Austin Walsh at the Daily Journal has delivered an outstanding piece about the impending retirement of one of the most well-liked people in town - Mark Lucchesi. Click through here to read it; I'll just grab a couple bits for the historical record.
But with almost two decades of work in the industry beyond his 28 years at Mollie Stone’s, Lucchesi has seen more than his fair share of grocery store wars. As a youngster, he took his first job out of college working for his father who owned two markets – Jim’s Super in Burlingame and Capuchino Market in Millbrae. Following his term in the family business, Lucchesi pivoted to working at Petrini’s before eventually matriculating to Mollie Stone’s.
He worked for a while at the company’s Palo Alto location but jumped at the opportunity to manage the Burlingame store when it opened in 1999, excited to take a job back in his hometown and work close to where he lived.
Mark has been integral to a number of local events and charities-- Taste of the Town and charity auctions for the schools come to mind and I'm sure you can recall others as the Lion's did. "He won the Burlingame Lions Club Citizen of the Year Award in 2017 for his philanthropic endeavors."
He also brings back the memories of the Safeway rebuild that you can revisit by working backward from here.
Lucchesi said in that role he has encountered a great many skirmishes over the years, first recalling the rivalry formed with the construction of a new downtown Safeway in Burlingame. Reflecting on initial fears that the titan’s competition would topple Mollie Stone’s, Lucchesi is proud of the way his independent outlet sustained itself. About a decade after the new Safeway arrived in Burlingame, Lucchesi said the potential blood feud has since evolved into something more closely resembling a friendly rivalry.
Speaking from experience, I think Mark and Kathy are going to really enjoy retirement. With their network of friends in a town they love, they'll never be short of a friendly face to have a chat with. The next time I see Mark I will snap a photo for this post. Hopefully he will be in an aloha shirt and looking relaxed. Congrats, man.
Yeah, what a great community gem...you really have given a big slice of small town "flavor" to the Mollie's shopping experience, and such an incredible "grocer" history here, to boot...
I think Mark once said he got some of his early grocer experience helping out at the (n/e) corner market on Howard and Channing in the 1970s --a converted house, made into a small grocery store, known as Fred's Market. 'Hoping you don't go far, Mark... Thank you for everything!
Posted by: Jennifer Pfaff | February 02, 2021 at 01:11 PM
Harriett Saigon who “ran” my little church on Channing was the wife of the Fred’s Market butcher.
Mark is such a bright presence in Burlingame. He gave a lot of paper bags to our food bank at Call Primrose.
Posted by: Peter Garrison | February 02, 2021 at 03:46 PM
Relax, you are not having illusions when you shop at Mollie's. If you hear Mark's voice or see his smiling, mask-covered face, it's not a ghost. Spoke to The Man today and he is helping out his Mollie buddies with a bit of part-time fill-in work since hiring has become so difficult. Really great to see him.
If your kid needs a job, Mollie's is hiring!!
Posted by: Joe | November 19, 2021 at 03:12 PM