When You Need To Stock Your Kitchen, Where Will You Go?
Just before Christmas, a rumor swept through Ann Arbor: the Williams-Sonoma store at Briarwood was going to close at the end of January.
Williams-Sonoma kept mum, but there was a telltale sign. It was offering 40 percent store wide, all sales final. In fact, Williams-Sonoma quietly shut down on Jan. 15, after nearly 30 years at the mall.
That left many of us wondering if our Sur La Table store also would vanish. Like Williams-Sonoma, Sur La Table has been shutting stores around the country.
I went to visit, and while it’s still there, the store had only about half the merchandise I was accustomed to seeing. It looked like it could pack that up quickly, if need be.
The problems at the quality kitchen gear chains made me wonder: why is this happening, and where are cooks going to find things?
Some of what ails the big kitchen gear chains is the same thing that ails retail in general. There is a ton of competition, both in brick and mortar and on the Web.
With the pandemic now a year old, in-person shopping has plummeted in many places. And even before the pandemic, people were shopping less and less in person than in the past.
The kitchen gear market is in a unique situation. I’ve always thought that at least some of what the upscale stores sold was aspirational, like $400 Vitamix blenders and $1,100 espresso machines. That kind of gear was aimed at people in McMansions who were stocking designer kitchens, but never actually got into the weeds to cook.
Those stores had trouble keeping a corner on the market because kitchen items can be found in so many places, from big department stores such as Macy’s, to discounters like T.J. Maxx and Home Goods, to mass marketers like Bed Bath & Beyond and Kohl’s.
If you shop these places, as I do sometimes, you know that you can find familiar brand names. You can get Le Creuset and Kitchenaid at Home Goods. I’ve seen All-Clad at TJ’s. And everyone seems to have Nespresso type coffee makers and pods.
Given that there is always something on sale, it was simply hard for the kitchen chains to keep up. Why would I pay full price for kitchen towels at Williams-Sonoma, when T.J. Maxx had piles of similar ones?
But those of us who are serious cooks want better gear than we can find in big stores, and even the kitchen chains. They simply cannot match the kind of service that specialty stores can provide. As the chains start to disappear, here are some ideas for places you can go.
Small Places With Great Expertise
You’ve heard me talk about our friends at Coutelier, the knife and kitchen gear stores in New Orleans and Nashville. The first time I stopped into the New Orleans store, I simply wanted to move in.
Everywhere I looked, I saw something interesting, whether it was the hand-crafted knives from Japan, the cake tester that cost me $3, or the little fish scaler that I use for all kinds of things.
Moreover, owners Jackie and Brandt could tell me anything I wanted to know about the merchandise. While COVID means that you can’t simply hang around the way you once could, the stores are a real feast for the eyes and feed your curiosity.
There’s a somewhat similar place in Chicago called Northwestern Cutlery, which has been family owned since 1972.
Northwestern recently moved to a new location after years in the West Loop (real estate prices have gone up so much that it made complete sense to give up the location, plus now they have more parking).
While Northwestern specializes in knives, I’ve bought lots of other things there, from sturdy small baking trays to a mini-zester to a pair of boning scissors. Actually, the scissors gave me a fright when they came apart, until I realized they are supposed to come apart for thorough cleaning.
These types of stores are especially prized outside the U.S. If you’re able to shop in Toronto, I love browsing in Placewares, smack in the middle of St. Lawrence Market. I’ve brought back tons of cool items from there, which have made ideal Christmas gifts over the years.
In London, there’s Divertimenti, which has been around since 1963. I first went there during a program with the London chapter of Les Dames d’Escoffier, and Divertimenti is my idea of culinary heaven. It’s a combination cooking school, kitchen and shop and bookseller (it’s known as a “tableware” store in England).
Paris has the kitchen store that is the Holy Grail for many of us: E. Dehillerin. When I first visited, it was before people shopped on the Web. You had to trek to the store, and once you were there, it was dark, confusing and intimidating. It also helped if you spoke French.
But, they did ship, and once you bought something, you were on their catalog mailing list. Now, the process is much easier. The website is in French and English, and items arrive much faster than they once did. “We remain mobilized to accompany you both online and in-store in order to honour your requests as quickly as possible,” the store says.
Finding vintage replacements
What can you do if a favorite piece of equipment breaks, and it’s no longer made?
Over the years, I’ve haunted estate sales and garage sales to find replacements and to supplement some of my favorite vintage things. I’m always on the look out for Pyrex bowls to go with my collection.
Last year, the aluminum ice cream scoop that I’d used my entire life fell apart, and I never realized what it meant to me until it lay in pieces.
But, because I sell vintage jewelry on Etsy, I wondered if I might be able to find another one there. Voila! There it was. And while I’m sure it cost far more than the scoop had cost new, I decided not to quibble.
Another place you might look is Facebook Marketplace, where I just purchased a set of silicone tools that belonged to Chicago Tribune writer and trained chef Louisa Chu. You also could check out Ebay, and even Amazon sells some vintage things.
So, even if we lose our famous chains, there’s hope. If you have other ideas for sources, I’m happy to hear them.
Chef Rick Bayless Writes Of His Troubling Year
Rick Bayless’ food has made me happy a number of times. He’s even been a guest chef at Zingerman’s Roadhouse (that’s him with CulinaryWoman Margaret Petersen). But his story of his COVID year made me weep last week.
No, Rick hasn’t gotten sick, but the pandemic has been brutal to his four restaurants on Clark Street in Chicago.
Anyone who is in the restaurant business, or who has enjoyed Rick’s food, cookbooks and television programs, will hold their breath reading his long form piece, called “Cake In The Time of Covid.”
I was especially struck by his experience getting caught in the middle of the looting that swept Chicago’s business district last summer, and how even in the middle of destruction, he put his staff ahead of his own safety.
Spare some time to read it. You may finish up feeling grateful — or commiserating.
What I’m writing
I’m betting that some of you go to Starbucks on occasion. But during the last three months of 2020, Starbucks’ traffic actually dropped, according to data from Placer.ai, which does a terrific job tracking the retail world.
Starbucks isn’t worried, though, as I wrote for Forbes. That’s because its average ticket — the amount spent by its customers — is going up. It thinks people are getting multiple drinks on a single visit, either for themselves and others, or maybe to avoid going out several times during the day.
Meanwhile, a tiny milestone for me. The first draft of my upcoming book on Zingerman’s has gone off to my editor at Scribner’s!
Of course, the publishing process takes a while. My book won’t be out until early 2021. I’ll keep you updated as things move along, and I’d be honored if you’d consider placing a pre-order when the time comes.
But it’s been a really fun experience learning about the company, its food and its philosophy toward service and business. Authors will tell you that some books are a chore to write; this one has been delightful.
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Stay safe, wear a mask, and see you next Sunday!