Gregorio Luciano
Founder and CEO of Dominican Magic
In case you’re wondering, Luciano has never made a lady levitate or disappear. In fact, it’s doubtful he knows a single card trick. But when you ink regional and national distribution deals with Target, Duane Reade, Sally, Rite Aid and Bed Bath & Beyond for your line of hair care products, it must feel pretty magical (pun intended). What began conceptually in his basement in the late 1990s, Luciano, a graduate of the State University of New York at Albany with a MS in Chemistry, launched Dominican Magic in 2003 but did not come to market with his first product until 2006. Today, his company – Luciano Brothers – manufactures and distributes a complete line of Dominican Magic products and recently moved into a 27,000 square-foot facility in Mount Vernon, New York with an investment of $1.8 million. A devout supporter of local communities, Luciano chose Mount Vernon as his headquarters to help boost economic development in an area with a significant African-American population, Dominican Magic’s largest consumer base. To support the aforementioned partnerships as well as demand in France, United Kingdom, Germany and soon Switzerland, Luciano has 32 employees and anticipates this number to increase substantially over the next 18 months, especially if his vision to expand into select African nations is realized. As Luciano puts it, his company’s mission is “to combine our African, European and indigenous roots with the American way of doing business by creating a company that our communities, families, customers, employees and shareholders feel proud about.” With quality products and a company that has blossomed rapidly, Luciano is not just fulfilling the mission but seems intent on making the world “believe” in magic; Dominican Magic that is.
