The original Shop n’ Save Supermarket owner was memorialized in Davis Sunday, September 27 when a commemorative bench was dedicated to Carmen and Mary Lou DiBacco. The bench was a project of the Friends of the Blackwater and is located along the new riverfront trail in Davis.
Family from as far away as Connecticut and California were on hand for the dedication and a family priest from Kentucky blessed the bench. Three of the DiBacco children were on hand for the dedication, along with several grandchildren and spouses.
Following the dedication and blessing, Joseph Dumire gave a talk on the history of the DiBacco family and Carmen DiBacco’s legacy in Tucker County. The talk began with the arrival of Carmen’s father Salvatore DiBacco from Italy in 1903, seven years prior to becoming a naturalized citizen. Salvatore worked in the coke ovens with his brother-in-law in Coketon. Carmen was born October 2, 1918 in Thomas. Later the families became partners in a wholesale and retail store.
Later on, the business expanded to include a saloon. Salvatore began to take care of the grocery side of the business at this time, which began the family’s careers in grocery.
Dumire said that the DiBenedetto and DiBacco brothers constructed many of the buildings that line Thomas’s East Avenue. DiBacco’s grocery eventually moved and was located at the current location of Riverfront Antiques at 258 East Avenue in the 1930s. The business was taken over by Carmen in 1945 when his father retired and the Davis store was opened in 1948.
It was in 1976 that the T & C Market closed and the Shop n’ Save Supermarket opened in Davis. Later, Carmen also built a gas station across the street from the Davis Fire Department, which is now the Big Timber Logging Camp or what Dumire called “houses a gastro bar.”
Dumire also commented on Carmen’s slogan “Pray for Peace” that appeared on the clock at the front of the Shop n’ Save Supermarket. The slogan also appeared on business cards, calendars, advertisements and cash register tapes. Dumire said that Carmen had stated, “with all the happenings that were going on in Iraq, we really do need to pray for peace.”
