User:Rogerthat/Franco Cozzo

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Franco Cozzo (born 19?? in Italy) is an Italian-Australian businessman. Arriving in Australia with his young family during the immigration period of the 1950s, Cozzo set himself up with a furniture business, with only the clothes on his back and little else. Since then he has become a great success story for "new Australians" everywhere. His background actually consists of an Italian father and a Greek mother, contrary to the popular belief that he is 100% ethnic Italian.

Cozzo is best known for the establishment of "Franco Cozzo" furniture in the city of Melbourne, Australia. His furniture chain started over 40 years ago, with Cozzo, despite his old age, continuing to appear on advertisements, speaking in Italian, Greek and English. He proudly spruiks of his stores in Brunswick and Footscray, which have made Cozzo one of Melbourne's favourite adopted sons. "Comprate da Franco Cozzo" and "Megalo megalo megalo" are some of the taglines of his business that has made him legendary. He is fondly remembered for the phrase "a brunswick and'a footiscray", adding an extra syllable, and the 60 second TV commercial has recently surfaced from a private collector. Another version was produced not long afterwards with a new tagline, thus "inna norta melban and'a footiscray".

This subject may not, in 2007, be considered notable but I suspect that in future years children and perhaps grandchildren of those who remember Franco Cozzo might be puzzled by the deliberate mispronunciation of 'Footiscray'. Franco Cozzo endeared himself to many a Footscray inhabitant (myself included) with his obvious love of the suburb.

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