When he was just 10 years old, John Nese started working at Galco’s, a Highland Park shop selling unique soda pops and other goods.
Nese, who is now 81, runs the store, which has been around since 1897. It was founded by the Galioto and Cortopassi families and was originally located near the intersection of Pico Boulevard and Vermont Avenue. It then moved to Chinatown, where it stayed until 1955. The Neses, who then owned the business, moved it to Highland Park.
The original store looks very different from today’s outpost. It started as an Italian marketplace but in the 1990s added the product it became known for: soda pop.
Nese added a variety of sodas from independent bottlers to the store from all over the world. Today, the store has more than 400 different kinds of soda.
The store also sells beer, wine, nostalgic candies and toys, in addition to Italian items that can be hard to find elsewhere. Nese said he purchased more than 100 cases of Panettone to sell for the holidays. The store also has items such as Torres Black Truffle chips from Spain, shrimp chips and 15 others from Japan and Community Snacks products from the Northeast.
Nese said he sells “everything you can’t anywhere else.”
Vichy Catalan sparkling mineral water from Spain and Abba Zabbas candy bar chews are among the store’s bestselling items, he said.
While most of the store’s products are sold in person, a small fraction of sales is done online and shipped to customers.
Nese said that he is looking to add more nostalgic candies to the store, in addition to other goods people ask for that aren’t easy to find other places.
