The Cambridge staple Cardullo’s Gourmet Shoppe, with a location in Harvard Square and the Seaport, is under new ownership. After nearly a decade with the previous owners, restaurateur Joel Hidenfelter is the manager of the Cardullo’s brand and business.
The previous owners of Cardullo’s thought “we’d be the best fit to take the business to the next level,” said Babu Koganti, the president of Flying Line Hospitality, which is partnered with Hidenfelter. Koganti and Hidenfelter have retail and restaurant experience, including Hidenfelter’s management of the South Indian restaurant Godavari in Woburn, according to a License Commission meeting on Sept. 9.
Cardullo’s, at 6 Brattle St., opened in 1950. Hidenfelter believes a selection of local goods, including Boston-made Phillips Chocolate products and locally baked cookies, is what keeps customers coming back, though with hundreds of unique items in each store, customers can “discover something new every time they come in.”
The new partners are looking to expand online gift box sales and heighten the stores’ social media presence, Koganti said.
Hidenfelter also seeks to “transform labeling”: Each product gets a corresponding QR code so customers can learn everything about the items, especially the wine selection.
The new labeling system will make the store an “easier place to shop” while the store’s layout remains. Longtime Cardullo’s shoppers know where everything is, Hidenfelter said, “and if you move things around, we’ll hear about it.”
After nearly a year of transitional planning, the transfer of ownership took place Nov. 12, Hidenfelter said.
The previous owners, Rich and Kim Wilson, bought the business in 2015 from third-generation Cardullo family members: sisters Francesca Cardullo and Donez Cardullo Tavilla. The Wilsons helped Hidenfelter learn the ropes of the business for a month before retiring officially. Cambridge Day reached out to the Wilsons for a comment, but did not get a response.
The store at 99 Seaport Blvd., Boston, opened in 2018 and attracts a more “niche market” than the Harvard store, Koganti said. Plans for that location include a “revamp” of the deli, later hours, more wine tastings and a new selection of wines not available in the Seaport, he said.
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