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Business & Tech

Deli Thrives in Residential Neighborhood

Prospector's called "great piece of Americana."

Outside the clamor of Westfield's downtown, amid the houses that surround Benjamin Franklin Elementary School on Prospect Avenue, sits Prospector's Deli. 

It's a family-owned business, run by the mother and daughter team of Jo Rapuano and Dina Vieira, who believe a loyal customer base, a good location and a variety of food has allowed them to build a successful business. The family operates the only business on what is a residential street with the exception of the school.

The business originated as a farm store when the surrounding area was farmland. In the time since the rolling fields have given way to residences, a deli took over from the farm store.

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The Rapuano family has owned the store since 1982, renting it out to various groups, who also used the space as a deli. It was during this span of time that the store gained a reputation of being an unfriendly environment for children. 

 "I was given a lifetime ban as a kid for not buying anything within three minutes of being in the store," said Tom Basta, a longtime Westfield resident and Franklin School alum said of his childhood in the 1980s. 

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Since the Rapuanos began their own business in 1994, the family has reinvigorated the shop with their own personal touches, making it friendly for the kids of Benjamin Franklin Elementary to grab an after-school snack. The children are one of the prime sources of Prospector's clientele, the others being landscapers and construction workers, who stop by for their daily lunch, finding the ample parking space accommodating for their large trucks and trailers. However, it is more than location and parking spaces that has allowed the deli to succeed for the past fifteen years.

"The food's great. They give really good portions," said Rae Cauley, a five-year patron of the deli.

The food is prepared and cooked fresh each day by Rapuano over a simple four-range stove that any customer would recognize from their own house. The menu offers twenty-two different kinds of sandwiches, ranging from the super Italian to the liverwurst and Swiss. They also offer a variety of sides including the famous Prospector's Potato Salad. It's a dish so delicious that one former Westfielder, who moved halfway across the country, still calls in to order up to five pounds, to be delivered to her home in Chicago. 

It is the quality of its products and overall friendliness that has made Prospector's an integral part of Westfield, so much so that Basta, who lives with his self-enforced lifetime ban of the store, still has kind words for the business.

"It's a great piece of Americana, it's one of the best parts of town," he said.

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