Lombardi’s Prime Meats, one of the last corner butcher shops in South Philadelphia, has changed hands

Rowhouse South Philadelphia was once sprinkled with family-owned corner butcher shops. One by one, they’ve dropped off, as business has shifted to supermarkets and discount clubs. Though delis have picked up some meat business, the ranks of butchers are down to Esposito’s in the Italian Market, Dad’s All-Natural Stuffings in West Passyunk, and Lombardi’s Prime Meats in Packer Park.

When Vince Lombardi decided to retire this summer after more than 60 years in the meat business, his store — which he opened in 2001 — did not go dark.

Commercial business broker Nancy Alperin of Maxwell Realty knew Rob Passio, who in 2014 took over another butcher shop whose owner was retiring: Giunta’s Prime, Charles Giunta’s stall in Reading Terminal Market. “I knew the synergy was there,” she said.

A few phone calls later, Passio owns Lombardi’s. The narrow shop is known for its chicken cutlets, meticulously sliced six to a pound. Its refrigerators and freezers are stocked with prepared foods and staples.

Passio, 49, a native South Philadelphian who lives with his family five blocks away, said he wants to keep what Lombardi has created but add a few contemporary products to the shop — wagyu beef will soon join the meat case — which sits in front of a sound barrier shielding the block from eastbound traffic whizzing along I-76 bound for the Walt Whitman Bridge.

Passio started in the business as a delivery boy for a butcher. He came up through the ranks as a manager for Genuardi’s and Costco, and “I got bored,” he said. That’s when he took over Giunta’s.

In addition to Lombardi’s and Giunta’s, Passio also owns an interest in Butcher’s Pantry, a prepared-foods stall that opened in Reading Terminal in 2022.

Lombardi’s staff has remained, including the founder’s grandson, also named Vince Lombardi, 32. “I started working here every Saturday in high school, freshman year,” Vince Lombardi said. “My dad [Anthony] wouldn’t let me come right in. He wanted me to justify my degree because I went to college.” He said he worked in supply-chain management for an insurance company in Center City for five years, but decided that the butcher shop was more to his liking.

Asked what inspired the purchase of Lombardi’s, Passio thought a moment: “Challenge, legacy, neighborhood, family name. That’s pretty much it in a nutshell.”