2011 Summer Fancy Food Show - Oser Communications Group

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specialty retailers www.gourmetnews.com SEPTEMBER 2011 GOURMET NEWS
New investors, leadership
for leading retailer
A Southern Season, the gourmet retail institution
based in Chapel Hill, N.C., has announced
a significant new capital infusion by local
group TC Capital Fund, a joint venture
between two Chapel Hill investment funds.
Joining the company as President
is Larry Shaw, an experienced
retail executive and local resident
who has worked with strong
brands such as The Vermont
Country Store and Nordstrom
over the past 20 years.
Founder Michael Barefoot, a
respected industry figure who
was the store’s sole employee
when it opened in 1975, will
continue to be actively involved,
along with longtime partners Tim Manale
and Briggs Wesche.
“A core part of our mission has always
been ‘local ownership and operation,’” says
Barefoot. “That will not change; owner-
The Cook’s Warehouse, an award-winning,
Atlanta-based retailer of kitchenware and
upscale appliances, has opened the first
independently-branded “store within a store”
for kitchenware in a new branch of Whole
Foods—just doors away from its own store,
set to open September 1.
Nearly a thousand people turned up
ship remains local in this new corporate
structure … we will now be positioned to
grow to the next level.”
“I have believed in this brand and vision
for as long as I have been in Chapel Hill, and
have watched the company grow.
We will re-invest significantly
to grow the business, including
enhancing the retail shopping
experience, expanding existing
product lines and bringing in
new products to surprise and
delight our customers, as well
as expanding and enhancing
our online shopping experience,”
said TC Capital Fund
head Clay Hamner, a longtime
customer of the store as well as a successful
private investor and university business
professor. Hamner is joined in TC Capital
Fund by other local investors; the fund is a
joint venture between local funds Carrboro
Cook’s Warehouse provides
in-store kitchenware outlet
at Whole Foods
for the late July opening of Whole Foods
Merchants Walk, a 45,000-square-foot
store. The Cook’s Warehouse will manage
the store’s kitchenware department and
conduct its popular cooking classes using
Whole Foods products.
The outlet is a test, currently the first of
its kind in the country. But in an interview
Capital Corporation and Tryon Capital
Ventures, LLC.
“[Hamner’s] long-respected local profile
along with the other local investors was
definitely a key part of our decision. They
absolutely relate to this Chapel Hill institution
on a very personal level and share our commitment
to keeping A Southern Season something
very, very special,” Barefoot said.
Regarding the impact on his personal future
plans, Barefoot adds, “This is the first step in
a slow transition away from work. After 36
years, I think that it’s about time. I will be
fully engaged at A Southern Season for the
next five years, after which I plan to reduce
my involvement to pursue other challenges
and interests.”
From a one-man, 800-square-foot storefront
in 1975, A Southern Season now employs
more than 300 people. Its 60,000-square-foot
store is a local landmark and one of the largest
specialty-only gourmet markets in the U.S.
It boasts a national catalog and e-commerce
business, and an acclaimed cooking school
and restaurant. The store was recently ranked
among America’s 25 Best Independent Stores
in a 2009 book by retail author George
Whalin, and was an NASFT Retailer of the
Year awardee in 2004. gn
with the Atlanta Business Chronicle, Cook’s
Warehouse founder and CEO Mary Moore was
optimistic that the partnership would benefit
briefs
Saxelby
Cheesemongers
named Manhattan’s
Small Business
of the Year
In mid-July, specialty cheese shop Saxelby
Cheesemongers was named Manhattan’s
Small Business of the Year by the city’s Small
Business Services department.
According to the department, the award
honors “an entrepreneur whose business has
significantly improved its neighborhood or
demonstrated outstanding commitment to the
community through offering new or enhanced
products and services, generating new activity
on a commercial strip, attracting new businesses
to the area, or providing exceptional
employment opportunities.”
Apart from introducing the larger public
to small-scale American cheesemakers, Ann
Saxelby’s early relocation to the historic but
rundown Essex Street Market led the way to
the market becoming a food destination spot.
Saxelby continues to be the most vocal advocate
for the market, which is under threat from redevelopment
proposals currently before the city.
both stores, and perhaps grow to other
Whole Foods stores within the region.
Analysts were equally positive, noting
that the move allowed the new Whole
Foods to generate sales and traffic with
minimal investment, while introducing
The Cook’s Warehouse to a new audience
that would then be more inclined to visit
Moore’s own kitchenware-focused store
when it opens. The Cook’s Warehouse
currently has three stores in the Metro
Atlanta area. gn