In the early years of the 20th Century, there were numerous small, family-owned grocery stores scattered throughout San Anselmo’s neighborhoods. Often these stores dealt only in dry goods like flour, dry beans, and canned foods. Perishable foods were obtained from specialty markets: fresh meat from a butcher in the downtown area, milk from one of the many local dairies, and eggs and vegetables were either produced by families themselves or purchased at a local fruit and vegetable stand. 

Directory listings and advertisements from 1908 to 1915 identify a number of specialty stores in the “downtown” area – San Anselmo Meat Market, San Anselmo Fruit and Poultry, San Anselmo Fruit Market, San Anselmo Bakery, Vonderheide & Mingst with groceries, wine and liquor, and Ross Avenue Meat Market. The Palms, a meat market, opened in 1912 halfway between Yolanda and Lansdale. Longtime San Anselmo resident Irene Zampatti Thornton remembers Guiseppe Tombolini, the fishmonger, who peddled his goods from his truck as he drove through the neighborhoods. 

The neighborhood grocery stores in Lansdale, Yolanda, Sunnyside and elsewhere served the same need as convenience stores do today. They were close to home and had an ample stock of common items most households used. A variety of candies were carried and attracted the neighborhood children. The stores were often near one of the railroad platforms. 

One such neighborhood grocery opened in 1916 on Sunnyside Avenue at the end of Ross Avenue. It was owned by Vincenzo (Vincent) and Guiseppina (Josephine) Pallavicini. Their 1916 advertisement in the San Anselmo Herald read: “V. Pallavicini Fruits, Groceries. Imported Italian Goods Our Specialty, An Accommodating Neighborhood Store with Very Reasonable Prices. At 63 Sunnyside, opposite Ross Ave. Near School.”

Many Italian immigrant families – Massara, Bonalanza, Caletti, Milani, Arbini, Zampatti, Franchini, Ferrari – had settled in the immediate neighborhood and greetings of “Buongiorno” and “Buonasera” were likely heard at the store.

The Pallavicinis also catered to students at San Anselmo Main School (today’s Wade Thomas) across the street. School supplies were sold and hot lunches were served at tables and benches in the store. 

The Pallavicinis lived above the grocery with their five children, Charles, twins Mary and Josephine, John and Vincent. Vicenzo was a carpenter, in 1918, employed at the Liberty Shipyard in Alameda. The grocery closed around 1928, about the time that larger stores – Home Market, Purity and Piggly Wiggly – were opening in the downtown area.