Oser Communications Group

GOURMET NEWS SEPTEMBER 2018 www.gourmetnews.com FROM THE EDITOR 4 WWW.GOURMETNEWS.COM PUBLISHER Kimberly Oser SENIOR ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Jules Denton-Card jules_d@oser.com EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Lorrie Baumann lorrie_b@oser.com SENIOR ASSOCIATE EDITOR Robin Mather robin_m@oser.com ASSOCIATE EDITORS Jeanie Catron Greg Gonzales Amanda Helt ART DIRECTOR Yasmine Brown GRAPHIC DESIGNER Jonathan Schieffer ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Anthony Socci anthony_s@oser.com CUSTOMER SERVICE MANAGERS Caitlyn McGrath Susan Stein CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Tara Neal tara_n@oser.com CIRCULATION MANAGER Jamie Green jamie_g@oser.com PUBLISHING OFFICE 1877 N. Kolb Road P.O. Box 1056 Tucson, AZ 85715 520.721.1300 Fax 520.721.6300 SUBSCRIBER SERVICES Gourmet News P.O. Box 30520 Tucson, AZ 85751 520.721.1300 G OURMET N EWS ® OSER COMMUNICATIONS GROUP FOUNDER Lee M. Oser MEMBER OF: Periodicals postage paid at Tucson, AZ, and additional mailing office. Gourmet News (ISSN 1052-4630) is published monthly by Oser Communications Group, 1877 North Kolb Road, Tucson, AZ 85715; 520.721.1300. Publisher assumes no responsibility for unsolicited material or prices quoted in newspaper. Contributors are responsible for proper release of pro- prietary classified information. ©2018 by Oser Communications Group. All rights re- served. Reproduction, in whole or in part, without writ- ten permission of the publisher, is expressly prohibited. Back issues, when available, cost $7 each within the past 12 months, $12 each prior to the past 12 months. Back orders must be paid in advance either by check or charged to American Express, Visa, or Master Card. Gourmet News is distributed without charge in North America to qualified professionals in the retail and dis- tribution channels of the specialty foods and hardgoods trade; paid subscriptions cost $65 annually to the U.S. and Canada. All foreign subscriptions cost $150 annu- ally to cover air delivery. All payments must be made in U.S. funds and drawn on a U.S. bank. For subscriber services, including subscription information, call 520.721.1300. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Gourmet News, 1877 North Kolb Road, Tucson, AZ 85715. The Albertsons store nearest my neighborhood closed recently. To tell you the truth, I don't know exactly when – what with the Fancy Food Show, Slow Food Nations and a visit to Haystack Mountain Creamery, I feel like I've been in the air more than I've been at home this summer. But when I went to the shopping plaza where the store is – was – located last weekend, there was plywood sheeting across the door and the sign was gone. Just gone. After Albertsons bought Safeway, I won- dered how long both my Albertsons store and the Safeway store that's a mile down the same street would both survive, but somehow I was confident that since I visit that Safeway store only now and then, and I was shopping at the Albertsons more often, it would be the Safeway store that would ultimately close. In hindsight, I had nothing to base that confidence on except my own bias. I'm mourning a little bit here because I have actual meaningful memories of shopping at that store. When my daugh- ter brought her family to visit me a cou- ple of years ago, I took her to that Albertsons to view the wonders of a liquor department with a cooler full of beer right in the actual grocery store. She sent a picture of the beer cooler to her husband so he could tell her what to buy for him. It was fun. I have no idea where there's another Al- bertsons store, although I imagine there's another not too far away, and I won't be vis- iting the surviving Safeway store any more often because both of those stores are out of the pathway between our Gourmet News office and my home. Albertsons was my Saturday store. Now I'm going to have to figure out what to do about this. I do have plenty of other options, and I realize that's probably a big part of the rea- son why my store had to close. But it was really only when I saw that plywood over the door that I realized what that store meant to me. I hope that not too many other people in this country have to make the same discov- ery over the next few years. The retail apoc- alypse is happening – there seems to be a pretty strong consensus that this country is just overbuilt on retail – but it's our mis- sion here at Gourmet News and Kitchen- ware News to do our best to keep all of you from falling victim to it. Don't hesitate to drop us a line at editor@oser.com to let us know how you think we can do a better job of that. Stay well, everyone! GN — Lorrie Baumann Editorial Director FROM THE EDITOR

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