Quality, service help small grocers

By KATHLEEN McLAUGHLIN

BEVERLY _ Independent grocers have found their place in North Shore shoppers' lives. It's somewhere between the savings calculations that accompany chain shopping and generous tipping at a favorite restaurant.

Instead of competing with Shaw's and Stop and Shop, the small markets now compete within their own niche on the basis of quality, service and specialized inventory.

The shoppers in turn have become more choosy, as even loyalists spread their money around. After taking her young son and daughter down Cabot Street, Bell Market shopper Cynde Ward said their final stop at the busy store before walking home was part of an experience. "Bell makes it like an old downtown."

The produce is fresh and she can almost always walk, she said. Then cupping her hand to her mouth, she said in a theatrical whisper, "The prices are a little high."

So, when price matters, Ward goes to Super Stop and Shop or BJ's Wholesale Club.

Although the busy corners have been home to Bell, Steve's Quality Market, Crosby's and Henry's of North Beverly for generations, they don't take that advantage for granted.

Henry's, for example, has always sold chicken pot pie ready to bake, and the large prepared foods section still offers no-frills dinners, sides and chicken soup. "There's chicken in there," food services manager John Keohane said.

Visible texture and fragrant seasoning are qualities that shut-ins and busy commuters both appreciate, Keohane said. Just in case stroganoff isn't enough, however, shoppers can order dishes like salmon-crusted pesto from the deli case. The strategy, Keohane explained, is to use the deli as a seasonal test market. When items gain a following, they move to the prepared foods section.

Although the products have allowed small supermarkets to regain lost margins, Keohane said that won't replace quality in every segment.

Keohane moves from meat butchered in the store to specially bottled marinades to a case that holds sushi and salads. He opens the cover of one box and points to a seasoned new potato cut in the shape of a mushroom. The prepared veggies are a new addition to a line that he calls "value-added."

Likewise, Steve's Quality Market in Salem has found success simply by making things like stuffed pork roast and bakery goods available, Peter Ingimi said.

Steve's plans to open a liquor section in the former Athens Bakery and to renovate the original store in January or February. "It's going to be beautiful."

While established reputations help grocers like Steve's and Henry's, their locations have a down side. "We're fighting ourselves for space," Ingimi said.

Steve's expansion will allow for rearrangement of preparation space as well. At Henry's, every inch of back room and cellar space is in use. The store has also invested in equipment like a power soaker and computerized ovens in response to volume, Keohane said.

Because Henry's is in a residential area, nine trash cans wait inside for frequent pickup instead of lingering in a Dumpster. Moving that waste is a challenge in the operation, Keohane said.

Other North Shore markets benefit from the chain strategy. Nick Lembo, who has owned a North Andover Star Market for 15 years, also owns Bell Market and Ralph's in Ryal Side. Now all three share the private label that former Shaw's shoppers recognize, Lembo said. And his oldest store sees a little spice from the Bell produce tradition. Lembo had never heard of a dinosaur egg, a plum-apricot cross, but this summer it appeared in North Andover. That store is also a test market for items like Richardson's milk, he said.

The chain power is even greater for Crosby's, which has stores in Salem, Marblehead and Manchester. After a recent Stop and Shop opening, the local chain plans to expand its Canal Street store.

As in the large chains, local owners are conscious of selection and carry organic products. David Swensen normally shops at an organic chain store in Saugus on his way home from work. "In a pinch, I don't mind spending the extra money."

While Swensen wasn't sure whether Bell was still under family ownership, he said it still seems that way. The refrigerator case could use some doors, he said, and management knows that because his wife talked to someone about it.

If small grocers can't fill every refrigerator on the block, they'll always have Marie-Josee Carriere's shelf. She and her husband spend $60 to $80 dollars a week on groceries. His meat and potatoes stay on one shelf; her grains and vegetables are on another.

For Lembo, the market analysis is simple. The big stores present a nice package, he said. "Some people like the big stores, some don't."