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So You Want to Open a Cheese Shop

A new generation of cheesemongers share their experiences launching retail stores in Illinois, California and Washington and some of the growing pains they've had along the way.

By Janet Fletcher

Turning a passion for artisan cheese into a successful storefront takes effort and a willingness to adjust an initial dream into a business that works. These twenty- and thirty-something entrepreneurs are part of a new generation of cheesemongers who have done just that by making tough concessions, creating new opportunities and always putting the customer first.

Marion Street Cheese Market, Oak Park, IL
Lydia Burns, 29, Cheese Buyer

What is your background in cheese?

I was working as an actor in New York City and needed a part-time job to subsidize that. I shopped at the Bedford Cheese Shop in Brooklyn, and they offered me a job.

What's your vision for your counter?

We focus as regionally as possible. I look for Midwest producers you won't find everywhere, like Bleu Mont and Capri Creamery, which makes interesting aged goat's milk cheese. We stock 200 cheeses, probably two-thirds domestic.

You're doing some wholesale business, too?

I deliver to more than 20 restaurants. The more that people are exposed to artisan cheeses in restaurants, the more they seek them out for home. A lot of the cheeses I use in the restaurant program are cheeses that other shops don't carry, like Alemar Cheese Company's Bent River, a Camembert-style cow's milk cheese.

The wholesale business is good for the retail counter because you see faster rotation. With large-format cheeses like Cabot Clothbound Cheddar, if I can sell half a wheel to a restaurant every week, then the half in the shop is always fresh.

What compromises have you had to make?

I've learned that sometimes my taste shouldn't be the sole dictator. At first I thought, only farmstead, only artisan, but you need to have better balance. In the Midwest, people want cheddar with peppers in it. If you carry a good example of cheese with peppers in it, that's a gateway to better cheddar. And it enables you to sell some of the more expensive cheeses on which you have to take a lower margin.

What have been some pleasant surprises?

Before this job, I worked for a couple of more "corporate" shops, and when I wanted to buy direct, the management complained that it was more work, more invoices. But Marion Street makes it a priority to support small producers, and that makes me a better monger because I'm talking directly to cheesemakers.

Mission Cheese, San Francisco, CA
Sarah Dvorak, 31, Proprietor

How did you get interested in cheese?

My first experience with cheese was working in the kitchen at [San Francisco restaurant] Jardinière. I staged there for four months on weekends. I realized I didn't want to be a chef, but I continued exploring cheese.

What was your vision for the shop? Or do you call it a restaurant?

I definitely don't call it a restaurant, but it has that component. The initial vision was a casual place for people to enjoy American cheeses, but I wanted to marry that idea with retail. We have about 650 square feet, with eight seats at the bar, 14 seats at café tables and six more seats outside.

We have about 60 cheeses at any given point, all domestic. We also offer four sandwiches each day, as well as macaroni and cheese, a simple raclette and a mixed green salad. We have cheese flights and wine and beer. The most popular item is the "Monger's Choice," with three cheeses, about an ounce apiece, sliced baguette, fresh or dried fruit and either olives or cornichons, for $10. Our most popular sandwich is "California Gold," a grilled-cheese sandwich with prosciutto and fig preserves.

What compromises have you had to make?

If it were only up to me, I'd just do cheese with some easy sides, plus wine and beer, but sandwiches help cash flow. One adjustment when we opened was figuring out, when people want retail cheese, how to give them the full retail experience. We've worked out a flow. Customers will sit down and have a cheese plate and then buy more of those cheeses to go. I would say only 10 percent of our business is retail, but we'll grow it.

Biggest hurdles in opening?

Money, which came mostly from friends and family and a micro-loan from the city. Traditional banks are out of the question; even the Small Business Administration was out of the question for a startup business.

Getting the staff to a place I was happy about was also challenging. It's not easy to find people who will embrace something you care so deeply about and treat it as their own. Now, before they come on board, they have a trial shift to see if they like it and if they gel with the team.

Highlight of your day?

It happens about once a day that someone comes in and says, "So, you only carry domestic cheese? That's awesome." I was bracing myself for backlash on that, but I've gotten very little.

Advice for others?

Give yourself flexibility in your hours of operation and procedures. The biggest complaint we get is that we close at 8 p.m., but my liquor license only allows me to stay open until then. Now I have to amend the license. I don't want to become a bar, but just two extra hours on Friday and Saturday would be a small sellout for a big payout.

The Calf & Kid Artisan Cheese Shop, Seattle, WA
Sheri LaVigne, 35, Proprietor

How did you become interested in cheese?

In college I went to France and stayed with friends in Burgundy. Every day we would have a snack of local cheese and wine. Later, when I was living in Brooklyn, N.Y., the Bedford Cheese Shop opened nearby. When I went in, it smelled like France. In 2005 I moved to Seattle and was astonished that I couldn't find a shop that provided a similar experience.

What was your vision for the shop?

Initially, I wanted to do something much bigger. What honed my vision was Steve Jones's "Food by Hand" seminar in Portland in 2009, a three-day intensive workshop. That experience made me realize that I needed to start as small as possible. Thinking small helped a lot in terms of funding, but also made it feel a lot more doable.

How did you choose your location?

Capitol Hill has high foot traffic, it's a hip neighborhood and people who live and hang out here have money to spend. The landlord wanted to create a market of high-end food vendors—Melrose Market—and a cheese shop fit in perfectly. There's an anchor restaurant, Sitka & Spruce, as well as a wine bar/shop, a florist, a butcher and a sandwich shop. My shop is only 500 square feet, but that's expanded by the communal space. I'm paying an atrocious amount per square foot, but it's worth it because of the traffic I get from having a shared customer base.

What's in your case?

About 70 to 90 cheeses at any one time with a comprehensive selection of Pacific Northwest cheeses. I have some not-widely-available French sheep's milk cheeses from the Larzac region, like Tomme de Hyelzas and Tomme d'Estaing. Our best sellers are Dinah's Cheese from Kurtwood Farms [on Vashon Island, off the coast of Seattle] and Yarmuth Farm Chevre, which is unbelievable—like ice cream.

Biggest challenges?

Space, definitely. I can't carry as much as I want to. And some cheeses that I love don't hold up well in a cut-to-order environment. One of the biggest hurdles is that some cheesemakers don't offer wholesale pricing. I understand that they need to make a living, but I can't afford to pay $32 a pound and then mark it up.

How do you hire and train?

I have people do a two-hour working interview on a slower day. It's a chance for me to see how comfortable they're going to be with customers. I need people who have a strong work ethic because I'm not going to try to make them have one. Some have cheese experience and some don't; but at the end of the day, it doesn't matter.

Most pleasant surprise?

I love how much people want to learn. I started doing Cheese 101 classes and the response has been unbelievable. Sitka & Spruce is closed on Sundays after brunch so we trade cheese for space. I do a two-hour afternoon tasting, and the shop is open afterward, so if they want to buy anything they tasted, they can. The classes have definitely brought in customers. |SFM|

Janet Fletcher is the weekly cheese columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle and the author of Cheese & Wine: A Guide to Selecting, Pairing and Enjoying.