By Ron Tanner

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.

“We sell a broad selection of specialty products and provide a service level not seen in many retail environments,” says McCarthy, who purchased the business in 2001 after a 17-year career with Torrefazione and Seattle’s Best Coffee.

Along with the fishmongers made famous in the inspirational book Fish, DeLaurenti has become a pillar of the revitalized Pike Place Market. The personal spark initiated by McCarthy, plus an extensive remodel, has helped the 6,500-square-footer jump from $2.7 million in sales in 2001 to an anticipated $3.8 million this year, a leap of nearly 41 percent.

Pete’s Italian Grocery
In 1946, Pete DeLaurenti opened an Italian market in downtown Seattle called Pete’s Italian Grocery. He ran the store for 27 years, then passed it on to his son Lou, who continued the Italian market tradition.

After 30 years of the grocery grind, DeLaurenti was considering selling the business. Enter Pat McCarthy, a leader of the Seattle coffee culture and former owner of Seattle’s Best Coffee.

McCarthy recalls, “We had sold our coffee business to AFC Enterprises (corporate owner of Starbucks), and were working in upper management within that organization. Much of my responsibility involved wholesale. The job was challenging, but it was not fun anymore.

“I missed the excitement of being in touch with customers. That’s what I loved about the coffee business, seeing people in the store and creating something that pleased them. I missed the excitement of retail.”

DeLaurenti Specialty Food and Wine was an ideal opportunity. It had a stellar reputation as an Italian grocery, and was Seattle’s top source for cheese. There was a loyal customer base from locals and tourists, yet also an opportunity to update the look and invigorate the personnel.

In 2001, McCarthy and his partners Pat McDonald and Matt Gavlin purchased the business. He set out to instill a coffee mentality into the Italian specialty market.

Seattle Coffeehouse Secrets
Although McCarthy tweaked the product mix, he was content to operate as an Italian specialty market, at least at the outset. His initial management challenge was to encourage a change in attitude.

“The staff was tired,” says McCarthy. “People answered questions and made sales, but they did not make customers feel happy.”

“The ability to please the customer has built the specialty coffee business,” adds Matt Snyder, general manager and one of McCarthy’s first hires. “At Seattle’s Best and Starbucks, people are, hopefully, served by somebody who cares about their request, whether it be a regular coffee or a decaf latte with skim milk. We wanted our employees to have the same ‘Can-I-help-you?’ attitude.”

Gradually, the staff began to turn over, and McCarthy brought in people like himself, people who feel personal satisfaction from serving customers. The attitudinal adjustment took awhile. McCarthy says, “The ‘people’ quality that we were seeking is something that you cannot teach. It’s just within a person.”

Sales gradually grew. But the physical attributes of the market were also tired. So, in February 2003, McCarthy and crew invested in a total remodeling, closing the market for 29 days to complete the transformation.

“The store had some old qualities,” McCarthy says. “For instance, the floor was slanted with dips and curves, like a putting green at a PGA Championship course.”

A new floor, new shelving and refrigeration were all put in. A POS system was installed to help manage inventory. The street entrance was moved to the corner of Pike Place Market, encouraging tourists on busy First Avenue to come into the market’s café, which was made visible from the street.

Yet while much is new, the market still retains the character of an Italian specialty store. McCarthy remarks, “We wanted the store to operate more efficiently, but we did not change the atmosphere. Customers liked the way we were.”

Connie Bennett, deli manager, adds, “We have been able to make this a multi-generational store. The older shoppers who have come here for decades still like it, but we also have built a following among people in their 20s and 30s, the coffee generation.”

Seattle’s Best in Cheese
Long renowned as Seattle’s premier cheese shop, DeLaurenti maintains a strong cheese emphasis. Entirely a service operation, cheese accounts for 25 percent of sales, approximately $18,270 per week. The store offers a selection of 250 cheeses, ranging from well-known Italian favorites such as Parmigiano-Reggiano to small-production Washington state cheeses such as Port Madison.

Cheeses are listed on the market’s website; the listing runs 16 pages. Here are the A’s: Abbaye de Tamie (cow), Aboncance (cow), Aged Bra (cow), Agour (sheep), Agour au Lait Cru (sheep), Agour Brique (sheep), Albeniz (goat), Antico Mugello (sheep), Ardrahan (cow), Artivaggio (cow), Asiago Domestic (cow), Asiago Italian (cow), Asiago Fresca (cow) and Azeitao (sheep). And the B’s have five times as many cheeses as the A’s.

“We are a cheese shop for everybody, from people who are looking for common cheeses such as fresh mozzarella from Wisconsin for an easy tomato salad, to connoisseurs that want to taste small-production European cheeses with DOP designations,” says Bennett, cheese buyer for 15 years.

All cheese is displayed in bulk, and cut and weighed to customer’s specifications. Everything can be tasted. By far the busiest place in the store, on Fridays and Saturdays, the lines at the cheese counter can be long, despite the fact that ten employees work there.

The adjacent service meat case is filled with products such as soppressata, prosciutto and pâté. On the day this reporter was visiting, the father of Food Network’s Mario Batali had stopped by to encourage DeLaurenti to carry his specialty meat products, including a pancetta dusted with cinnamon.

Shelf-stable specialty foods are merchandised on rich-looking wooden shelving that angles toward the cheese and deli cases. Although the market has some American-made specialty foods, the mix is primarily European, mostly Italian.

“We had a period when we focused on top-end specialty foods, but our customers were not interested in paying $14 for seven ounces of eggplant,” says McCarthy. “Now, we have a broad spectrum of products. For instance, we carry a lot of items from Sclafani. It looks like a supermarket brand, but the quality is good and they are reasonably priced.”

“We still specialize in the ingredients necessary to create a great Italian meal,” adds Snyder. “Although many of our shoppers only cook on Sunday, they want that experience to be great. We help them accomplish that with knowledgeable people and approachable products.”

Pizza by the Slice
The diverse clientele that DeLaurenti services is evidenced in the café. The market has a window through which people on the street can purchase pizza by the slice; it also makes gorgonzola and walnut ravioli for the more sophisticated crowd.

The visibility of the café was an important aspect of the renovation. Since installing seating and making the products more noticeable, the section’s share of sales has jumped from 2 percent to 12 percent, approximately $8,800 per week.

The lunch menu is simple, consisting of Pizza by the Slice ($2 - $2.75), Panini ($4.99), Salads ($2.99 - $4.99) and Soup ($2.25 - $3.50). All feature fresh and packaged products from the market. For instance, the Misto panini includes mortadella, dry salami, asiago, and Mama Lil’s peppers on an Essential Baking ciabatta. There is also a complete coffee bar with Café Umbria coffee.

DeLaurenti also prepares a broad selection of fresh products, which are sold either frozen or refrigerated. Fifteen flavors of ravioli are created in the tiny kitchen upstairs; popular selections include Four Cheese, Butternut Squash and Crab. Ravioli are priced at $5.99 for 8 ounces. Vegetable lasagna, gnocchi, alfresco sauce, pizza sauce and pesto are among the 40 products created on-site.

The most recent push has been on wine, which currently accounts for 19 percent of sales. Merchandised on the second level, wine is slowly building a following, in large part due to the personal touch of Maggie Dutton, one of only a handful of Certified Wine Educators (CWE) in the state of Washington.

Inspired by the greatest of traditional Italian markets, yet with the personal touch of Seattle’s coffee culture, DeLaurenti Specialty Food and Wine is combining the old with the new to create a successful 21st-century retail market.

Ron Tanner is the editor of Specialty Food Magazine.