Porto Rico Importing Company

Specialties

We specialize in the importing and roasting of coffee, and the importing of loose long leaf teas. We carry everthing to do with coffee and tea including old as well as state of the art brewing equipment,

including Espresso machines, both commercial and home models.

We sell hario, chemex, melitta, smart drips, la pavoni, seaco, gaggia, Mocha espress by Bialetti just to name a few.

We take pride in servicing everything we sell and stock a vast number of different gaskets and parts for a wide variety of brewers.

We have 5 retail locations with our main store located at 201 Bleecker St

in the village. We roast all of our own coffees at our roastery and warehouse at 190 south first street in williamburg brooklyn. Yes, we recieve visiters, You can buy coffee right out of the roaster.

We where established in 1907 on bleecker street to cater to the large Italian influx that came to settle there at that time, and have been operating ever since.

History

Established in 1907.

Porto Rico Importing Company was established at 195 Bleecker Street

in 1907 by Patsy Albanese. Our customers where the many Italians who arrived from italy seeking work and a better life. We sold items like dried mushrooms, coffee both green and roasted, Loose teas and botanicals, Italian bitters like Fernet Branca, olive oil, everything our customers wanted that they had at home but couldn’t get here in America.

My Parents Rose and Angelo Longo purchased the store from him in 1960. Angelo was raised across the street at 201 Bleecker St. and at the time his family operated a bakery at 201 Bleecker Street. They where 51 years old when they purchased the store. They moved the store across the street to 201 Bleecker when the rent at 195 got too high. I started working in the store at 13 and took the store over in 1973 after graduation. Now my children are working in the store.

Meet the Business Owner

Peter L.

Business Owner

I was born and raised on the top floor apartment above the store at 201 Bleecker. I attended our lady of Pompeii School and La Salle Academy

and left the village to attend college in Illinois. My sisters and I went to Greenwich House camp in the summer.

I love the Village and was shocked by life away from it. I had been exposed to so many different people and things that I had trouble fitting in. During a class in college I made a joke about leather and nobody got it. Ha ha on me!

I learned about coffee and tea from my father and his contemporaries. When I was younger I traveled extensively to many coffee and tea producing regions highlighted by a trip to Darjeeling in 1978. I stayed at

the teesta valley plantation for three weeks.

I give my Mother credit for my will of iron and my father for my

personality. My Mom was an excellent merchandizer, having started her career in Macy’s. In high school I worked part time in Orbachs (closed now) Department Store to gain retail experience.