Florence Ruggiero still remembers her and her siblings having to take off their skates before entering Termini Bros. Bakery, to avoid damaging the black and white floor tiles. That was over 70 years before this week’s overcast Friday morning, which saw Ruggiero among the many lining up outside the iconic South Philadelphia bakery, waiting to pick up one of those very tiles. “A little piece, not only of their history, but mine,” the 80-year-old told Billy Penn. 

Over the summer, third-generation owners and brothers Joseph and Vincent Termini Jr. announced the pending floor renovation mainly to inform customers of a temporary closure. In response, they received a flurry of comments from customers asking for pieces of the tile about to be pulled up, citing a range of memories connected to them.