At almost 77, Paul Rinaldi of Chiarugi Hardware in Chicago’s Little Italy thinks about retirement every day. It is a reasonable idea after 56 years in business and a cancer diagnosis two years ago.
Yet six times a week, with his wife, Carole, who has her own health challenges, the couple still drives up to two hours every day from their home in suburban Mount Prospect to their store at 1412 West Taylor St.
“I’d like to leave, but I just can’t. My heart is here. These people rely on me,” Rinaldi said.
Chiarugi Hardware, once a bustling-with-life prime destination for paint, nails-by-the-pound and winemaking supplies on mostly Italian Taylor Street, is not so busy these days. As big box stores and fast-food restaurants appealing to local University of Illinois-Chicago students come and go, Chiarugi has been a part of Taylor Street for at least 100 years — an anniversary that will go without much fanfare.
Two young brothers, Olinto and Ermelindo Chiarugi, opened the store in 1924, according to a city resolution and archive photographs. They came to the United States from Italy in 1910. “Oly” first worked as a bartender and Ermelindo was a painter, said Nancy Hill Chiarugi, the wife of Oly’s grandson. By 1930, Chiarugi Bros. store at its first location at 1022 West Taylor St. was listed in the local Italian directory under “fruit presses.”
Rinaldi remembers those original Chiarugi iron-and-wood grape crushers, which today are sometimes sold on eBay or vintage auctions. Winemaking supplies were always a staple in the store, Rinaldi said, until it got too expensive and time-consuming “for the younger kids to make their own wine.”
He also remembers bicycles and motorcycles that were sold when he first started helping in the store as a young teenager in the 1960s. Rinaldi’s father, Eraldo Rinaldi, also an immigrant from Italy, got a job with the Chiarugi brothers after returning from World War II. Later he bought out the aging brothers and became the new owner.
The ‘60s were a turbulent time in Chicago’s Little Italy, with the new expressway, urban renewal, and UIC campus construction displacing many businesses and families. Chiarugi had to move a couple blocks west, to 1449 W. Taylor St.
Despite the changes in the neighborhood, business thrived.
“The store was packed,” recalled local realtor Pat Iannino, who worked at Chiarugi throughout high school and college in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. “We sold pipes, paint, electrical and plumbing, but also wine barrels, pasta makers and dishes from Italy. People in the neighborhood came for their tools and hardware. People from outside the neighborhood usually came for our imported Italian stuff.”
In 1968, a 21-year old Rinaldi returned from the Army to his dad’s store.
“And I got stuck,” he laughed. “But I couldn’t leave my father. He taught me everything. His whole life was Taylor Street.”
Older Rinaldi became a fixture in the neighborhood. He sharpened kids’ skates for free, translated letters from the city, fixed appliances for residents of the projects and helped clean up graffiti from the nearby Columbus statue in Arrigo Park.
“He was the nicest guy in the world,” Iannino said of his first boss. “Easy going, very knowledgeable, smart figuring out solutions to different problems.”
Rinaldi took over the business after his father retired. His wife, Carole, first helped on weekends, then joined him full-time. A big change came in 2009, when the building where the store was located was sold. The Rinaldis had to quickly move the business across the street, to its present address. The store’s square footage was reduced by half. There was no room to cut glass, store paint or have an extensive winemaking section.
Today, the store carries a limited selection of tools and small household items and offers keycutting. Rinaldi can still order winemaking supplies, though he admits, that customer base is shrinking, too. What remained unchanged is the owners’ commitment to the community, the store’s homey feel and the one-on-one help.
Dave Bonomi moved in the neighborhood “broke and clueless” in 2009. He went to Chiarugi to copy keys to his first apartment.
“They’re like the welcome committee for Taylor Street. They remind me of my older relatives, they draw you with their warmth. It’s impossible not to love them”, said Bonomi, who co-owns nearby Peanut Park Trattoria.
Though he tries to buy his light bulbs and furnace filters at Chiarugi, he said, he is also one of many locals who stop at the shop “just to say hi” or ask about their leaking sink or pipes that don’t line up.
Another loyal customer is Kathy Catrambone, an author and journalist who lives on Taylor Street.
“It’s the thinking, ‘oh, I don’t know, I’ll go ask Paul,’” Catrambone said. “If he can’t help you with what you’re looking for, he gives you a million dollars worth of guidance. It’s so remarkable they are still here. They are considered to be a gem. They dispense a lot more than nails.”
Just before the pandemic, a special reunion took place at the store. Anthony Chiarugi, the son of the founder “Oly,” and his three sons with their families came to visit during Little Italy Festa.
“It made Dad happy,” said Don Chiarugi of the reunion. After his father Anthony died in 2022, he said, he comes each year from the western suburbs to visit Rinaldi.
“They are family,” said Rinaldi.
Paul Rinaldi, slightly hunched over, with glasses and a raspy voice, gets nostalgic when talking about his father and the old times, glancing out the window, with Carole by his side. He will tell you all about Taylor Street, but will also chat about “that evil Putin,” “those poor migrants” and how much he misses the Columbus statue, removed from Arrigo Park in 2020 by the city. But that’s just until the next customer — or a friend — walks in.
“Hello! How are you? How can I help you?” he says with a big smile.
