COMPILED AND EDITED BY SARA KAY
THE PANEL
Kristie Brablec
Zingerman's
Ann Arbor, MI
Aaron Foster
Foster Sundry
Brooklyn, NY
Steven Rosenberg
Liberty Heights Fresh
Salt Lake City, UT
PHOTOS:
INDIVIDUAL
RETAILERS
Responses have been edited for clarity and fit.
Specialty food retailers discuss the importance of
keeping shoppers happy, whatever it takes.
Customer Service Is King
Steven Rosenberg, Liberty Heights Fresh, Salt Lake City, UT
We had a guest who drove 45 minutes, from Park City, to our shop to get good ingredients to build a great sandwich— good
farmhouse bread, real Swiss cheese, jambon, condiments, Route 11 chips, Rick's Picks pickles, etc... you get the idea.
Upon arriving home, the guest discovered that our team failed to put his loaf of bread into his bag. He called and was clearly
disappointed, perhaps mildly upset. So we raced to his home in 35 minutes to deliver what he had been expecting to already
enjoy, his bread, along with a bar of great chocolate.
Needless to say, he was very impressed that we would go to such lengths to make a bad situation much better, and to do
so without his asking. He was happy, and told many of his Park City friends the story. We know because many of them visited
our store and told us what their friend had experienced.
It's what we do when we make a mistake. We apologize, ask guests how we can create complete satisfaction from their place
of disappointment, and then spring into action to put a smile back on their faces. "Always eat well!" is our motto, and we will do
everything within our power to see that our guests are able to do so. Always.
52 ❘ SPECIALTY FOOD MAGAZINE specialtyfood.com
retail therapy
