Issue link: http://osercommunicationsgroup.uberflip.com/i/840157
Food Magic Daily 3 5 Monday, June 26, 2017 LARRY'S MARKET: SURVIVING AND THRIVING ON THE POWER OF LUNCH By Lorrie Baumann When Larry Ehlers started working at his local grocery store in Brown Deer, Wisconsin after his return from World War II, it was the kind of neighborhood grocery that sold everything that the neighborhood families really needed from day to day in about 3,000 square feet of selling space. Then times changed, local roads gave way to superhighways, the small village of Brown Deer became a suburb of Milwaukee, and big box stores entered into the grocery market- place. Larry's Market changed with the times by evolving into a specialty grocer. Its produce and meat departments have been eliminated in favor of prepared foods that cater to the lunchtime needs of the work- ers employed in the nearby office build- ings, a highly regarded specialty cheese market makes the store a destination for tourists looking for the best of Wisconsin cheeses, and a busy catering department now provides more than half the store's revenue. "It's an old, old grocery store, but it's a charming building," said Patty Peterson, the Manager of Larry's Market and the daughter of Larry himself. "We're not on the highway. We're on the byway.... We don't have a thousand peo- ple walking in front of our store each day." After his return from the war, Larry Ehlers worked for the store for years before he finally bought it in 1970. His son, Steve Ehlers, bought the store from him in the late 1980s, and Steve's wife became the owner upon Steve's death in 2016. Around 1971, Peterson's parents had become fans of French cheeses after their introduction to them at a Summer Fancy Food Show. After tasting some of those cheeses at the show, Larry placed an order. A few days after the cheese was delivered to the store, it was gone, sold to upscale customers who'd learned to appreciate traditional French cheeses during their travels overseas. Larry con- tinued ordering. "Of course my father is the consummate salesman. He can still sell like nobody's business," Peterson said. "He still comes in three days a week." Steve carried on that romance with French cheeses as he traveled in Europe in the 1970s for his own version of the Grand Tour once made by Victorian gentlemen to broaden their horizons as they started out on their lives as independent adults. "He loved France," Peterson said. Steve and his father decided to start carrying artisanal American cheeses in the store after Mike Gingrich of Uplands Cheese won the American Cheese Society's Best of Show Award for Pleasant Ridge Reserve, and today, the cheese counter with its 200 to 300 cheeses in it is a destination for travelers who come to Larry's Market just to buy their cheese. Most of the business rung up by the store's 15 full and regular part-time employees, though, comes either at lunchtime or through the store's catering business. The regular Friday grill-out events are also huge draws that bring 250 to 300 people into the store over the course of a couple of hours. All told, the deli and catering departments repre- sent about 60 to 70 percent of the busi- ness today. "We do a lot of corporate catering, so on any given day, we'll have five people out delivering, and we can do 400 to 500 people for lunch, just catering," Peterson said. The typical lunchtime purchase for the 100 to 150 people who usually come in then is about $12 to $15, although cus- tomers will frequently spend $40 to $50 at a time if they're also buying groceries and cheese. Among the most popular offerings are killer brownies, Wisconsin artisan cheeses and fresh soups, includ- ing the turkey chili that's a particular favorite among Larry's regulars. "We sell a ton of soup, summer and winter," Peterson said. "Our local health inspector comes in for lunch quite often." SAVE ENERGY, REDUCE DEFROST CYCLES WITH INTERMATIC'S NEW ICUBE Intermatic has developed the new ICUBE™ Adaptive Defrost Module for commercial refrigeration walk-in freez- ers and coolers. This control provides major energy savings where walk-in freezers and display cases are used, such as in full service, casual and fast food restaurants, healthcare facilities, cafes, convenience stores and supermarkets. It will save customers money by reducing energy usage associated with defrosting walk in coolers and freezer evaporator coils. Foodservice businesses as described previously are always looking for cost effective solutions that can gen- erate energy savings and ultimately save money with a short return on investment. It is an easy, versatile, innovative and affordable way to reduce defrosts cycles by 40 percent or more per day. For retro-fit or new installations, the compact ICUBE module simply assembles direct- ly to an existing or new Grässlin DTAV40 Defrost timer with no change to the timer wiring required. The ICUBE module works with the DTAV40 timer to determine when defrosting a Walk-In Refrigeration system evaporator coil is truly necessary versus a time initiate only approach. The module has four tempera- ture sensor inputs which can accommo- date up to four evaporator coils with wiring capability to extend up to 400 feet for remote condensing unit installations. Typical mounting locations are inside of a remote multiplex or dedicated condens- ing unit, parallel rack system, unit cooler or freezer, or external to the unit cooler or freezer. Typically foodservice owners are forced to utilize this type of intelli- gent technology at a very high price point and with an overly complicated control. These types of controls can also be very difficult to program and install, which takes time away from the HVACR tech- nician, and we all know time means money. With the ICUBE, you save time and money by simply installing the Adaptive Defrost Module directly to the existing DTAV40 Defrost timer and run- ning sensing wire from the inputs to the evaporator coils. There is no need to change any other wiring in the system or timer programing. Intermatic provides a unique non-isolated evaporator coil sen- sor with 10 feet of sensor wire and 6 feet of input wire which can be expandable in between up to 400 feet with 20-18ga shielded or unshielded typical field wire for remote condensing unit installations. Intermatic's reasoning for the unique sensor is because it want- ed the commercial refrig- eration technician to have the ability to run this sens- ing wire through the exist- ing or same conduits/race- ways from remote rooftop locations to the box cool- er/freezer. Additionally, with four sensor inputs the ICUBE Adaptive Defrost Module can expand to accommodate up to four evaporator coils. Commercial refrigeration techni- cians have been using defrost timers for many years. Sometimes newer technolo- gies and changes in energy standards can create unfamiliar complexities and sys- tem reconfiguration. Intermatic provides the technicians with a familiar solution by continued use of the same defrost timer, but with the addition of the energy savings ICUBE technology which will align with upcoming DOE Walk-In- Cooler/Freezer Annual Walk-in Efficiency Factor standards. Learn more at www.intermatic.com. PROTECT WINE EFFORTLESSLY & GENERATE MORE REVENUE WITH VINEDGE VinEdge is the newest, leading edge wine preserver on the market. No more pump- ing or dumping wasted wine at the end of the evening. VinEdge is effortless, mess- free and easy to use, preserving opened bottles of wine for a minimum of seven days. VinEdge effectively preserves wine so you can maximize your revenue from each bottle – selling more wine by the glass and satisfying more palates. With VinEdge's automatic oxygen barrier, each glass tastes as good as the first no matter how many hours or days have gone by. Some patrons, especially super tasters, can tell if a bottle of wine has spoiled even just six hours after opening it. Now bar and restaurants own- ers can sell more expensive wine by the glass without sacrificing the whole bottle or worrying about spoilage and dissatis- fied patrons. VinEdge helps establish- ments improve their dining experience by offering more fine wine and ensuring they'll get the most out of each bottle – especially the revenue! Wine disposal losses can eas- ily exceed $5,000-$10,000 or more per year. By preventing oxi- dation of opened bottles of wine, VinEdge maintains the full aroma and flavor of both red and white wine for a minimum of seven days. As a result, greater cus- tomer satisfaction and less dis- carded wine easily translates into more revenue for bar and restaurant owners. VinEdge is made up of an easy two- step system, including a pour spout and a VinSert tube which gets attached to the pour spout. After opening a bot- tle of red or white wine, simply assemble and insert VinEdge into the bottle. Its unique air intake system will automatically inflate while wine is being poured, preserving the flavor and aroma until the last drop. Then, simply leave the dispos- able VinSert in the finished bot- tle and remove the pour spout. It's that simple! Now all you need to worry about is serving good wine and good times – a treat for all wine enthusiasts to enjoy. For more information, visit www.whole sale.vinedge.com or call 561.371.2654.