Southington’s Albanian-American Business Owners Part of a Growing Community
- Avery Martin
- 2 hours ago
- 4 min read
Lying across the Adriatic Sea from Italy, the Balkan nation of Albania is the homeland of over 300 Southington residents.
According to data from the United States Census Bureau, 364 Southington residents reported having some form of Albanian ancestry in 2021, the latest year such data was available. That is a large increase from five years prior in 2016, when 199 people reported Albanian ancestry.
Some of these individuals have moved to Southington from nearby Waterbury, which was home to 2,131 individuals with Albanian ancestry in 2021, and is considered by many Albanian-Americans to be a hub of cultural activity and life.
“Waterbury is known for having a lot of Albanians, and I feel like some are starting to migrate over to Southington now,” said Anisa Infante, co-owner of the Lions Den Coffee Shop.
Infante was born in Korca, Albania, and moved to the United States with her family at 12. Like many immigrants, Infante and her family were in search of better economic opportunities, political stability and higher education.
Albania sits in the southern Balkan region, an area marred by conflict and political upheaval. The country was communist from 1946 to 1991, and many ethnic Albanians were affected by the 1992-95 Bosnian War.
“Growing up there, my parents were raised in the communist era, and then, even when we were really little, it was still very much them not feeling like there was a good future for them to bring their children up in. So that's one of the main driving forces for me and my family to move here: wanting a better future for us, being able to go to school and get a higher education, and create a better future for ourselves,” said Infante.
Like Infante, Ace Memeti is another Southington business owner who is proud of his Albanian heritage. Born in Connecticut to Albanian parents, Memeti is the owner of Nonnas Pizza. He has also noticed a growth in the Albanian community in Southington, and says many are frequent customers.
“I have heard of them saying, 'Oh yeah, I bought a house in Southington. My kids go to Southington public schools,’ stuff like that. So I think that there is a growing population here,” said Memeti. “I've noticed here at the pizza place that I've been getting a lot of Albanian customers. It's so funny, because they'll call the pizza place, not knowing that whoever's going to answer the phone may not be able to speak Albanian, and they'll just start speaking Albanian to whoever answers the phone.”
The iconic Albanian flag, featuring the two-headed eagle, can be seen throughout Memeti’s shop. He says that it’s on purpose, as he wants to share the significance of the flag with visitors:
“When Albania declared independence in 1912, that was our flag. [It] stood for the 'land of the eagles,' and it symbolizes strength and diversity,” said Memeti.
Both Infante and Memeti are owners of businesses that serve Italian food or drinks. That is not an accident, Memeti says. Many of Southington’s pizza shops are Albanian-owned, and Memeti credits the local Italian-American community with helping recent Albanian immigrants find their way in their new home.
“They're kind of like our brother, you know. They kind of showed us the ropes, and taught us everything we need to know about pizzerias,” said Memeti. “I think that if it wasn't for the Italians, we wouldn't be anywhere today in the pizza industry.”
Infante’s coffee shop is also noticeably Italian-influenced. Her husband and business partner, Vincenzo, is Italian and the couple found that their Italian and Albanian cultures share similarities.
That shared culture inspired them to open Lions Den in 2020. Many of the pastries and drinks that are for sale have Southern European influences, and they’ve worked to curate an environment reminiscent of European coffee shops that local residents of Albanian and Italian cultures will feel at home in.
“It's a lot of that European lifestyle, where people work hard, but they also want to sit and relax and enjoy their free time, and not feel so rushed all the time,” said Infante.
Outside of her business, Infante and her husband are raising their three young children to be proud of their heritage. That means teaching them English, Italian and Albanian simultaneously, cooking traditional foods, sharing history and staying close with family.
“My parents still live in Waterbury, so whenever they stay with them, they pretty much only speak to them in Albanian. They're very used to the Albanian language, and they'll know what my parents are saying. They'll say words here and there,” said Infante. “Albanians are very proud of their culture and always want to share their culture with others. They take pride in what they do, and they're very loyal.”
