Fausto’s looks at 90 years of being Key West’s hometown market

BY TERRY SCHMIDA
Fausto’s Food Palace is more than just a grocery store, the advertising campaign goes. “It’s a social center.”
And while it’s true that Fausto’s is known for having a large selection of high-quality organic vegetables, hard-to-find cheeses, and healthier meats choices, the business is truly focused on pleasing people, both locals, and famous visitors.
“What do Shel Silverstein, Jimmy Buffett, Margot Kidder, Roy Scheider, and Tennessee Williams all have in common?” co-owner Jimmy Weekley asked. “This store.”
Weekley’s family business story harkens back to his grandfather Fausto Castillo, a Cuban-born Key West cigar factory worker who decided that he wanted to open a bodega, or corner store, on the island.
In 1926, Castillo unveiled the first Fausto’s at the corner of Virginia and Packer streets, where the Flaming Buoy Filet Co. stands today.
A decade later, the growing enterprise moved to a new location, at the corner of Fleming and Simonton streets. Fausto Castillo died in 1948, but the very next year his heirs moved the increasingly popular store to a larger, 5,000 square foot building down the street, at 522 Fleming.
The business suffered a setback in August of 1966, when a fire destroyed that structure, but the family rebuilt the store, this time bigger and better, on the same site, in time for a grand opening on Feb. 22, 1967.
“That was [George] Washington’s birthday, said Weekley’s brother Alton. “And somebody even sent us a hatchet with red balloons to help us celebrate.”
By 1984, Fausto’s was ready to expand again. This time, the family purchased the old Gulfstream Market, at 1105 White St., and brought the building up to their exacting specifications.
Over the years, as supermarkets have sprouted in New Town, and specialty food shops opened their doors downtown, Fausto’s has remained a vital part of the community by pioneering practices such as accepting credit cards, which began back in 1967, and, selling health foods, which came about in 1975.
“We were the first grocery store on the island to sell ready-made sushi,” said Jimmy Weekley, a former Key West mayor, now serving as a city commissioner. “And also the first to sell natural natural, hormone- and antibiotic-free meat products, in 1998. We’re always on the lookout for new merchandise, and stay current by attending trade shows. These days, we’re selling a lot of gluten-free, non-GMO, and organic products.”
In addition to new stock, the business has also adapted to the 21st century, by branching out into catering, food delivery, and Internet ordering.
But at heart, Fausto’s remains the same mom-and-pop concern where Jimmy and Alton Weekley toiled as stock clerks in their youth for their spending money. Now their sons Dakin, and J respectively are working in the stores, ensuring that Fausto’s Food Palace will remain Key West’s hometown grocer – and a social center – for another 90 years.
“We see April as our anniversary month,” Jimmy Weekley said. “But we’re planning to hold some kind of sale to celebrate later on in the year.”
For more information on Fausto’s, visit http://www.faustos.com/

 

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