Romano Fruit Stand

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According to a Des Moines Register article, Egidio Romano came to Des Moines from Italy by way of Omaha, Kansas City, and then St. Paul.  Romano started his fruit stand in Des Moines in 1891 and eventually became the Secretary-Treasurer of the Italian Importing Company, a wholesale grocery. His fruit stand snuggled up under the staircase to a drugstore at 221 5th Street on what was the Harbach Block.