J&J Gasbarro Oaklawn Liquors Co-owners Jim Mansolillo and John Gasbarro.

J&J Gasbarro Oaklawn Liquors
985 Oaklawn Avenue
Cranston, RI

Square footage: 4,500

Years in operation: 2 years under current management

By Sara Capozzi

Celebrating two years in business in January, J&J Gasbarro Oaklawn Liquors continues to serve the Oaklawn neighborhood and beyond with impeccable service and selection, carrying on decades of business in the Gasbarro family. The shop is co-owned and run daily by business partners John Gasbarro and Jim Mansolillo, with a team of 10 employees, who all work to uphold the tradition of the Gasbarro family who began it all.

According to John Gasbarro, whose father’s cousins opened the well-known Gasbarro’s Wines on Federal Hill in Providence in 1898, the business that became Gasbarro Oaklawn was founded by his cousins, Phil and Anna Gasbarro, beginning sometime in the 1950s. Established on Warwick Avenue, the Gasbarros decided to move the shop across town to its current location in the Oaklawn neighborhood in the early 1960s.

In 1974, Bobby and Kathy Gasbarro took over the store’s ownership, naming the business Bobby’s Oaklawn Discount Liquors. John Gasbarro got his start there shortly after in 1976, working his way up from clerk to manager throughout the years. Mansolillo, who began his employment with the Gasbarros in 1995, also worked his way up to manager.

“I started working more hours and getting more involved and I liked it and the fact that it’s a family business,” Gasbarro said. “I liked a lot of the people, the companies and doing business with them. So, I decided to stick with it.”

In 2021, Bobby and Kathy were ready to retire, and Gasbarro and Mansolillo “took the plunge,” Mansolillo said, purchasing the business together in January of that year. The pair didn’t have many changes to make to the shop since they had already been running it for some time and they felt their business model was working well. “We didn’t really do much because everything was working the way it was,” Mansolillo said. “We did a few aesthetic changes, but nothing major.”

The two acknowledged that while they continue to see new competitors, along with dealing with the challenges of owning a small business in today’s climate, the foundation that they spent years building at the store and their combined 70 years of experience allows them to remain competitive. Plus, more than half of their customers are regulars they’ve built relationships with. “We keep a pretty loyal customer base because we’ve been here for so long,” Mansolillo said. “A lot of people know us and a lot of people like to go into a place [where they know people].”

“We don’t have the largest selection because of our size, but we have all the popular brands that we should have,” Gasbarro said. “Plus, if a customer comes in and asks for something we don’t have, we bring it in.”

Popular items include ready-to-drink beverages and craft beer. “We have a good selection of craft beers, the popular ones from Colorado and California and New York, but just about every local craft beer we want to have because we like supporting local [Rhode Island],” Gasbarro said. In wine, customers tend to reach for California and Italian selections.

“This store’s been here a long time,” Mansolillo said. “It wouldn’t survive without good customer service, good management, good ownership. When a small business can last over 50 years, the people have to be doing something right. And Johnny and I hope to continue it.”