Like Father, Like Sons: How Arthur D'Angelo's Sons Continue His Sports Merchandising Business

On Sunday June 15th, families gathered around the dinner table to celebrate Father’s Day. But the D’Angelo family in Boston prefers to do something different.  “We work six or seven days per week, especially during the baseball season,” says Bobby D’Angelo, Vice President at ’47 Brand. ’47 Brand is a sports lifestyle brand and is also an official licensing partner of the MLB, NBA, NFL, and many other professional sports organizations.

The company was started by patriarch Arthur D’Angelo who, at the age of 86, still works at the flagship location outside of Fenway Park in Boston. Arthur and his twin brother started selling newspapers for two cents in the early 1940s. As Italian immigrants, the family didn’t speak a single word of English.  But “two cents” was the price of a newspaper and the brothers started to learn how to pronounce the phrase. Arthur quickly learned how to upsell and cross-sell as he started to also sell peanuts, ice cream, and flowers. Eventually, the twins acquired and operated a dry cleaning business. Hall of Famer Ted Williams was a friend of Arthur’s and also a client. Arthur would pick up and deliver the dry cleaning to Williams on a regular basis.

Arthur D'Angelo.

Today, Arthur’s four sons run the family business and have grown annual sales to over $200 million. In 2013, the Red Sox honored Arthur and ’47 Brand: The private road leading up to Fenway Park from Yawkey Way was re-named “Arthur’s Way” in honor of Arthur D’Angelo, and Arthur threw out the first pitch before a ballgame.

April 15th, 2013 is a day that the Boston community will never forget. Bobby was at the ’47 Brand flagship location in Fenway Park when a passerby told him about the Boston Marathon bombing. “At first I didn’t believe it, but I turned on the TV and saw the chaos. Our team immediately wanted to do something to assist the victims. We got approval to sell the Boston Strong shirts and donated the proceeds to The One Fund, a charity formed to assist the victims and family members affected by the Boston Marathon tragedy. On September 21st, 2013, we presented a check for over $1.4 million to the Mayor of Boston to assist the victims.”

The D’Angelo family legacy will likely be painted and sculpted in the years to come. However, “the goal for my children is to have the same respect for me that my father’s kids have for him. We are all trying to be the best husbands and fathers that we can be.”

Thanks to the D’Angelo family.