Specialty Food Magazine is the leading publication for retailers, manufacturers and foodservice professionals in the specialty food trade. It provides news, trends and business-building insights that help readers keep their businesses competitive.
Issue link: https://specialtyfoodmagazine.epubxp.com/i/235863
retailer profile "If we had been completely ignorant about running a grocery store it would have happened faster." History The original Bi-Rite Market in San Francisco is something of a Mission District institution. The store opened in 1940 at 18th Street and Guerrero Street and has been run by members of the Mogannam family since 1964, when brothers Ned and Jack purchased the shop. Today, Bi-Rite Market is still in the family with owner Sam Mogannam and his brother Raph, the head grocery buyer. The pair took over the shop in 1997 from father Ned and uncle Jack. The business has grown beyond a single storefront to include a creamery and bake shop, a catering service, a farm and, most recently, the second market location—all with a commitment to sustainability. The Launch of the New Store 48 ❘ SPECIALTY FOOD MAGAZINE Signature Departments As with the 18th Street store, Divisadero has a vintage look. Old-fashioned scales hang within aisles, and red letters spell out department names overhead. Handwritten signs advertise deli items and products throughout the store. Mills notes the staff's desire to have signage look touched by human hands while still providing sufficient information. "No one who works at Bi-Rite is ever satisfied with their signage," he notes with a smile. Produce… The first thing customers see on entering the store is an abundance of fruit, vegetables and fresh flowers. Mills says this was a deliberate choice. "In some ways it is our flagship, as we want people to know we are all about selling fresh food." Bi-Rite sells only produce that is in season. "And because we focus on the bounty of the season," Mills explains, "at one time we STORE STATS Bi-Rite Divisadero 550 Divisadero St. San Francisco, CA 415.551.7900 biritemarket.com Opened: March 2013 Sales floor: 2,500 square feet Staff: 75 to 80, mostly fulltime Best sellers: Salted caramel ice cream in the Scoop Shop, Sergio's Famous Crab Cakes in Prepared Foods Publications: Bi-Rite has two books: • Bi-Rite Market's Eat Good Food: A Grocer's Guide to Shopping, Cooking & Creating Community Through Food (2011) • Sweet Cream and Sugar Cones: 90 Recipes for Making Your Own Ice Cream and Frozen Treats (2012) Coming Spring 2014: The store is adding a garden to the roof to grow herbs and small lettuces for use in the deli. The garden will join the rooftop beehive that will ultimately create honey to be used for Bi-Rite's Public Label honey. specialtyfood.com PHOTO: BI-RITE In March 2013, Bi-Rite Divisadero opened at Divisadero Street and Hayes Street in the Western Division neighborhood with 2,500 square feet of sales space. Patrick Mills, the store's general manager, explains that it took about two years from the time they found the location to the store's opening. "If we had been completely ignorant about running a grocery store it would have happened faster," says Mills. "But we wanted to improve upon the way the store was set up on 18th Street, so it took time to get it just right. Sam was the mastermind, but I must have looked at the blueprints with him every week for a year." The careful planning was worth it, although many of the changes are subtle. "For example, the kitchen is much closer to the walk-in refrigerators," Mills says. "Receiving deliveries is also so much easier because we have double doors and a ramp receiving area built right in." In the sales area are improvements that frequent customers to the first location would notice, says Jessie Rogers, marketing director for Bi-Rite. "Sam has said Divisadero solved for the traffic flow problems that we have on 18th Street," Rogers explains. "At Divisadero, we have multiple entrances so people don't enter and exit through the same door. Also having the front of house be its own distinct area helps make it clear which lines are for the registers and which are for the deli and cheese counters." Most customers live in the neighborhood and walk to the store, with the busiest times being in the evening from 5 to 8 p.m. with the after-work crowd, and weekends from 1 to 6 p.m., when locals drop in to get cheese from Neal's Yard Dairy, pick up a Vietnamese banh mi sandwich with tofu or just grab household staples. Divisadero offers one-hour parking for $2 at a nearby lot for shoppers who travel from farther afield, such as Marin County, or who simply want to load up.