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GOURMET NEWS DECEMBER 2019 www.gourmetnews.com RETAILER NEWS 9 a cheese case, grass-fed meats and a se- lection of packaged products to round out meals. "What distinguishes us is that we buy from a lot of local vendors here in Chicago," said Owner Maher Farhan. "I buy from a lot of up-and- coming companies, mainly because they have good products. They're not always there yet [with the power to distribute their products through distributors], and I know how it feels to start a busi- ness." Those local selections include the gour- met cuts of grass-fed meats, much of the seasonal produce, pasta sauces, chocolate and the artisanal small-batch coffees from Intelligentsia and Dark Matters. "Our cus- tomers are willing to try local," Farhan said. "I think it's great that people are will- ing to buy things just because they're local – or they're just starting – and they'd like to help out." "We have a local salad guy who comes in and makes vegan salads and little veg- etable salads, and people just love his stuff. He has a great following," he added. "There's a lot of new CBD products that are local. People come to us first to sell their products." Cincinnati's Hyde Park Gourmet in Harmony With its Neighborhood Cincinnati, Ohio, res- idents consider the city's Hyde Park neighborhood and, es- pecially, its central square, an oasis of peace, history and beauty within one of the fastest-growing economic powers of the Midwest. Five miles from downtown Cincinnati, Hyde Park was incorporated in 1896 as a community designed to preserve natural and architec- tural beauty. Hyde Park Square is home to the Kilgore Foun- tain, a locally famous landmark; an art festi- val that's been held every fall for more than half a century; and, since 1996, Hyde Park Gourmet Food & Wine, co-owned by sisters Evelyn Igna- tow and Sylvia Levine. The store is located on the ground floor of a five-story building across the street from the island park and fountain that are the heart of the Square in a neighborhood that's noted for its walkability as well as its array of specialty shops, farmers mar- ket and the eco- nomic and ethnic diversity of its resi- dents. Hyde Park Gourmet's long, nar- row space was a de- funct delicatessen when the two sisters, Sylvia, with a back- ground in retail, and Evelyn, with a culi- nary and business background, decided to convert the premises into a specialty food store with high-quality, unique products from around the world. "It was Sylvia's idea to open the store, but it was my idea to sell food and wine," Ignatow said. They gutted the former deli's inte- rior, installed an open merchan- diser cheese case and stocked new shelving with gourmet ingredi- ents ranging from bulk chocolate for baking, dried m u s h r o o m s , sauces and condiments, pickles and crackers, olive oils and balsamic vinegars from all over the world. In addition, they curated what one shopper de- scribed as "a massive collec- tion of wine," all arranged in 1,500 square feet of sales floor. The emphasis is on products that shoppers won't find easily any- where else, and Ignatow and Levine work hard to make sure that the selection is at the forefront of current food trends. Not long after opening, they added house-made fresh soups, salads and sandwiches that draw in lunchtime traffic from the offices and shops nearby. "Chocolate is also a big category – and wine," Ignatow said. "What we were look- ing to offer our cus- tomers was good value, high-quality selections." The store draws local shoppers as well as visitors who come to explore the neighborhood or to attend one of the events for which the area is noted. "What draws these customers to the store is that we have a knowledgeable staff with years of experience," Ignatow said. "A lot of the younger customers just want to ex- plore what's new. Other customers fre- quently travel, so they've come back from their trips with requests to get the things they tasted." Often, these products are available at the store. Barons Market Thrives in Southern California Soon after Barons Market opens its ninth southern Cal- ifornia store early next year, it'll host its first Barons Back- room Beer Pairing event. As happens quarterly at each of the Barons Markets, the store will sell $15 tickets for the event, staff it with employees to provide four small plates and paired with local craft beers for each dish, and 60 to 100 people will show up to eat supper in their grocer's back room or out on the loading dock. Rachel Shemirani, Senior Vice President of Barons Market and daughter of Founder Joe Shemirani, who opened the Barons Market in San Diego's Point Loma n e i g h b o rh o o d along with his brothers in 1993, happily anticipates that the event won't bring in a dime for the store. "This is some- thing we're pay- ing for," she said. "It brings customers to the store. It gets a lot of attention for local craft brew- eries and community organizations. We raise a lot of good money for local charities, and we've become wonderful partners for them. We believe it's money very well spent." Barons donates 100 percent of the ticket sales for the events to one of a ro- tating list of local charities – sometimes Feeding America/Feeding San Diego, sometimes breast cancer research, some- times local dog rescue organizations. New to this year, each store chose a local elementary school to benefit during the January pairing with Refuge Brewery. "We try to make the charity local to where those stores are, so they're giving back to their local communities," Shemi- rani said. "We know that if our commu- nities thrive, everybody wins." GN BARONS MARKET HYDE PARK GOURMET FOOD & WINE HYDE PARK GOURMET FOOD & WINE GARDEN GOURMET

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