Frank Liberati could be a poster child for living the American dream.
When he and his wife, Nina, opened their first delicatessen and bakery in March 2002, there were no guarantees it was going to succeed.
While that’s true with virtually all businesses, Liberati said he had little to no experience in meats and baked products. He’ll be the first to admit, he had a lot to learn.
For most of his adult life up to that point, Liberati sold semitrailers. He worked in the corporate world for 15 years, with some of that time spent with the Fruehauf Trailer Corp.
Due in large part to changes going on in the industry at that time, he found himself out of a job and looking for a fresh start.
“I wanted to get out of the nightmare of working for other people,” Liberati said.
His father, who immigrated to the United States from Italy, operated Liberati’s restaurant in Dearborn for about 50 years, and Frank Liberati also worked there as a youngster. Working at the restaurant taught him how to make pizza, bread in small batches, and even how to make a few dishes. However, he felt his strengths were in sales and promotions.
Liberati jokes that he has lived in Allen Park “forever” so he knows the community well. He believed that a deli and bakery would be well-received not only in Allen Park, but the larger Downriver community, as well. Time proved him right, but things got off to a rocky start in the weeks and months leading up to setting up shop.
He had his eye on a building that was for sale at 7607 Allen Road, but it was in rough shape.
According to Liberati, the building served as a dry cleaning business for at least 30 years. That was followed by a carpet store, then a video store. Liberati said after the video store shut down, the “carpet guy” went back in there for a while, but things didn’t work out. So in 2001 the property was up for sale, and Liberati saw a diamond in the rough.
At the age of 38, he bought the old dry cleaning/carpet/video store, closing the deal on Oct. 5, 2001. That was less than a month from the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States — not a great time to be starting a new mom-and-pop operation like Liberati planned.
He recalls some relatives and close friends warning him not to be too disappointed if the business didn’t pan out as he expected it would.
But Liberati said he took a “damn the torpedoes” approach and went full steam ahead. He rolled up his sleeves to tackle the many weeks of work ahead before he could open his new business.
“It needed a lot of renovations,” he said. “The floor was 70 percent gone. We basically redid the whole thing.”
Liberati spent so much time transforming the building into a deli and bakery that he didn’t have much time to prepare for actually learning how to make and serve food.
Liberati’s Italian Deli & Bakery opened on March 15, 2002, to the enthusiasm of many people who would become regular customers, although Liberati realized there was a learning curve.
“I made my first loaf of bread the day before we opened,” he said. “The first time I used a meat slicer was the day we opened. When I opened the lunch meat, it was juicy in the plastic container that it was wrapped in. I took out some roast beef, threw it on the slicer and there was juice everywhere. I didn’t realize it needed to be dried out before you put it in the slicer.”
Having worked as a produce clerk at a Farmer Jack supermarket for seven years, including during his time in college, provided a solid foundation for Liberati to build on, he said.
The one thing Liberati wishes he would have done differently was his opening.
Although it was a nice problem to have, when Liberati opened its doors for the first time, shoppers were so eager to check out the new store that it was a bit overwhelming.
“When we opened our doors, I thought I was going to be the richest man in Allen Park,” he said, jokingly. “The parking lot was full — there were people everywhere.”
Liberati said if he had to do it all over again, he would have a “soft opening,” quietly opening for a week before holding a grand opening celebration.
His original intention was to be open seven days a week, but during that first week in business, he found that by Friday and Saturday, nearly everything was sold out. He said that most bakeries typically are closed on Mondays, so being open six days a week was the way he decided to go.
He and Nina decided that the store would be closed on Sundays, and that’s the way it has been for the past 20 years.
Liberati’s is a family-owned business and in those early days, Nina was there every day. When they first opened, their three children were all under the age of 10, so it took some juggling of their schedules to make things work.
However, Liberati said the success of his business wouldn’t be possible without the hard work and dedication of the employees who have worked for him over the years.
Liberati served as a state representative in Lansing for six years, serving Allen Park, Dearborn Heights and Southgate, so he said that was a time he leaned particularly hard on his managers to keep things running smoothly. He also served as the Allen Park school board president for several years.
The couple continue to invest in their business, as they recently installed a new counter that contains the lunch meats and bakery products. In addition to all the baked goods you would expect at an Italian bakery, and all the lunch meats normally found at a deli, Liberati’s also offers hot lunch and dinner options throughout the day.
Some of their offerings include soup, pasta of the day and pepperoni rolls; as well as homemade meatballs, beef and potato pasties, pizza, and their own special meatball and sausage mixture.
Liberati said he has built up a reputation over the years for giving back to the community.
“The employees tell me that I never say ‘no,’” Liberati said, referring to when customers ask him for donations and sponsorships for various nonprofit organizations, including churches, schools and sports teams.
He said the community has supported him over the past 20 years, so he will continue to support the community.
“It’s a two-way street,” Liberati said. “We have a mutual admiration.”