Keeping the spirit of a small fourth-generation store while adding e-retailing, an upscale wine shop and a major expansion takes an eye to the future and a firm grounding in the past. Lou Di Palo of Di Palo’s Fine Foods guides us through the store’s evolution.
Custom Taylored
April 30, 2009
This Sacramento specialty retailer stays true to its butcher shop roots by serving only freshly cut meat and putting a premium on personal service.
A Grand Canyon
December 22, 2008
Two specialty food retail veterans bring heirloom produce, prepared foods and artisan breads to the natural food devotees of San Francisco’s diverse Glen Park neighborhood.
Temptation in Every Aisle
November 4, 2008
New Jersey’s Eden Gourmet offers 20,000 specialty items, 300 cheeses, 30 varieties of fresh salads and an attention-getting indoor atrium with a two-story water curtain. And that’s just the beginning.
Great Balls of Mozzarella!
October 30, 2008
Prepared fresh three or four times daily, this cheese is a favorite with Fernanda’s exacting Ft. Lauderdale customers, as is the store’s extensive wine selection.
Re-Launching an Original
July 30, 2008
When the Westside Market on New York's Upper West Side had to close for three years, many thought it would lose all but its core customers. But—with specialty products galore—this retailer has reclaimed its neighborhood.
Cheese Plus: San Francisco's Soup-to-Nuts Cheese Store
July 29, 2008
Staying flexible about everything from his concept to his merchandising has helped Ray Bair launch a successful specialty food store and cheese school offshoot in one of America's most competitive markets.
Nehring's Family of Markets
July 25, 2008
After a career working for some of Milwaukee's best-known names in specialty retail, John Nehring and wife Anne have branched out to create their own growing stable of specialty food ventures.
Staying True to Their Roots
July 24, 2008
This socially conscious Maryland specialty retailer focuses on clean labels, organic produce, natural pet food, gluten-free beer and more to satisfy its discerning customers.
The Bridgemarket Experience
March 3, 2008
Food Emporium's flagship Manhattan store is a dramatic example of how this grocer is bringing a fine foods concept to its neighborhood stores.
The People's Co-op
February 25, 2008
From the solar panels on its roof to the anticipated purchase of a small organic farm, this creative co-op is helping to sustain the environment, the community and itself.
Sprouts Farmers Market:
July 1, 2007
As I walked into the new Sprouts Farmers Market in South Chandler, Ariz., I was greeted by the sound system playing the 1960s favorite, “I’m Into Something Good.”
Sunflower Market:Taking the Bite Out of Organics
May 10, 2007
The idea behind Sunflower Market, a new Midwest natural and organic retail chain, is an inspired one: Connect to the organic consumer for whom price may currently be a barrier.
Top Taste: Scouting the Specialty Food Frontier
February 28, 2007
It’s tempting to use the term pioneer when talking about Top Taste, a Sioux Falls, S.D., specialty food store that focuses on fine foods, natural meats and gifts. In part, it’s the frontier-country location, with its conjured images of Wild Bill Hickock and Lewis and Clark’s expedition. But mostly, it’s because the store is following the same trailblazing history that specialty food retailers have for decades—fostering shoppers’ initial hesitation with unfamiliar products into zealous discovery.
Shubie’s Marketplace: The Cornerstone of Marblehead
November 7, 2006
He started out doing his mother a favor. In 1977, George Shube returned to help out at Shubie’s Marketplace, a neighborhood grocery and wine store in Marblehead, Mass., which his father opened in 1948. In the ensuing nearly 30 years, Shube, along with wife Carol, has overseen the store’s expansion to a specialty food and wine shop packed with 7,000 shelf-stable and freshly prepared items, a cheese case, café and prospering catering and housewares departments.
Columbus’ The Hills Market: Connected to Local Roots
September 12, 2006
The Hills Market is keeping it real. When Nancy Kerscher, owner of the Columbus, Ohio independent, decided to retire recently, she took no chances with the sale of her beloved store. She was sure an inside sale to four dedicated employees who where already intimately tied to the business, would keep the market connected to its roots.
She was right.
Fairway Red Hook:
July 28, 2006
Spices, grains, coffee and international foodstuffs have not been found at the foot of Van Brunt Street in Red Hook, Brooklyn, since its once-booming port quieted more than a half century ago. Today, these provisions are back in abundance—available at the new mammoth Fairway market on the waterfront, opened on May 17.
Kowalski’s: An Ambassador for Specialty Supermarkets
May 2, 2006
During a ten-year stint as Store of the Month reporter for Progressive Grocer magazine, I made countless retail pilgrimages to the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. With powerhouse retailers and wholesalers such as Byerly’s, Lunds, Super Valu, Cub Foods and Rainbow Foods, much of the innovation in the supermarket world happened in the North Country.
Foodsource by Clemens: A Freshness Fixation
March 8, 2006
At Foodsource by Clemens, the commitment to freshness approaches obsession. The perimeter is truly the centerpiece. Whereas many supermarkets are center-store focused, Foodsource spotlights freshness and chef-level quality throughout its perishable departments—from its 2,000-recipe prepared foods selection to the 12-flavor gelato bar.
Aspire Markets: A Healthful Oasis in the Arizona Desert
January 10, 2006
When Debbie Shapos began shopping the Fancy Food Show for products to fill her 5,000-square-foot specialty store in Scottsdale, Ariz., a culinary source for consumers on restricted diets, many suppliers thought she was at the wrong venue.
Pear's Gourmet: Omaha's Latest Food Marketer
November 1, 2005
Watch out, Amazon. Beware, Hickory Farms. There’s a new online food marketer on the block with top-notch products and savvy management.
John Larsen and Jim Simon are the masterminds behind Pear’s Gourmet, an aggressive mail-order and website marketer which launched in September 2005. Building upon a 90-year-old Omaha wholesale business with a smattering of retail sales, this duo is bringing the marketing of freshly roasted nuts, coffees and corporate gifts into the Internet age.
Brooklyn’s Union Market:
The New Neighborhood Corner Store
October 7, 2005
Although visually reminiscent of a destination specialty shop in Manhattan, the 4,000-square-foot Union Market exists solely for its Brooklyn neighborhood. Tucked away on the laid-back streets of Park Slope, Union Market serves an eclectic community whose character is defined by hip cafes, neighborhood restaurants and tree-lined streets filled with Victorian brownstones, townhouses and young middle-class couples pushing double-wide baby strollers.
Sunset Boulevard's Bustling Cheese Shop
September 1, 2005
After 25 years working in the music business as a tour manager for high-profile rock acts such as Billy Idol and Sammy Hagar, Chris Pollan felt burnt out and ready for a career change. Luckily, he had a friend (and former music biz associate) who owned The Cheese Shop of Beverly Hills. The friend offered Pollan a job and helped him transition out of the realm of rock-and-roll and into the world of retail specialty foods.
Jerry's Gourmet & More: Italian in North Jersey
June 7, 2005
Gennaro (Jerry) Turci has brought the ambiance of Peck’s in Milan to an industrial section of Englewood, N.J.
Born as a warehouse selling perfume, soaps and cosmetics, Jerry’s Gourmet & More has evolved into a bustling Italian food emporium, filled with more than 10,000 traditional prepared foods, fresh and packaged goods, cheese, wine and gifts. Sales at this Outstanding Retailer of 2005 total $116,000 weekly.
Southport Grocery and Café: Chicago’s Thriving Hybrid
May 9, 2005
Here’s an unusual recipe for success. Take a Certified Public Accountant, send her to culinary school. Toss in a 50-year-old funeral home and stir. The result: Southport Grocery and Café, a “modern, simple and fun food experience.”
The Gourmet Stop: Small Luxuries in an Untapped Suburb
April 8, 2005
With custom-built display cases and spacious presentation, the food is decidedly the centerpiece of The Gourmet Stop, an 1,100-square-foot specialty food shop in Collingswood, N.J., a suburb of Philadelphia. But the extensive amount of customer interaction inside and outside the store’s walls is the market’s cornerstone.
Leibman’s Resurrected
February 17, 2005
On December 23, 2003, Ettienne Leibman flew to Disney World with her grandchildren. There was not much she could do in Houston; her specialty food store, a labor of love for 24 years, had burned to the ground three days prior, just in time for the holiday rush.
Andronico’s Market:A 75-Year-Old Family Grocer Faces the Future
January 14, 2005
The middle-ground is not a safe place to be in food retailing. With low ballers such as Wal-Mart going after the price business and quality merchants like Whole Foods skimming dollars from the top, the chain supermarket is being squeezed from both ends.
DeLaurenti Specialty Food and Wine:
Starbucks Meets Balducci's
October 25, 2004
Pat McCarthy, owner of DeLaurenti Specialty Food and Wine in Seattle’s Pike Place Market, has brought the service
philosophy of specialty coffee shops to an historic Italian market, combining the best of the new and old worlds.
Kaune Foodtown: Santa Fe’s Specialty Grocer
October 22, 2004
When Henry Spencer Kaune established a grocery store in downtown Santa Fe, N.M., in 1896, he introduced a sparkling new specialty food—Coca Cola. Offering a selection that included “dried beans to caviar,” the transplanted Illinoisan’s food store has been central to the Santa Fe community for 108 years.
Hiller's Market: From Spam to Prosciutto di Parma
September 3, 2004
When Sidney Hiller opened a butcher shop on Michigan Avenue in Detroit some 63 years ago, his commitment to quality, selection and value was the key to success. Today, run by his son Jim, (Sid, at 91, still makes weekly rounds) Hiller’s is still guided by its original vision but has morphed into six markets in metro Detroit offering much more than just meat.
Slight Indulgence: West Virginia's Fun Wine and Food Source
July 6, 2004
Walking into J.C. and Suzy Warman’s Slight Indulgence in Morgantown, W. Va., is like visiting an old friend—a friend with an open bottle of wine and some salty snacks to share.
The Market at Pinnacle Point
June 11, 2004
Whereas food retailers around the country panic over the proximity of Wal-Mart, one specialty food store has found success literally in its backyard. Located in Rogers, Ark., about five miles from the mass market chain’s Bentonville headquarters, The Market at Pinnacle Point is the place where Wal-Mart executives shop.
Dorothy Lane Market: A Personal Chef for Dayton Consumers
April 26, 2004
Dorothy Lane Market has always defined itself by its exemplary
customer service. Rather than lose sight of that principle as it grew from a roadside produce stand into a three-store, $60-million specialty supermarket, Dorothy Lane has moved with the changing times to fortify the service commitment.
In•gre’di•ents: The Source for Adventurous Cooks
April 1, 2004
It’s better the second time around—or at least more fun. That’s how Julie and Dave Bursey feel about In•gre’di•ents Specialty Food Shoppe, their two-year-old store located on the main street of New London, N.H., a picture-perfect New England town.
Uppercrust Productions: Artisan Baking and Bistro Cuisine
February 27, 2004
“Spirit” is a word that comes up often when talking to Jacqueline Dufty, proprietor of Gainesville, Fla.’s Uppercrust Productions, a specialty bakery and retailer. She speaks of not only following a recipe, but also capturing the spirit—be it of a single pastry product or an entire cuisine. It’s that respect and passion for all things culinary that led Dufty to grow a hobby into one of the first artisan bakeries in the U.S.
Coopers Gourmet: Cheese and Wine for the Castro
December 23, 2003
Five years ago, the benches on the corner of Sanchez and Duboce were removed. Vagrants fueled with cheap wine from the corner liquor store were sleeping there, creating a scourge in what was still a rough and drug-infested neighborhood.
Today, the blacked-out corner liquor store is a glistening specialty food gem filled with 125 specialty cheeses, Café Umbria coffee and Citizen Cake pastries. Twenty-dollar bottles of Rioja have replaced the pints of Mogen David. “We have been a focal point of this neighborhood’s turnaround,’ says 35-year-old Art Herrera, co-owner of the 1,400-square-foot Coopers Gourmet.
A Southern Season: The Nordstrom of Specialty Food
October 31, 2003
The staggering numbers almost tell the story of A Southern Season?s new flagship emporium: 59,000 square feet of space, 75,000 items, 10-day Grand Opening, 100 events, 600,000 distributed announcements, 50-seat state-of-the-art cooking school, eight departments, and nine demo stations.
Central Market: Fresh and Specialty Foods, Texas Style
October 6, 2003
They do everything big in Texas. Quantity defines the state. At Central Market, that translates into 75,000-square-foot markets that carry 700 varieties of fresh produce, 80 varieties of saltwater and freshwater fish, 60 types of homemade sausages, 600 varieties of cheese and 13,000 specialty foods, all in one location.
Tuller Premium Food: The New Kid in Brooklyn
June 20, 2003
“The most flavor per square inch in New York.” That’s how Eric Asimov, writing in the New York Times, described Tuller Premium Food.
Guido’s Fresh Marketplace:
Best of the Berkshires
May 27, 2003
Imagine the dream: Five driven, opinionated, passionate food retailers, working together to create a fresh marketplace that appeals to the worldly and wealthy consumers of western Massachusetts.
The Cheese Shop: Indianapolis’ Small-Town Mall Store
May 1, 2003
Though positioned in an expansive shopping mall and offering a decidedly high-end product selection, The Cheese Shop in Indianapolis manages to maintain a small-town atmosphere. Owner Bryon Meyer and his staff encourage a rapport with customers that extends to sponsoring children’s sports teams and providing complimentary party trays for local charities’ meetings. Customers often send in their own college-aged children for summer jobs.
Lazy Acres Market: A Powerhouse in Santa Barbara
April 18, 2003
Lazy Acres: The name conjures up an image of a quiet farm market, filled with bushel baskets of apples, maybe some corn husks. An employee or two hang around in case somebody wants to purchase a head of lettuce.
Atlanta’s Star Provisions: A Chef-Owned Specialty Shop
February 18, 2003
When Atlantans want to shop like a chef, they go to Star Provisions, a chef-owned shop filled with fine foie gras, artisan cheese, succulent seafood, decadent desserts and tasteful tableware.
Olives Gourmet Foods: Swift Success in the Pacific Northwest
January 7, 2003
Strom Peterson and Michael Young met in sixth grade in arid Albuquerque, N.M. in 1977. Twenty-five years later, they would become business partners nearly 1,000 miles away on the shores of Puget Sound.
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