Franco Cozzo's Daughters Reopen Melbourne Furniture Icon

A promise made at the dinner table has brought a Melbourne icon back to life.

Franco Cozzo's four daughters reopened their father's Brunswick furniture store over the weekend, three years after the animated businessman passed away at age 88. The showroom on Sydney Road had been closed for five years, but the Cozzo sisters never forgot their father's worry that the next generation wouldn't continue his legacy.

"Dad said, 'I don't think you guys are going to continue,'" recalls daughter Alessia Cozzo. "And we all said, 'No Papa, we're going to bring back the shop and the sales through generations and generations.'"

Franco Cozzo became a Melbourne cultural phenomenon in the 1980s with his exuberant television commercials, distinctive Italian accent, and famous "Megalo!" catchphrase. At a time when many European migrants flattened their accents to fit in, Cozzo proudly pronounced Footscray as "Foot-iz-kraay" and brought Sicilian flair to Australian living rooms.

He started as a door-to-door salesman in 1959 before opening his first showroom in North Melbourne. By the late 1960s, he'd built his most famous location, a three-story palace in Footscray that operated until 2018.

Why This Inspires

Filmmaker Madeleine Martiniello, who documented Cozzo's career in the 2021 film "Palazzo di Cozzo," says his impact went beyond business. "Franco presented to Melbourne an example of what a migrant can achieve when they come to this country, not just in an entrepreneurial sense, but in a cultural sense as well."

The reopening weekend celebrated that heritage with complimentary cannoli and an Italian tricolour archway. The store features a dedicated room honoring Franco, filled with his signature baroque furniture and a tribute wall.

Despite skeptics wondering if anyone still wants ornate Sicilian-style furniture in 2026, demand remained strong during the closure. Martiniello notes the customer base is surprisingly diverse, from older Italian migrants to younger shoppers with a postmodern appreciation for the bold aesthetic.

The four Cozzo daughters are proving that some legacies are too precious to let fade. They've transformed their father's entrepreneurial dream into something even bigger: a living monument to migrant success, cultural pride, and family promises kept.