Cured
Gourmet & More
The Curated Case
For petite cheese shops, creating a niche can offer an edge in competing
with larger retailers. Three purveyors share their experience keeping a tight
focus, a handpicked selection and a loyal customer base.
BY JANET FLETCHER
A
s exhilarating as it can be to shop at a cheese counter with a vast selection, I'm more taken with stores
that demonstrate a point of view. Seeing a small, focused collection boosts my confidence that the cheeses
get the care they need and rotate quickly. Merchants with carefully curated cases, to borrow a term from
the museum world, must learn to satisfy shoppers accustomed to more choice. Sensing a trend toward this sort of
micro-retailing, I spoke with three retailers who have chosen that route to learn more about the risks and rewards.
Cured: Domestic, Local and Seasonal
Opened in downtown Boulder, Colo., in mid-2011, Cured specializes in American cheeses, with Colorado products foremost.
Proprietors Coral and Will Frischkorn describe their enterprise as a "small, personal, neighborhood market selling local products," with 75 to 100 cheeses in about 1,200 feet of selling space.
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PHOTO: LAURIE SMITH
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