In 1965, Louis and Norma DiCocco founded the St. Jude Shop and opened their first religious goods retail store in Havertown, Pennsylvania. Almost five decades later, the DiCocco Family is proud to say that our original shop has grown to become the largest religious goods and church supply retailer in the United States. What distinguishes the St. Jude Shop among other retailers in the industry is the faith and tradition that is paramount in each of our endeavors.
We are owned and operated by 3 generations of DiCocco family members, who strive to uphold a company mission of "Serving Christ in the World" through our ministry-first and business-second approach. It is our unique goal to help enable you -- our customers -- to enjoy a greater relationship with God and each other through the products that we sell in our stores, our catalogs, and online. Hence, our work spans from not only completing major restoration projects in churches and cathedrals, but also building personal chapels in everyone's heart.
As related by Norma DiCocco:
Over fifty-nine years ago, the DiCocco Family's St. Jude Shop did not exist. My husband, Lou, worked as a civil engineer, supporting me and our four wonderful sons: Robert, Mark, Gregory, and Louis.
One day I received the good news that I was expecting another child. Of course, after four boys it seemed impossible to me that I would have a daughter! Yet, we really hoped to have a healthy baby girl. I began to pray each day to St. Jude. Why? Because St. Jude is known as the “Saint of the Impossible.” My petition was that, if I had a girl, I would name her Judy in his honor.
Well, the “impossible” can come true through the power of prayer. My daughter Judy arrived – three weeks late - on October 28th. That day is, in fact, the feast day of St. Jude! Imagine the extraordinary emotions we felt.
More than a year later, my husband and I started planning our new business venture. In thinking of that first store, we decided to put everything in the hands of St. Jude, and our devotion to this special saint and our faith in God grew even stronger. We named our store in St. Jude's honor, and opened on his feast day at 21 Brookline Boulevard in Havertown, PA.
Over the years, we’ve added other branches of our stores in Northeast Philadelphia; South Philadelphia; Center City Philadelphia; Malvern, PA; Somerville, New Jersey; and Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Our family and faith tradition carried on through the decades, as we opened each one of our store sites on October 28th.
After several years of thought and prayer, our Family has made the difficult decision to relocate all of our branch stores to our large 20,000 square foot showroom at 21 Brookline Blvd., Havertown, PA.
Now, you may also visit the St. Jude Shop online at each of our websites! These sites, too, opened by “going live” on St. Jude’s feast day!
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