Massullo’s Cleaners & Tailors is celebrating 100 years in business and on Friday was inducted into the WV Centurion Chamber of Commerce.
Secretary of State Kris Warner came to Massullo’s High Street location to preside over the ceremony.
A longtime Morgantown resident and businessman before moving to Charleston, Warner said he and his family spent 30-plus years as customers. “They took great care of me.”
His five children served in the Civil Air Patrol and U.S. Air Force and brought their uniforms to Massullo’s, he said. The staff always listened politely to their instructions, but they knew precisely where the badges and insignia belonged without being told. And they know how to measure and tailor the uniforms.
“As a longtime customer of the Massullo family, it’s a personal honor for me to be here today with all of you,” he said.
He outlined the history of Massullo’s. It began when Italian immigrant Domenico Massullo, along with his wife, Raphael, established Massullo’s Tailoring on Pleasant Street in 1925. Current owner Linda Cerone – Domenico’s and Raphael’s granddaughter – is third generation. She co-owned the business with her husband, Tony Cerone, and brother, Carl Massullo Jr., and continued as sole owner after they passed away.
“If it wasn’t for my crew, I couldn’t have done this myself,” she said, “When my brother and my husband passed away, this is what kept me going, because we wanted to do that 100th anniversary. I didn’t think I was going to make it, but year after year came. And then this last year, it was so fast and it cropped up on us. But I finally did it. And I’m happy for the family.”
The secretary of state’s office began the Centurion program in 2019 to honor businesses that have been in continuous operation for 100 years or more. Warner said it’s the only one of its kind in the nation.
“West Virginia Centurions are businesses that have withstood the test of time, the test of tragedy and the numerous challenges that come with changes in government policies and advances in technology,” he said.
“Businesses that have been around 100 years find a way not only to make it through those tough times but to excel and exceed, and that’s exactly what Massullo’s has done. West Virginia Centurions have withstood world wars, stock market crashes, the Great Depression, and several recessions, military conflicts, and even pandemics.”
Their business operations and their community contributions are part of the core of their communities, he said.
For the celebration, Massullo’s provided a variety of foods and goodies. And Cerone and Warner joined to cut a commemorative cake. Warner gave Massullo’s two Centurion plaques, one for the High Street location and one for their Suncrest Towne Centre pickup and drop-off location.
