina) who attended Catholic schools. Domenico liked the fact the schools were “so serious” about education. During high school dances, he remembers how the female students were asked to bring along a chaperone — their father or brother.

“They just can’t dance with anybody there,” he said, smiling.

Giuseppina, 37, and the Cozzis’ granddaughter, Anna Maria Mele, 21, come by on days when Domenico or Rosa need to take a break.

Giuseppina and Anna Maria say their childhood memories are filled with hours spent helping out at the store. They say they have seen the value of hard work and taking pride in what you do first hand.

Librarian Joanne Schwartz, a customer for the past 16 years, was so impressed with the Cozzis’ story that she recently published a book about them, appropriately called Our Corner Grocery Store.

With two kids of her own, Schwartz said neighbourhood parents appreciate how well their kids are taken care of at the store and know that their kids are safe there.

“Dom often reports to parents what their kids bought,” she said with a laugh.

At 77, Rosa says she’s ready to retire. But her 76-year-old husband said working at the store still keeps him happy and energized.

“We’re not vacation people,” Domenico explained.

“Anything you do, you have to enjoy. If not, life is bad,” he said.