CHRONICLE PROFILE: ROB AND MARIA ARMANINI SAY, "FEED THE BIRDS!" AND WE DO, IN STYLE

PHOTO BY MICHAEL BALTER

Welcome to The New Everything Croton, a collection of all things Croton--our history, our homes, our issues, our businesses, our schools, our houses of worship--in short, EVERYTHING CROTON.

Chronicle profile: Rob and Maria Armanini say, “Feed the Birds!” And we do, in style.

The couple have owned their bird boutique on South Riverside Avenue for 14 years. The business is thriving, part of a $3 billion industry that grew during the pandemic.

MICHAEL BALTER 6/14/2024

Rob and Maria Armanini came to live in Croton 35 years ago, shortly after they got married. They both come from Queens, where they had met through mutual friends. “Growing up in Queens in the 1970s and 1980s was no picnic,” Rob says, looking back on it. So they came up to Westchester County and just started driving around. Croton looked pretty good to them, so they decided to settle in the village.

But their working life was not all that inspiring. Maria worked in finance, and Rob handled travel operations for a chemical company, which involved a lot of commuting. When Rob got laid off, they decided it was time to do something radically different. They weren’t birders, but like many Crotonites, they had birds at home. At first they didn’t even realize that there was such a thing as a birdfeed store. They began doing research.

They thought about going with a birdfeed franchise, but decided that route was too expensive. So they rented a small building on South Riverside Avenue owned by local contractor Mark Franzoso, and opened up their own business. Fourteen years later, they are still going strong. In fact, the bird business is booming. READ MORE AT Chronicle profile: Rob and Maria Armanini say, “Feed the Birds!” And we do, in style. (substack.com)