City Meat Market sold to group that includes councillor Sonny Spina

After owning and operating City Meat Market since 2005, meat cutter John Bruni and wife Rosina have sold the landmark downtown business and are retiring.

A trio of buyers — Sault Ste. Marie Ward 1 City Councillor Sonny Spina, Anthony Celli and Ernesto DiBerardino — officially took ownership of the business Friday and were at the Queen Street East shop in a busy, hands-on way Monday.

With Rosina Bruni already enjoying retirement and daughter Lori Nowitski assisting in the shop for the next month, John Bruni will be at the market for approximately six months training the new owners in the meat shop business. 

Bruni told SooToday he’s confident the business is in good hands.

“I plan on travelling with my wife and enjoy some of the good weather which we never see," Bruni smiled. "I come in when it’s dark and I go out when it’s dark. So I hope that changes."

Spina, Celli and DiBerardino have purchased the building that houses not only City Meat Market but also Wood, Resin & Lye Artisan Emporium and Elliott’s Ice Cream. 

Those two businesses will continue to operate under separate owners.

There are rental units on the upper floor of each business.

“The three of us looked at it collectively and it’s something that’s very connected to us culturally. The Bruni family has done an amazing job of establishing this incredible sense of family within the store and within the community and it’s a legacy we want to continue,” Spina said.

“We really thought this was something that was important for us, to invest in our community, invest in our downtown, invest in ourselves, to make something fantastic for our community and our families.”

Spina served as a Sault Ste. Marie Police Service officer for 18 years before leaving the force to become NORPRO managing director of security for N1 Solutions in January 2021.

He left N1 Solutions in August to become a partner in Brampton-based Anderson Blake Security, a firm that provides security services across Ontario.

He ran as the Conservative Party of Canada’s candidate in Sault Ste. Marie in the 2019 and 2021 federal election campaigns before being elected to Sault Ste. Marie city council in 2022.

“We’ve been looking for opportunities and this one came up," said Celli, who is also an OLG employee. "We had a talk with Sonny and here we are."

Ernesto DiBerardino has previous rental property management experience.

“We’re really big proponents of the Italian culture too,” Celli said.

“I want to do something to keep the Italian culture alive in the Sault. You see that from generation to generation things dwindle a little bit, so it’s great to come in here in the morning and they’re making Italian baking and you have Italian guys cooking, it’s fantastic. That’s the kind of thing we want to keep alive.”

Of being trained by Bruni in the meat shop business, Spina said “he’s been an absolute well of knowledge.”

“He’s a great teacher because he doesn’t give you all the information at once. He just trickles it to you a little bit at a time so that you can master the skills he’s giving you. The whole Bruni family has for years really cared about their customers. Every person who walks in the door, they know almost everyone by name. They’ve told them: ‘We’ve sold the business but we’re going to teach these guys, they’re going to take care of you,’” Spina said.

The shop will employ the three new owners along with butcher Matteo McLeod, who has recently returned to the Sault from Ottawa, and current employee Dakota Smoke.

“We have a lot of plans for the future that we want to look towards but first things first, we want to get really good at where we are,” Spina said. 

“We want to make sure that nothing changes in terms of the service and quality that people get.”

Spina said City Meat Market intends to increase its hours of operation by one hour from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday to Friday, as well as open on Saturdays — possibly from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. — as early as this coming weekend.

“We talk about revitalizing and investing in the downtown core continuously, and we’re here doing it,” Spina said.

City Meat Market was listed for sale in July for $1.3-million.

Long before John Bruni's ownership, the business was established in 1910.