Teresa Spinelli wasn’t destined to lead her family’s grocery business. But life takes many turns and the leader is what she became. Born in Edmonton in 1961 Teresa grew up at the Italian Centre Shop, taking her first steps in the pasta isle. By age 13 she was working in the store regularly as a cashier, never dreaming she would one day ascend to the Presidency of the company. Family misfortune changed the course of Teresa’s life, “We were a traditional Italian family, and I had a brother, so automatically, because he was the boy, he was going to take the business.”
With her vision of changing the business from a local grocery store to a major importer and distributor, in her first year of Presidency, she grew the business to 12 million in sales. Today, the Company has grown 8 times with 4 stores (located in Edmonton and Calgary), over 500 employees and sales exceeding 77million.