In just a few days, a building on Congress Street will be torn down. This is not just any building, this building is an institution. Anyone who has lived in Portland during the last 70 years is familiar with Joe’s Smoke Shop.

This landmark store was originated by Joseph L. Discatio, a young son of Italian immigrant parents. He had a dream and a goal. He started Joe’s as a 10- by-30-foot shoe shine stand and smoke shop, a little “hole in the wall.”

With this small business, he earned a living and supported his family of seven children. In the late ’60s and early ’70s, he expanded it into the Joe’s Smoke Shop we know today. His love of the city of Portland and of his family earned him iconic stature in many circles.

Though the original Joe’s Smoke Shop and Joseph L. Discatio will no longer be with us, let his virtue and drive be a model which his family can follow.

Frank Discatio

son of Joseph L. Discatio

Windham


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