80 years later, Ted Gavozzi sadly closes his upholstry shop

YOUNGSTOWN

Ted Gavozzi’s hands and legs are swollen and sore from decades of constructing and repairing furniture at Gavozzi Upholstery.

The business is as aged as its owner.

He said his trade is no longer needed since people don’t want to have their furniture re-covered and only want to buy new pieces.

“I could cry when I see all this stuff, it’s a shame,” he said as he looked around his workshop and its piles of wood, stuffing and unfinished projects under the dim lights.

This led Gavozzi, 89, to his final task: Closing the business and selling his South Avenue building. In April, he sold it to an investor who buys old buildings to renovate them later.

For 80 years, the family upholstery business has operated on the South Side – started by his father-in-law, who then trained Gavozzi. It’s always been a labor of love.

Gavozzi loved working with his hands and has lived a life of steady work. He said the most important lessons he learned were that you should enjoy yourself in what you do and take every day as it comes.

Read more about this local icon in Wednesday;s Vindicator or on Vindy.com.