Eddystone, PA – Just south of Philadelphia, along the Delaware River, the small industrial town of Eddystone, was once home to the world’s largest producer of steam locomotives, Baldwin Locomotives. It employed thousands of migrant and immigrant workers through both world wars.
Fifty years ago, Paraskevoula and Pete Fotiadis, two immigrants from Greece, opened a delicatessen on Saville Avenue in Eddystone known as Vicki’s Cold Cuts. It served the Baldwin workers and many other large and small companies in the community.
In the 1970s, the Baldwin factory ran out of steam and shut down, and with it, the jobs left. Eddystone had fallen on hard times. Many mom and pop businesses left or closed down. But this one delicatessen was a business that kept going through it all, and although Eddystone went through its ups and downs, this little delicatessen survived.
And while fifty years have passed since this delicatessen opened, many of those that left town return to this place they consider home and pay homage to the Greek family that started it all.
Vicki’s Cold Cuts is owned and operated by the Fotiadis Family at 1033 Saville Ave, Crum Lynne, PA 19022.