OUR YEARS OF ATTENTION TO DETAIL
Henrico Argentieri came to America from Italy in 1914 and started a tailor shop on East Ave., Hornell, NY “Tailoring by Henrico Argentieri.” His first wife died from tuberculosis. From that marriage they had a daughter Letizia. Henrico returned to Italy in 1925 and re-married, bringing his new wife back to America; her name was Dora. They eventually had five more children: Walter, Richard, Doris, Domenic, and Roger.
1927 was a very busy year for Henrico. They had their first of six children, Henry, who moved the business from East Ave. to their home residence at 75 Elm St., where he opened a Dry Cleaning plant in the garage—and moved the tailor shop to Broadway Ave. He named it Maple City Cleaners with Custom Tailoring by Henrico Argentieri. The business remained at these two locations, surviving a massive flood in 1935, until 1966.
In 1966 the Urban Renewal program in Hornell would take over the Broadway property in an effort to expand Hornell. The brothers Henry, Walter, and Roger moved the Dry Cleaning and Tailor shop to Church St. in Hornell and opened a Coin-Op Laundromat and pick-up store in the Hornell K-Mart plaza. Then they purchased an existing Dry Cleaning business know as Morgan-Rosser Cleaners in Wellsville. This formed the corporation as we know it today, as Argentieri Brothers, Inc.—only the Wellsville location is in current operation.
Alexander Cole joined the company as an accountant in 1981, eventually purchasing the business from the Argentieri family in 1998. Alex has a wife Mikki, and children: Alexander Jr., Benjamin, Zachary, and Mattie. Alexander, Alexander Jr., and Benjamin are currently operating the business.