New Kensington's Golden Dawn goes into new year under new ownership

For Gene Tommasi, becoming a new owner of the New Kensington Golden Dawn has brought his grocery career full circle — after he thought it was over.

Tommasi of Mt. Lebanon and Jim Faccenda of Bethel Park took over ownership of the 60-year-old neighborhood grocery store in June. After painting, cleaning, replacing equipment and reorganizing, they celebrated the start of their ownership over two weeks in November.

Faccenda is an independent operator with Giant Eagle and owns a store in Ligonier. Tommasi ran all of Giant Eagle’s retail operations, including the independent program. They met 25 years ago and went from business friends to personal friends.

Tommasi worked for Giant Eagle for more than 25 years and had been running its retail operations for the past 12 years when he retired in 2018.

He continued working as a consultant. He said longtime Golden Dawn owner Michael Moses reached out to him in November 2021 for his help in selling the store.

But instead, Tommasi said, after a few visits over a couple of months he looked at the business and thought: “This looks like a great opportunity. I may be interested.”

Tommasi has worked in grocery stores since he was 16 years old with his father, also Gene, in Slovan, near Burgettstown. His first job was as a trainee in Sharon with Peter J. Schmitt, which had bought Golden Dawn in 1982.

Golden Dawn’s roots are in Sharon, where the company that would become it was founded by Nathan Rosenblum, who came to America from Lithuania around 1890.

Following Rosenblum’s death in 1931, his children took over the business bearing his name and renamed it Golden Dawn, after a brand of flour. The company franchised and grew to more than 100 stores. It was bought out by P.J. Schmitt, which went out of business in the early 1990s.

Only a few Golden Dawn stores remain today, which Tommasi said are connected to each other by name only.

He said it was after he met the New Kensington Golden Dawn’s employees that he decided to buy the store. He said they retained the core group of employees and have added 10 to 12 more, for a total of about 42.

“I like this store. I like it a lot. It had really good bones,” he said. “It was a nice, neighborhood store.”

At 25,000 square feet, Golden Dawn is a full-line grocery store. It has a deli, hot foods, bakery and meat — all the things larger stores have.

“It fills all the needs. You can do a full shop here,” Tommasi said. “It’s not huge. The folks who shop here like that it’s not big. It feels very comfortable in here.”

Lori Falcione is among the store’s longtime employees, having worked there for 34 years. She started in the bakery, worked as a cashier and has been the store’s manager for 20 years.

Falcione said she was at first nervous about the store being sold and having new owners, and she worried whether she would be able to find a new job if she had to.

“I’ve been here so long, I was afraid of change,” she said. “Everything’s working out pretty good now.

“They keep telling me they sort of need me here. There’s nobody else here to run the office.”

Falcione said employees and customers alike have enjoyed the changes Tommasi and Faccenda have made to the store.

“The store is very nice and cleaned up,” she said.

Scott Pesci has worked in the store’s meat department for about 35 years. He is the assistant meat manager to his father, Dick Pesci, who has been there for 60 years.

With Tommasi saying the store is renowned for its meat, that might be why Scott Pesci said they let him and his dad run the department as they see fit.

“They seem fair and nice, and they cleaned the place up. They treat us well,” Scott Pesci said. “They took a lot of stuff out that didn’t sell. They moved certain things around, cleaned it up and opened up the front of the store. It looks a lot better.”

New Kensington Mayor Tom Guzzo, who frequents the store, said he has seen the changes Tommasi and Faccenda have made.

“Gene and Jim are doing an outstanding job as the new owners of Golden Dawn,” he said. “Gene and Jim are very personable and have taken the time to walk around and ask customers for their thoughts and have taken the customers’ advice. Their years of experience are evident. I have heard positive reviews from everyone I have spoken to, and I have no doubt that Gene and Jim will do an excellent job for years to come.”

Although he’s an owner, Tommasi doesn’t spend all his time in the office.

“I love being out in the store with the customers,” he said. “The best time is when I’m out there bagging. I get to meet the customers.”

Tommasi said they see some customers three or four times a week. Beyond a grocery store, Golden Dawn is a meeting place and a tradition.

“The community has been very embracing to us,” he said. “It’s been fun.”