Merry Old English Grocer Sets Up Store in Fullerton That’s Just Like Home

You have to admire Tony Ugolini’s attitude about his grocery store. “If I take a trip, I just lock the door,” he said. “I’m the only employee and I own the store.”

But when it’s open, he exudes a free-spirited attitude while he peddles foods imported from England, where he once lived.

“For me (the store) is my toy,” said Ugolini, 63. Born in Scotland of Italian parents, Ugolini wears a tam-o’shanter, tie and striped apron, just like old-time British grocers did, which is why his second-floor, 220-square-foot store in Fullerton is called The British Grocer.

“It’s only been open a couple of months, but the need is here,” he said, pointing out that there are as many as 6,000 former British subjects in a 15-square-mile area surrounding his store.

Nearly all his food stock is imported, as are the gift ware, British magazines and newspapers. He also carries such delicacies as refrigerated Scottish pies and bangers. Although his store is tiny, Ugolini told the story about a mother who came to him to buy some Ir’n Bru, a Scottish soft drink.

He said the woman’s pregnant daughter was craving the drink and his store was the only place she could find it.

Besides looking for specialized items, “the Brits like to come to little shops,” he said, “and they’ve been used to their own type of food. It takes them a long time to adapt to the food in America.”

But that change is history for Ugolini, who emigrated to the United States in 1955 with his bride, Geni, and became a citizen.

“I’ve been very Americanized for a long time.” he said. “This is the best country in the world. We’re a young country that’s still studying other countries to make sure we don’t make some of the mistakes they’ve made.”

Ugolini said he’s been a restaurateur for the past 48 years, 32 of them in the United States, and only recently sold his Pumperknickel Restaurant in downtown Fullerton. He’s had other restaurants, including delicatessens.

Despite his years in business, there’s no thought of retirement for Ugolini, who earned a black belt in karate at age 50 but doesn’t practice it any more. “The legs don’t work as well as they used to,” he admits.

Ugolini, who said he played violin with the Scottish National Orchestra in 1951 and the Orange County Symphony in the 1960s, keeps his mind active by reading, writing and traveling when business is slow.

And he’s equipped for travel, speaking seven languages, three of them fluently, including French and Italian.

Can you imagine an international fan club for a clock?

“We have 1,500 dues-paying members,” said Woodrow (Woody) Young, 43, of Fountain Valley, owner of the venerable Kit-Cat Klock, the wall timepiece that has its tail and eyes synchronized, moving right to left and vice versa every second.

It costs $10 to join and the yearly fee is $3.

He said members pen heart-warming stories for the club’s bimonthly newsletter.

“One professor wrote he watches his Kit-Cat to give him a lift after a tough class session,” said Young, who said the Kit-Cat is the best-selling clock in the world.

A photographer wrote in to the club to say that he times his film developing by watching the every-second tick of the tail. Headquartered in San Juan Capistrano under the name California Clock Co., the fan club also has T-shirts, sweat shirts, beach towels, greeting cards and pencils.

And there’s no fooling around about the motive of the club.

“Members are required to sign a creed when they join,” said Young, who started the club three years ago, pointing out that he has a wide audience, considering that 8 million Kit-Cats have been sold since its birth in the early 1930s.

The credo reads: “Put a smile on everyone’s face, love in everyone’s heart, energy in everyone’s body and be a positive force in everyone’s life.”

In writing a letter about planning for retirement living, Donna G. Hahn of InterCommuncationsInc of Newport Beach gave this telling advice: “First, you are never too young to start. Second, you are never too old to start.”

Acknowledgments--Ida Kofsky of Laguna Hills was named general chairman of the 1988 United Jewish Fund Campaign in Orange County. “Her travels to Israel and elsewhere give her firsthand knowledge of the needs and achievement of various Jewish communities around the world,” said Jewish Federation President Jeff Schulein.