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Roscoe's Poultry has been a household word to many in the Mahoning Valley since 1933, when Charlie and Ed Roscoe began peddling their live poultry and eggs door to door, fresh from the family's Kinsman farm.
In 1950, the brothers achieved their dream when they opened a poultry shop at 306 Steel St., on the West Side of Youngstown. Operations continue at that location, and today another generation is in charge.
"It took Uncle Charlie and my dad 17 years to get enough saved to build their store," remarks Joe Roscoe, Ed's son and owner of Roscoe's for the past 2-1/2 years. With the help of his brothers, Mark and Chris, Joe expects to continue the family tradition of product quality and service set forth by his father and uncle for 61 years.
"Don't forget my father in this Success Story," Joe reminds. "My father worked here for 44 years, and if it wasn't for him I wouldn't have had the opportunity to run the business. I'm thankful for all he's taught us -taught me--and is STILL teaching me," he says.
Although retired, the elder Roscoes drop in at least once a month, Joe says, and "Charlie comes down once a month from Kinsman, gets his chicken here, and distributes up north for me."
The walls of the original building are still intact at the Steel Street location, but there have been both physical and product changes through the years.
"They used to bring the live chickens in the side door, then dress them here," Joe explains, noting an ordinance in effect since the early 1970s put an end to dressing live poultry within city limits. Today, the 18 to 20 tons of poultry (about 40,000 pounds) sold at Roscoe's each week are fully dressed before delivery to the shop. Orders are filled each week...