By LAURA EVERAGE

Specialty Food Magazine and the National Association for Specialty Food Trade, Inc., (NASFT) are honored to present the six Outstanding Retailers of 2007, as nominated and selected by the nearly 2,500 members of the NASFT.

Despite diverse formats and different clientele, these retailers share a philosophy of making eating a pleasureable and educational experience. From an established Manhattan institution to a three-year-old European-style cheese shop in Chicago, from an eight-store specialty supermarket chain to a nearly century-old family farm turned retailer, each of this year’s winners are dedicated to providing shoppers with an array of high-quality, innovative, artisan specialty foods and beverages in attractive settings with the highest level of service.

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Central Market:
Texas’ Amusement Park for Food Lovers
The inspiration for Central Mar- ket began when Charles Butt, president of parent company H.E.B, a 300-store grocery chain in the U.S. and Mexico, acquired a tract of property in Austin. Butt was motivated to launch a concept for creatively selling the finest imported and domestic products while offering superior service—an amusement park for food lovers.

With the help of long-time H.E.B employee John Campbell, the first Central Market opened in Austin in 1994. Today, the company has eight stores throughout Texas, each offering a mind-boggling selection of everything edible. Once customers step inside, their senses are jolted by a colorful array of fruits and vegetables in conventional, organic and imported varieties. Then, the aroma of freshly baked focaccia, naan or signature Burgundy Walnut Bread draws them to the bakery. The taste of a chef-prepared Pomegranate Cranberry Couscous tempts their taste buds, while hands-on cooking classes inspire them to be accomplished home chefs.

Then there are the “foodies,” Central Market’s so-named employees, who are constantly ready to espouse their prolific knowledge about everything sold in the store’s departments, including produce, an 80-foot seafood case, meat, beer/wine, bulk foods, a healthy living section, specialty grocery, dairy, bakery, deli, a selection of 600 cheeses and prepared foods.

Butt believes that what sets the chain apart is its commitment to the importance of food beyond the plate. A multitude of learning opportunities such as in-store events, cooking school classes, an online newsletter, and active and passive demos makes Central Market a place to exchange and share ideas in addition to a dizzying selection of specialty foods.

Contact: Chris Bostard, Central Market, 2777 N. Stemmons, No. 1084, Dallas, TX 75207; 214.252.5921; www.centralmarket.com.  

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Fairway Market:
Great Food—in Volume
Fairway Market, a pioneering specialty food retailer, lives up to its motto in that it is “Like No Other Market.” Anyone in search of notable and hard-to-find foodstuffs, as well as those looking for everyday staples, can find them in one of the four New York-based Fairway stores: the original on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, outposts in Harlem and Plainview, Long Island, and the massive emporium opened last year in Red Hook, Brooklyn.

Originally established in the 1940s as a full-service fruit and vegetable store, Fairway today offers more than 35,000 items, with selections that traverse prepared foods, smoked fish, baked goods, organic and natural foods, cheeses and other dairy products. It is all about great food—in volume: More than 15,000 liters of olive oil, 7 tons of coffee, and 37,000 boxes of Clementines head out of the market’s doors on a weekly basis.

“We are food people,” asserts Howard Glickberg, owner and grandson of the founder. “We have been doing this all our lives. When we make a decision about food to offer our customers, we’ve had it in our hands, we’ve eaten it in our homes, and we’ve done all that we can to ensure that it is of high quality.”

The Glickbergs rely on the core staff at Fairway, many of whom are considered experts in their fields. “We try to find employees who know more than we do. We give them autonomy to make decisions that will make Fairway a destination store,” says Dan Glickberg, fourth-generation owner.

“We are all like a family here, and all of our employees take pride in the businesss,” adds Howard. “Unlike big corporations who worry solely about the bottom line, we take care of our customers by offering them the finest foods available at the absolute best prices. And, when you take care of the customer, the bottom line takes care of itself.”

Contact: Dan Glickberg, Fairway Market, 480-500 Van Brunt St., Red Hook, Brooklyn 11204; 718.694.6868; www.fairwaymarket.com.

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Pastoral:
Sonoma Meets Tuscany Meets Provence
Pastoral in Chicago has yet to celebrate its third birthday, but has gained local and national attention for an array of delicious specialties and great customer service.
“We think of ourselves as Sonoma meets Tuscany meets Provence, but specific to none,” explains Greg O’Neill, co-owner of the European-inspired market. Since opening in August 2004, O’Neill and business partner Ken Miller have focused on making the customer experience educational, approachable, fun and appetizing.

O’Neill and Miller set out to create a place where they could showcase small-batch, hand-crafted products in an intimate environment with attentive and thoughtful service. Eschewing mass-produced goods, they gathered artisan offerings from near and far and created what O’Neill calls “an adult candy store for those who love food and wine.”
Nearly 600 items are packed into the 382-square-foot store. More than 20 artisan cheeses are on hand as well as fresh-from-the-oven breads, small-production wines, a gourmet olive bar, international charcuterie, sandwiches and packaged goods.  

But it isn’t just great products that help Pastoral ring up sales that are nearly six times the industry average per square foot. “Our success is attributed to the people, product and process,” explains O’Neill. “The people must be passionate about the other two in order for it to work.” Pastoral has assembled a first-class team, including Fromager Daniel Sirko and Sommelier Jan Henrichsen, who “bring a great deal of expertise and passion from which our employees learn,” he adds.

A focus on being who they are and staying true to their governing principles helps Pastoral’s owners remain competitive with larger players. “We carry only what we can represent well and honestly,” O’Neill says.

Contact: Greg O’Neill, Pastoral, 2945 N. Broadway, Chicago, IL 60657; 773.472.4782; www.pastoralartisan.com.

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Sickles Market:
99 Years of Field-to-Table Expertise
In 1908, the Sickles family set up a seasonal farm stand to supply locals with freshly picked produce. The first day, they pulled in $35 for their efforts. Today, third-generation-owner Bob Sickles still offers customers produce grown on the family farm, but as only one part of the business. In 1998, the Little Silver, N.J.-based Sickles Market transformed itself into a year-round specialty food store and garden center, maintaining gross annual sales of $10 million.

Sickles is a local market in every sense of the word. Bob’s father is still growing raspberries, blackberries and tomatoes on a five-acre parcel of the original farm. The family also continually purchases from area farmers to bring customers the finest
seasonal produce.
 
The Sickles Market facility sits on more than six acres of land, about 45 minutes from Manhattan in an affluent N.J. suburb. Nearly 15,000 square feet of space is dedicated to retail. In addition to produce, Sickles sells artisan baked goods, imported and domestic cheeses, European-style butters and caviar.

However, Bob Sickles doesn’t shun everyday products. “I want to offer my customers value-priced items,” he explains. “But I also want to show them that there is a quality difference between $3.99 Cheddar and a $25 artisan-produced Cheddar. Many Americans didn’t have the best food choices available to them. As a result, there is still a lot of education to do.”

Sickles is a community fixture that participates in various charities; last year its annual fundraiser brought in more than $80,000 for a local charity that brings holiday music to disadvantaged people in institutions and soup kitchens.
 
Community outreach—along with top-quality products and superior service—are the principles that have grown the retailer’s success for nearly a century, and will be the foundation for the next 100 years. 

Contact: Bob Sickles, Sickles Market, 1 Harrison Ave., Little Silver, NJ 07739; 732.741.9563; www.sicklesmarket.com.

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Liberty Heights Fresh:
Authentic Food Evangelists
Since opening Liberty Heights Fresh 14 years ago, Owner Steven Rosenberg has been committed to offering the Salt Lake City community food that is innovative, fresh, and in his words, “authentic.”

“I think that passion for authentic food is in my DNA,” says Rosenberg, who spent his youth on his family’s orchard enjoying the bounty of fruits and vegetables the land supplied. Much of what is available at Liberty Heights Fresh is grown and produced by family farms and traditional producers using artisan methods. Rosenberg is unwavering in his commitment to ensure that the food he offers is just that—food. “Read the ingredients on the product packaging and you won’t see anything but food,” he notes.

Rosenberg packs nearly 2,500 products in the 2,350-square-foot location, which once served as a filling station and is now a spot where customers fuel up on the latest local, regional, national and international specialty foods. Products span from traditional specialty groceries to locally grown and organic fruits and vegetables, fresh meat, artisan breads, organic dairy, farmstead and artisan cheese, charcuterie, party platters and gift baskets. A successful catering menu enables the merchant to expand its reach into the community, helping drive traffic back into the store and growing weekly transactions to about 2,000. As a locally owned business, Liberty Heights Fresh also gives back to the community by donating time, money and food to local events.

Rosenberg is diligent in educating customers at every opportunity, a commitment that is necessary “when much of the discretionary income of the locals often goes to the church,” he explains. His efforts have been making an impression: He was recently named as one of the best and the brightest in Utah’s dining scene in the 10th Annual Dining Awards presented by Salt Lake City magazine. Within the article, he was dubbed the “Food Evangelist,” a name he admits he never considered for himself, but that may be appropriate. “I can be a bit preachy when educating customers,” he explains. “But I want them to know what we stand for and to truly understand our commitment to offering them the highest quality foods.”

Contact: Steven Rosenberg, Liberty Heights Fresh, 1300 S. 1100, East Salt Lake City, UT 84105; 801.583.7374; www.libertyheightsfresh.com.

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Dorothy Lane Market:
Investigative Food Travelers
You could call Calvin Mayne and the staff at Dorothy Lane Market “investigative food travelers.” Not necessarily in search of the next big thing, their goal is instead to immerse themselves in food and its culture. It is only when they fully understand a product, that they’ll consider selling it at one of their three Dayton, Ohio, specialty food supermarkets.

“We study the details behind the products we bring in,” explains Mayne. “We find the interesting story to tell our customers. We have as much fun learning about and telling the story  as we do eating the food.”

Whether looking for olive oil from Sicily or preserves from Michigan, shoppers can be sure that Dorothy Lane staff have done their homework. Scott Fox, bakery director, spent time in France learning from award-winning chefs the French method of fermentation. “The genesis of our present-day baguette is from that trip in the mid-1990s,” says Mayne. “I believe that it rivals the French version in taste and texture.” Today, baguettes outsell other top-selling breads three to one.

Dorothy Lane offers customers an unforgettable shopping experience—33,000 selections in meat, deli, bakery, wine, seafood, cheese, health foods, produce, floral and grocery categories. Customers purchase an average $400,000 worth of goods on a weekly basis.

The store is a leader in produce, and in fact originally opened in 1948 as a fruit stand. Today, the merchant maintains an exciting and tasteful array that includes more than 200 organic items.

Mayne doesn’t shy away from a product because of the price. “If we believe in something, even if it is more expensive to sell, we go the extra step to put it out there for our customers,” he explains. “Eventually, they will try it.”

 “Food is a constant subject of our conversations. I think this is what makes us different from other stores,” continues Mayne.

Contact: Calvin Mayne, Dorothy Lane Market, 6177 Far Hills Ave., Dayton, OH 45459; 937.439.4210; www.dorothylane.com.

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Laura Everage is a freelance writer specializing in food and beverages and former managing editor of The Gourmet Retailer.