Gourmet to Go: A Guide to Opening and Operating a Specialty Food Store [Hardcover]

Robert Wemischner (Author), Karen Karp (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1997

"In this book we will communicate just how competitive and serious the business of specialty food retailing is today. We will provide you with a comprehensive overview of the industry, the market today, tools to [enable you] to make a commitment to go ahead, a thorough outline for your business plan, checklists for the most important planning stages, anecdotes and recommendations from the top players in the industry, and tips and insights into the intangibles of what makes good businesses good. You will have a better chance of success by being well armed and taking all the right precautions through careful preopening research and development. And you will see that, for success, it is not just information and organization but ample funding that will give your new business a fighting chance to ripen, develop, and succeed. Guided by this text and the accumulated wisdom of sage retailers who've paved the way, and fueled by your own enterprising spirit and imagination, dream big, plan carefully, and proceed with confidence to success." -- From the Preface of Gourmet to Go

It begins with a dream, a longing for the independence, self-reliance, and creative freedom of running your own specialty take-out food store. But if you want that dream to become a reality, you can't rely solely on your expertise as a chef, manager, or owner of a previous business -- you'll need to develop all of those skills and more. You need a comprehensive, reliable information source that shows you what to expect and prepares you to deal with the unexpected. You need to learn from the successes and failures of others how to envision, plan, finance, establish, and run a successful gourmet retail operation. You need Gourmet to Go.

This full-spectrum guide offers solid direction on every aspect of the retail specialty food industry. Making liberal use of case studies, Robert Wemischner and Karen Karp lead you step by step through each phase of the development and operation of a take-out gourmet store. They help you find the concept that's right for you, write a business plan, and secure the financing you'll need. Next, you'll discover what to look for in choosing your location; how to communicate with designers, builders, and contractors; and the ins and outs of legal structure and complying with government regulations. You'll learn how to select graphic designs, purchase and price merchandise, hire and train employees, set store policies, and manage your cash. Each of these issues is presented in a clear, forthright style that enables you to understand your options and make informed choices. You'll also learn how to:
* Market and promote your store and build a steady clientele
* Exceed your customers' expectations for quality and service
* Use in-store signage and irresistible merchandise displays to increase sales
* Expand or convert an existing business
* Fine-tune your business to promote growth

Whether you're a foodservice professional yearning for independence or a retailer looking to expand or transform your current business; whether you're a caterer wanting to offer your creations to a broader public or a successful manager in search of a great business opportunity, Gourmet to Go helps you start strong and guides you every step of the way, until your dream comes true.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

An in-depth examination of the process that prospective specialty food entrepreneurs must follow to open and operate a successful business in today's economic climate. Provides readers with a substantial grounding in the realities of planning for success in this highly dynamic, demanding and trend-driven industry. Contains highly instructive and illuminating stories behind several of the most influential stores along with insightful quotes from retailers, large and small, who are pacesetters in the field. Describes how to write a persuasive and thorough business plan; raise capital; negotiate a lease; find, train and retain key staff; and build customer loyalty. Includes current developments in mail order, private label distribution and Internet marketing.

From the Back Cover

"In this book we will communicate just how competitive and serious the business of specialty food retailing is today. We will provide you with a comprehensive overview of the industry, the market today, tools to [enable you] to make a commitment to go ahead, a thorough outline for your business plan, checklists for the most important planning stages, anecdotes and recommendations from the top players in the industry, and tips and insights into the intangibles of what makes good businesses good. You will have a better chance of success by being well armed and taking all the right precautions through careful preopening research and development. And you will see that, for success, it is not just information and organization but ample funding that will give your new business a fighting chance to ripen, develop, and succeed. Guided by this text and the accumulated wisdom of sage retailers who've paved the way, and fueled by your own enterprising spirit and imagination, dream big, plan carefully, and proceed with confidence to success." — From the Preface of Gourmet to Go

It begins with a dream, a longing for the independence, self-reliance, and creative freedom of running your own specialty take-out food store. But if you want that dream to become a reality, you can't rely solely on your expertise as a chef, manager, or owner of a previous business — you'll need to develop all of those skills and more. You need a comprehensive, reliable information source that shows you what to expect and prepares you to deal with the unexpected. You need to learn from the successes and failures of others how to envision, plan, finance, establish, and run a successful gourmet retail operation. You need Gourmet to Go.

This full-spectrum guide offers solid direction on every aspect of the retail specialty food industry. Making liberal use of case studies, Robert Wemischner and Karen Karp lead you step by step through each phase of the development and operation of a take-out gourmet store. They help you find the concept that's right for you, write a business plan, and secure the financing you'll need. Next, you'll discover what to look for in choosing your location; how to communicate with designers, builders, and contractors; and the ins and outs of legal structure and complying with government regulations. You'll learn how to select graphic designs, purchase and price merchandise, hire and train employees, set store policies, and manage your cash. Each of these issues is presented in a clear, forthright style that enables you to understand your options and make informed choices. You'll also learn how to:

• Market and promote your store and build a steady clientele
• Exceed your customers' expectations for quality and service
• Use in-store signage and irresistible merchandise displays to increase sales
• Expand or convert an existing business
• Fine-tune your business to promote growth

Whether you're a foodservice professional yearning for independence or a retailer looking to expand or transform your current business; whether you're a caterer wanting to offer your creations to a broader public or a successful manager in search of a great business opportunity, Gourmet to Go helps you start strong and guides you every step of the way, until your dream comes true.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 318 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (October 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471139394
• ISBN-13: 978-0471139393
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 7.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #429,622 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't even think of opening a gourmet food store without it., January 27, 2002

By 

Larry D. Christensen (Fort Sill, Oklahoma United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gourmet to Go: A Guide to Opening and Operating a Specialty Food Store (Hardcover)

Although, as the name suggests, this book is geared mainly towards gourmet to go operations (specialty food stores with emphasis on catering and gourmet take-out) it is an invuluable resource for anyone thinking about entering the gourmet food industry.

I wasted all kinds of time and money on general business start-up books and learned little more that nothing about starting a gourmet food store (or any business for that matter). The business plan section alone is better than a whole book I purchased on the subject. I found every bit of Gourmet to Go to be extemely useful and after reading it couldn't believe I had even considered going into business without it.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good for starting stores or providing to stores., June 7, 2003

By 

Travis C. Ward "C. William Anderson" (Silverton, OR United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Gourmet to Go: A Guide to Opening and Operating a Specialty Food Store (Hardcover)

This is an excellent treatise of starting a specialty food store or, perhaps is even more beneficial to one who wishes to wholesale food products to place in food stores or delis..

People wanting to cash in on the current trend towards take-out convenience need this book, as well as From Kitchen To Market and How To Get Your Product Into Supermarkets.

The three books are invaluable for overlapping reasons. A prospective store operator needs to understand how to setup his or her store and, just as important, how their competition operates. Beginning store operators also need to understand their industry in detail not merely from the viewpoint of their competition and from their customers, but from their suppliers position.

Gourmet To Go does a great job from a narrow viewpoint. Probably the only topic not suffriciently explored is the hands'-on advice. Perhaps the next edition will detail the possibilities for including rollergrills, microwaves and how to earn what the industry refers to as "Plus-sales." I'm speaking of the technique in all fast food chains and convenience stores to get customers to spend more money.

Other hands-on topics that should be discussed are controlling theft and the experience of many store operators who have lost significant chunks of money in providing lottery tickets. I know of a feww whose losses exceeded $10,000. Adding insult to injury, lottery only reimburses stores from one to three percent of gross sales and pay-outs for winning tickets. Despite such a poor return on investment, many stores consider it mandatory to provide lottery.

Further, computerizing the store could be considered, as well as installing UPC readers. It is not uncommon to see even the smallest store using such equipment. Yet, those installing such systems all seem to have to reinvent the wheel.

Again, buy this book but augment it with From Kitchen To Market and with How To Get Your Product Into Supermarkets so you can keep up with and, perhaps, improve upon your competition and keep customers, suppliers and yourself happy!

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Invaluable Tool, June 13, 2003

By 

TanyaTLB (Astoria, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gourmet to Go: A Guide to Opening and Operating a Specialty Food Store (Hardcover)

I have been working on opening a specialty food shop/cafe and got stuck on the logistics of planning. After using several guides and books I randomly found (and getting NOWHERE) I decided to buy Gourmet to Go on a recommendation. It is THE best thing I could have ever bought, hands down. It seems that all the questions I had were answered in the book, and the structure of the book leads readers down a logical path through the maze of planning for this type of business. If you are to buy any book on this topic, this is the one. The money spent on this book will save you thousands later on. Two thumbs up!