SportKite1 wrote:

From: Frogleg

The local personnel do their best,
I think but the Big Truck rules.

Yup. You got that right. I have free reign to order anything for my customers
as long as it's available from our distributor. I can even order a lot of
threesies...meaning I'm not stuck with an entire case of an item if it doesn't
appeal to others. Frozen foods do come by the case, which can be 8-10 or even
24, but I figure if one person is asking about it, there might be others who
will enjoy the product.

My only obstacle, other than availability through Tree of Life (our major
grocery distributor) is storage space. My tiny store has limited department
shelving available and zero back storage space so I have to be very careful how
I order.

Which brings me to another problem. Invariably I will make space for a high
demand item because I'm such a nice person, which may mean closing out
something that isn't moving well. I swear, every time without fail, that ONE
person who liked that product that only comes in twice a year will show up
within a week and wonder why it isn't there anymore. GROAN! I bite my lip from
saying...if you LIKED it so much why didn't you buy it when it was here??????

hehehehehe
Ellen

Being a small independent also gives you leeway to buy rare items from local
growers and producers, which indirectly also helps their economy. If there's a guy
down the road that grows a certain kind of mushroom for example, you can get the
exact amount you need without being bound to a set amount.

Maybe, if you have *any* room at all in back, you could save those rare items that
don't sell well, for when those few who do use them come in. When they ask, you
could tell them you have them in the back.

Gary




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Craig Welch wrote:

Our nearest supermarket is quite good at request items, but they
won't get one-offs -- and I don't blame them. If I were to ask for
something and they get it and I don't buy it, they're stuck and
that's hardly fair.

Two items I've asked them to stock in the last year or so are nori
and rollmops. They've done so in both cases.

Meat we buy from a the butcher. He'll get whatever we want. In the
last two months, he's got in some rabbit and some quail for us. He
also keeps aside good cuts that he might know we'll like (eye fillet
most often) and cuts it just as we like it. We go there on Friday
afternoons, and see him later at the pub. I buy him a beer from time
to time.

Groceries we get (oddly enough) from the grocer-shop. The guy there
http://www.abc.net.au/brisbane/stories/s932766.htm will get anything
at all to order for us. Oddly enough, he doesn't stock chillies,
no-one else wants them. But he has them growing wild out the back,
so he gives them to us for free.

--
Craig

I know that if *I* were a grocer, it would (depending on the size of the
store) take at least three requests from different people before I'd get
what they wanted. I think that would be a fair criteria. In fact, I've
seen places that have said that if a few more people request *it*,
they'd get it (but not for *me* only). Otherwise, it'd just sit there
taking up space.

Gary




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From: (PENMART01)

Many small retailers store stock at home, they devote a room, basement,
garage,
attic, even a closet... then take the appropriate IRS/State tax deduction...

Since marked shelf life is limited on groceries, this method wouldn't benefit
my situation. Gotta move most things quickly or you lose.

As for frozen foods, freshness is optimum in the first month of delivery due to
the commercial freezers automatic defrost cycle. It is very important that I
rotate frozen food quickly, which is one of the reasons I'm hesitant to special
order frozen foods.

I had a guy come in heavy handedly and insist that I stock Toffutti Blueberry
Pillows. He bought one package, went back to Atlanta, and I had to toss the
other 11 of them in the garbage after they went past their 2 month expiration
date

I learned and won't do that again.

Ellen

Gary wrote:

I would never expect a large food chain to even listen, much less stock something
at *my* request. OTOH, that gives the smaller stores an advantage over the big
ones. That's a way for them to take customers away from the big chains.

It never hurts to ask. I have had some luck in getting one of the large local grocery
stores to order things for me. Then again, I have had department managers tell me
that the things I was asking for were not available, and then I find them in a store
a few blocks away.

From: Gary

Being a small independent also gives you leeway to buy rare items from local
growers and producers, which indirectly also helps their economy.

I am contacted daily by vendors. I don't buy by telephone. Send me samples,
I'll do testing with my employees and myself.

A couple months ago, I got one phone call from Boomi Bars. Told them to send me
a sample. They make 20 varieties of whole nut/seed food bars. They sent me one.
I shared the one cashew/almond bar with two of my employees. We now carry 5 of
their bars and I will re-order the almond protein bar in triplicate once a
month because I can't keep it in stock. The rest of the bars are moving half
the time, but are excellent products. When season picks up I expect them to
disappear. They are simply put, the finest nut/seed bars on the market today.
They are a small town op in NC. And I buy direct.

Maybe, if you have *any* room at all in back, you could save those rare items
that
don't sell well, for when those few who do use them come in. When they ask,
you
could tell them you have them in the back.

I don't have storage at my location, but am fortunate that there are 4 other
locations in my mini chain...one being a 20K sf location I can transfrer in
special orders within 3 days.

Can you ask your grocery store to stock stuff?

From: (jmcquown)
I find myself less and less often going to the big time grocery store
concern (Schnucks, formerly Albertson's; Kroger). I'm more often
shopping at what would be called a convenience store a mile down the
road. I can ask the manager there to stock things for me and he does.
That's so cool! He just ordered some Stouffer's spinach souffle for me.
For meats I do find myself going to a meat market. Unfortunately there
isn't a great fish market nearby so I have to rely on the grocery store
for that, but they have decent (for an inland state) fish selections. I
rarely eat chicken anymore; I prefer cornish game hens if I do eat
poultry and yes, I buy those at the grocery store.
respone: I have only found one mid size family owned store in my area
that will do their best to order items that I can't find at the larger
chain stores, I remember a few yrs. back trying to find colored large
size marshmellows for a halloween cake i baked -used the marshmellows
for the witches body-
Called around the local chains N got no where for a special order for
them.
That store gain a loyal customer since. Any one who lives in the metro
detroit area should ck. out Hoilday Market in Royal Oak. The meats N
fish are worth the extra drive

SportKite1 wrote:



I had a guy come in heavy handedly and insist that I stock Toffutti Blueberry
Pillows. He bought one package, went back to Atlanta, and I had to toss the
other 11 of them in the garbage after they went past their 2 month expiration
date

I learned and won't do that again.

Ellen



Our local Albertsons will send someone to shop the
competitors if they carry what a customer wants and
call you when the items come in. They sell to you
at the price they paid, as a courtesy and convenience
(and to keep you out of the competitors' stores!)

gloria p

Dave Smith wrote:

Gary wrote:

I would never expect a large food chain to even listen, much less stock something
at *my* request. OTOH, that gives the smaller stores an advantage over the big
ones. That's a way for them to take customers away from the big chains.

It never hurts to ask. I have had some luck in getting one of the large local grocery
stores to order things for me. Then again, I have had department managers tell me
that the things I was asking for were not available, and then I find them in a store
a few blocks away.

Yes, that's what I'm talking about: apathy. That's a nice way of telling you, "Who cares?
Get lost! (I can't be bothered with what the *customer* wants)". The bigger the chain,
the more prevalent that attitude is.

Gary




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SportKite1 wrote:

From: Gary

Being a small independent also gives you leeway to buy rare items from local
growers and producers, which indirectly also helps their economy.

I am contacted daily by vendors. I don't buy by telephone. Send me samples,
I'll do testing with my employees and myself.

A couple months ago, I got one phone call from Boomi Bars. Told them to send me
a sample. They make 20 varieties of whole nut/seed food bars. They sent me one.

Only ONE bar? Gee, I hope that didn't break them (no matter how good they are)!
When sending samples, one would expect someone who is trying to drum up business to
be a bit more generous than that.

I shared the one cashew/almond bar with two of my employees. We now carry 5 of
their bars and I will re-order the almond protein bar in triplicate once a
month because I can't keep it in stock. The rest of the bars are moving half
the time, but are excellent products. When season picks up I expect them to
disappear. They are simply put, the finest nut/seed bars on the market today.
They are a small town op in NC. And I buy direct.

Maybe, if you have *any* room at all in back, you could save those rare items
that
don't sell well, for when those few who do use them come in. When they ask,
you
could tell them you have them in the back.

I don't have storage at my location, but am fortunate that there are 4 other
locations in my mini chain...one being a 20K sf location I can transfrer in
special orders within 3 days.

That would work if they have three days to wait. )

Gary






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wrote:


Can you ask your grocery store to stock stuff?

From: (jmcquown)
I find myself less and less often going to the big time grocery store
concern (Schnucks, formerly Albertson's; Kroger). I'm more often
shopping at what would be called a convenience store a mile down the
road. I can ask the manager there to stock things for me and he does.
That's so cool! He just ordered some Stouffer's spinach souffle for me.
For meats I do find myself going to a meat market. Unfortunately there
isn't a great fish market nearby so I have to rely on the grocery store
for that, but they have decent (for an inland state) fish selections. I
rarely eat chicken anymore; I prefer cornish game hens if I do eat
poultry and yes, I buy those at the grocery store.
respone: I have only found one mid size family owned store in my area
that will do their best to order items that I can't find at the larger
chain stores, I remember a few yrs. back trying to find colored large
size marshmellows for a halloween cake i baked -used the marshmellows
for the witches body-
Called around the local chains N got no where for a special order for
them.
That store gain a loyal customer since. Any one who lives in the metro
detroit area should ck. out Hoilday Market in Royal Oak. The meats N
fish are worth the extra drive

I tend to like the old mom & pop family owned stores myself, but, you
always end up needing the larger ones, too, for the necessities that they
have that the smaller ones don't.

Gary




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Puester wrote:

SportKite1 wrote:


I had a guy come in heavy handedly and insist that I stock Toffutti Blueberry
Pillows. He bought one package, went back to Atlanta, and I had to toss the
other 11 of them in the garbage after they went past their 2 month expiration
date

I learned and won't do that again.

Ellen

Our local Albertsons will send someone to shop the
competitors if they carry what a customer wants and
call you when the items come in. They sell to you
at the price they paid, as a courtesy and convenience
(and to keep you out of the competitors' stores!)

gloria p

Hmmm... that's pretty decent of them!

Gary




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In article , Craig Welch
writes:

Gary wrote:

Being a small independent also gives you leeway to buy rare items from local
growers and producers, which indirectly also helps their economy. If there's
a guy
down the road that grows a certain kind of mushroom for example, you can get
the
exact amount you need without being bound to a set amount.

That is a plus. I would estimate that about half of the produce
carried by our grocer is grown within a 50 mile radius. We often see
the stuff delivered ... the avocados, for example, are grown by our
neighbours.

So you have avocado a few weeks of the year...

I doubt the typical stupidmarket anywhere in the US at any time during the year
carries more than 5% local produce.... the vast majority is imported from all
points across the country and all corners of the world... if half your grocer's
produce is local there isn't much variety during most of the year.


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Sheldon
````````````
"Life would be devoid of all meaning were it without tribulation."

On Sat, 04 Oct 2003 17:25:46 -0600, Gary wrote:

Frogleg wrote:
If the local
manager *does* kindly take requests, and it doesn't come on the Big
Truck, that's the end of the story. The local personnel do their best,
I think but the Big Truck rules.

I would never expect a large food chain to even listen, much less stock something
at *my* request. OTOH, that gives the smaller stores an advantage over the big
ones. That's a way for them to take customers away from the big chains.

Alas, the "smaller stores" here are 7/11 or even more downscale food
marts. Every 'gourmet' grocery in this area of 330,000 people has
failed within a few years (as well as most non-chain restaurants). I
could drive 25mi to Williamsburg to shop (or I could move!), but it's
easier to whine. :-)

Craig Welch wrote:
On 05 Oct 2003 03:38:43 GMT, (PENMART01) wrote:

That is a plus. I would estimate that about half of the produce
carried by our grocer is grown within a 50 mile radius. We often see
the stuff delivered ... the avocados, for example, are grown by our
neighbours.

So you have avocado a few weeks of the year...

A few months of the year ...

I doubt the typical stupidmarket anywhere in the US at any time
during the year carries more than 5% local produce.... the vast
majority is imported from all points across the country and all
corners of the world... if half your grocer's produce is local there
isn't much variety during most of the year.

Huh? There's a great variety. It's seasonal variety, which is
excellent. And when local cherries run out, we get American
cherries, for example. No problem at all.

Of course there are things that aren't made/produced here.

The small market I was referring to buys things from local farmers *in
season*. Tomatoes from Ripley, TN. Apples from Mississippi (which is just
a few miles down the road). Peaches from Arkansas (just across the river).
In the winter they get pecans and other nuts from around here, too. Raw
peanuts are a staple crop; I love boiled peanuts!

1 lb. raw peanuts in the shell
1/2 c. salt (I use rock salt!)
8 c. water

Bring the water to a boil and add the salt. Rinse the peanuts then add to
the pot. Reduce the heat and simmer the peanuts about 2 hours. The longer
they sit in the brine, the saltier they taste. You can also add spices and
sauces for flavoured peanuts. Worcestershire and Tabasco, for example.

Jill

jmcquown wrote:

In the winter they get pecans and other nuts from around here, too. Raw
peanuts are a staple crop; I love boiled peanuts!

Paula Dean made them ... I can't say they looked very tasty, but
what do I know? Are they an acquired taste?

nancy