Retailer Profile: Le Beau Market

For more than a quarter-century, this San Francisco retailer has seen other specialty stores in its Nob Hill neighborhood come and go. By engaging the community with good food and big ideas, Le Beau has held its footing as a mainstay among locals.

by Eva Meszaros
Photos by Eva Meszaros

Joseph Omran gives credit where credit is due. His corner grocery shop, Le Beau Market, in the tiny San Francisco district of Nob Hill, has survived and thrived in its 27 years under Omran’s ownership. He attributes the success adamantly to the continued support of the neighborhood and its denizens. “Without them,” he says, “we would’ve blow away into the wind.”

To show his thanks over the years, Omran has committed himself and his market to the neighborhood, learning his customers’ needs, seeking out quality goods with an emphasis on seasonal and local products and playing an active role to improve not only his store but the community as a whole.

A Simple Goal

Departing from their careers as account executives at Merrill Lynch to start their own business, Omran and his older brother George came across a rundown grocery store in the well-to-do Nob Hill neighborhood on the corner of Leavenworth and Clay. The store held appeal to Omran, who had some food retail experience from helping in his parents’ small grocery shop, where he picked up his customer skills, and working at various markets as a college student.

“Our initial target was just: Be a good food store,” Omran recalls. While Nob Hill residents generally had the means to support a specialty grocery store, the brothers quickly learned that a solely high-end market wouldn’t fly. They settled on an array of products that could meet any customer’s needs. “You can come here and get your everyday items, and if you feel like you want to splurge, there’s stuff you can do that with too,” Omran says.

A few years passed, and George was ready to move on from the business, so Omran bought him out. In 1999, after taking on full ownership, he invested in an extensive store remodel, which included all new refrigeration and flooring without expanding the space. The 2,700-square-foot store stands out on the inclined street, thanks to a giant mural—designed by members of the Clarion Alley Mural Project, a San Francisco–based artists’ collective—that has spanned the exterior east-facing wall of the building since 2003.

Community Drives Direction

The neighborhood is near famed tourist sites Fisherman’s Wharf and Pier 39, but removed enough from the bustle of the city’s main attractions to feel like a sleepy suburb. A wide sidewalk allows room for a pair of simple metal café tables and chairs in front of the market’s colorful mural. Sitting outside one fall afternoon, Omran greets nearly every passerby with a smile or a brief chat, leaving little doubt that Le Beau is more than just business.

Inside, products lining the shelves are equally indicative of the store’s relationship with its patrons. Omran calls much of the inventory customer-driven, noting that regulars often come in with requests for certain products, empty container in hand. Such requests have included local favorite Toffee Talk candies, cookies and brittle from Applebaum Bakery, Tcho and Fearless Chocolates, Bob’s Red Mill grains, Vicolo pizzas, Organic Pastures raw milk, and ice creams from Jeni’s and Ciao Bella.

Omran and his staff look for trends in these requests, further tailoring the selection toward customer needs. “Tastes are always changing, that’s the one thing you can depend on,” Omran says. Even fly-by-night fads must be considered to keep shoppers coming back. “I have to listen to my customers,” he adds. “They’re the ones who pay the bills.”

Department managers or specialists oversee product selection in their respective areas of Dairy/Deli, Produce, Frozen Food, Beverage/Beer, Wine, and Candy. Though the emphasis is on local products, national and international brands have shelf space as well. For instance, the wine selection includes Northern California wineries Renwood and Acacia as well as Plum Gekkeikan from Wakayama, Japan. Among top-selling beverages are vintage-style sodas and locally crafted beers. In dressings, customers will find Le Beau–branded varieties, such as Champagne Honey Mustard Vinaigrette and Apricot Teriyaki Ginger Glaze, alongside familiar brands Briannas (a top seller), La Tourangelle and Girard’s. Other popular products include Acme and Alvarado breads, Popchips and Kettle Chips, and St. Dalfour and Bonne Maman jams.

The recently remodeled deli counter has been a hit with customers. Three chefs with decades of experience in Bay Area restaurants (and beyond) create a spread of ready-to-go salads and snacks, and a menu details a mouthwatering selection of made-to-order sandwiches. Signatures include the Flagship, a roast-beef pileup with mayo, pesto and provolone, and the toasted Turkey Buttah, slathered with apple butter, bacon, havarti and avocado. The staff at Le Beau drives home the feeling of community. Employees chat cheerfully with shoppers, and it’s not just a show. “From the beginning, I’ve had a lot of locals who have worked for us,” Omran says, adding that some of these long-time employees are now managers. Staff and customers know one another, and Omran tries to pay employees competitively to keep them around. “That’s the value that I see having local people working for you.”

An Education in Good Food

A self-proclaimed foodie, Omran finds himself eager to emphasize local, seasonal foods. Much of Le Beau’s fresh produce comes from the sprawling farmers market at the waterfront Ferry Building, where he browses for the upcoming week’s offerings. Omran believes that seasonal foods are a natural means to guarantee satisfied customers.

“It’s easy to look good when you’re selling what’s in season,” says the purveyor, whose enthusiasm for peak-season fruits borders on religious piety. And with good reason: he sources produce that leaves customers anticipating it year-round, such as heirloom apples from Devoto Gardens in the North Bay Area. “Suddenly if you weren’t that big of an apple lover, you’ll find yourself loving apples when you taste these things, because they’re so damn good,” he effuses. Visiting the farmers market is half the fun, he adds. “I’ve got a lot of connections down there and, for me, it’s kind of a game to see what new stuff is coming out and what kind of deals I can find to bring back to customers.”

The local and regional emphasis comes naturally with a focus on seasonal foods, Omran notes. He concedes that certain creature comforts, from tropical fruits to Italian imports, are necessary to retain customers, but he encourages shoppers to step out of their comfort zone and try products they may never have considered, whether for price or lack of familiarity.

“[Customers] approach their food like a lot of people approach soda pop: Early on, they find out that they love Coca Cola, so they’ll never try anything else,” Omran explains. “Food can sometimes be that way. They get stuck eating and tasting the same food all the time, and sometimes somebody needs to introduce them to different things out there.”

Giving Back

With all the local support Le Beau receives, Omran returns the favor with an active role in community outreach and contributing to causes he values, including local charities and environmental clean-up.

Le Beau gives customers several opportunities to participate in fundraising efforts. Jars at the checkout counter encourage spare change donations, which the store matches and delivers quarterly to San Francisco nonprofit Glide, whose services include free meals for the hungry, support for victims of domestic abuse and affordable access to health-care services. Omran and his staff throw an annual Customer Appreciation Day, an all-day barbecue with foods straight from the market, which this year partnered with a fundraising effort at nearby Huntington Park to raise money for a new playground structure. The popularity of the event’s hot-dog and other food-eating competitions has inspired plans for a monthly baking contest; winners will receive a $50 gift certificate to Le Beau and $50 to donate to a charity of their choice.

In an ongoing effort to reduce waste, Omran has honed in on his own business, identifying a prime culprit: plastics, and consumers’ dependency on them. The market launched a free bag giveaway program to encourage carrying reusable bags, and Omran is working with Green Bag to initiate another similar program. Taking it a step further, he hopes to convince the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to allow markets to charge for every plastic bag given to shoppers. He declares it a simple solution that will quickly change customers’ habits, and he’s willing to take on the initial complaints. “After six months of griping, they’ll be totally fine with it,” he asserts. “And we can make a huge difference with something as simple as that.”

Going for Bulk

To keep his store afloat, avoiding the fates of several other specialty grocers in the Bay Area—A.G. Ferrari and Andronico’s among them—Omran is seeking new ways to innovate and keep ahead of the competition. Currently, the market has plans to dedicate 18 feet of space to introduce about 150 bulk products in the next quarter. This department will feature olive oil and vinegar dispensers as well as bins for grains, pasta, flour, dried fruits and nuts.

Omran emphasizes the end result for the customer: higher-quality products at lower prices. He’s already begun selling Mason jars for use with the new bulk items to build enthusiasm and ease shoppers into the transition. Like his view of plastic bags, Omran is anticipating resistance that he expects will subside once routine sets in.

“It’s going to be a bit of an educational process,” he acknowledges. “And I know it will alienate some people. But I’m willing to do that because I think that in the long run it’s what the industry needs to do more of.” Already Le Beau sports bulk bins of fruits, nuts and granola from SunRidge Farms in Royal Oaks, Calif., as well as coffee beans from Jeremiah’s Pick Coffee Roaster in San Francisco.

Moving into bulk products will give Le Beau not only a refresh but potentially buffer it against impending competition. A Trader Joe’s will be replacing the Cala Foods market that closed last year—a short three blocks from Le Beau. “I think that that’s going to be a bit of a game changer,” Omran admits. Offering products in bulk will distinguish Le Beau from the competition, he notes, which has been part of the inspiration for changing the market’s strategy.

Moving Forward

Challenges aside, the market continues to thrive. “This year so far has been one of our best on record,” says Omran, who credits the primarily twenty-something customer base the store serves. A resurgence in internet-oriented companies has brought an onslaught of young techies to the city, and the neighborhood—even bringing to the team a marketing director, who handles the store’s online presence, which includes Facebook and Twitter accounts—and a smattering of enthusiastic Yelp reviews.

The growing staff, now at 26 full- and part-time employees, has given Omran a greater feeling of pride and success. He recently hired his eldest son Alexander as general manager. Though rarely does a day pass that Omran doesn’t swing by the store—“just to see how things are going,” he says—his laborious 80- to 90-hour workweeks of the past have mellowed down to fewer and (sometimes) shorter days.

Still, the new bulk department, as well as plans for a roaming food cart, offering the deli’s sandwich specialties, are set to keep Le Beau relevant and ahead of the curve. As for the incoming competition, Omran’s philosophy is live and let live. “Le Beau’s got different things to offer,” he says. “So we hope our customers will continue to appreciate what we do and they’ll continue to keep us busy.” |SFM|

Eva Meszaros is associate editor of Specialty Food Magazine.

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