Actually, the Argento family tradition began more than a half century ago in Striano, Italy, a suburb of Naples. There, great grandfather Salvatore Argento made his living in the grinding trade, sharpening surgical instruments and knives. In the 1920s, he and his family immigrated to the United States, settling in New Jersey. But Westchester soon became familiar territory, as the young Luigi Argento mounted his motorcycle, equipped with sidecar and tools, and made his rounds of Westchester country clubs, announcing his arrival by the sound of his bugle. Eventually the family settled in White Plains, opening a small shop on Martine Avenue.
It was about that time in the 1920's that the hand mower appeared on the marketplace. Curious about this mechanical innovation, the Argentos' purchased a machine, dismantled it, marked each piece with chalk, ground and sharpened it and then put it back together. A new era in their business had begun.
In 1936, following the difficult Depression years, Argento and Sons moved their home and business to Grove Street in White Plains. Their son Sal, then a schoolboy, spent his mornings and evenings in the new store, carrying our chores and small repairs for his parents. Eventually, however, his father sent him off to work for a friend, Frank Amodio, who owned a nearby nursery. The advent of the rotary mower had made lawn and garden equipment servicing an important part of the business and Sal’s goal was to learn “everything there was about grass.” This education proved invaluable and also provided the opportunity to meet and eventually to marry Rose, a daughter of the Amodios'.
It was not until the invention of the snow blower that Argento and Sons became a full-time, year-round business. But the search for larger quarters in White Plains proved futile. Urban renewal planners had failed to zone areas for light industry and so the Argentos' selected a site on nearby Tarrytown Road where they built a modern showroom the display and repair of all types of lawn and garden equipment.
The opportunity to plan and construct a facility proved to have its advantages. A long-desired indoor cleaning room was included so that weather was no longer a factor in the servicing of equipment. To hold parts efficiently and to preserve them, the steel files from a local bank were acquired and for the comfort of both customers and staff, the entire building was air-conditioned. It now houses small tractors, riding and walking mowers, chain saws, leaf and snow blowers, weed eaters, hedge shears and every type of accessory. Though now a large business, the Argentos' have not lost touch with their enterprise. Scissor grinding and the sharpening of all cutting edges, including paper cutter blades and knives, is still done on the premises.
Each generation of the Argento family has brought change and growth to the business, with new ideas rising from a younger, more modern perspective. So it is with Louis, who like his father and grandfather before him learned the trade from childhood thorough and active role in the family business and a lengthy apprenticeship. New marketing, ordering and merchandising approaches have already been introduced and more innovation is planned.
Westchester County residents have grown to regard the Argentos' as good neighbors as well as reliable business people. Each generation has generously participated in the community that first gave them their welcome more than five decades ago. Sal and Rose Argento are especially active in civic and charitable matters, working hard for a number of organizations, including Westchester Lighthouse, White Plains Lions, United Way, The Salvation Army, The Boy Scouts and Cerebral Palsy.
The Argentos’ customers are often friends as well as patrons. They appreciate the experience and stability of a family business that has proved its fine reputation over so many generations, but perhaps more important is that Argento and Sons was here yesterday, is here today and will be here tomorrow to sell and service the products they sell to members of the community in which they live.
