Cookaholics Bulletin Board

Some variety in hot peppers, we only get variations of pepperoncini and I would LOVE jalepenos or banana peppers.

Greens, besides the choi family I would like mustard greens, beet greens, collards, etc.

Freshly made tortillas, pita...

Otherwise I am pretty lucky with the availability of local products. Of course in the country 1/3 the size of New York state, what's not local????

Mary

Great ideas!

Well - this makes four ingredients for me but I'd love to have easy access to fish frames for stock. The only place I can find to get them our is in our historic markets (enclosed buildings with multiple vendors) - which tend to be in parts of town that are super-crowded, with very limited parking, and open weekdays during the daytime only.


Gerard

Can I add creme fraiche?

And how about real pickles and sauerkraut?

Lynn,

It's so easy to make your own. I keep it in my fridge all the time.

Amy

Cat Hai fish sauce. Plus, some of the fresh seafood, that is only available locally, not even frozen elsewhere. And maybe some real tomatoes, like I get from my garden, at an affordable price, but I know that won't happen!

For the most part it has gotten to where I can get most of what I want locally. I think of the days when I had to take trips to NY every 6 or 8 months to stock up on things that can now be had in supermarkets! It has gotten better everywhere, plus Philly has gotten much better for buying food, since back then. Of course, there are the things that I still have to grow, since they can't even be had online, or if they can be found, I would have to take out a second mortgage. But I figure I am lucky I can grow them, and help others enjoy them who can't grow them.

Dave

Only a slight hijack but seriously:
- genuine, friendly staff;
- exceptional cleanliness;
- and beautiful displays (especially of fruits & veges).
This attention to detail tends to permeate the entire environment and makes it a place people want to shop at and tell their friends about. It helps to insure success, which any start-up should have at the tpo of its list. It's an exceptionally easy and cost-efficient way to become the 'competition'.

Wino,

I don't think that is at all cost-efficient. Training people in the products, and how to set up displays takes time and that's not free, especially if you prefer to hire smart, personable people. And why would smart, personable people want to work for peanuts? As for cleanliness, if all the stores in your area are a mess, it may not just be the stores' faults. When I first moved here, I couldn't believe how crappy the stores looked around here, even chains that I expected to be fairly clean in my experience. Then I got a retail job and I understood why. I had worked retail before, but I had never seen the public treat a store like that. It was literally 35-40 hours per day just to get the place looking halfway decent. That's a lot of payroll just to clean up after people.

Mission figs. Dried or fresh, preferably fresh. Wegmans. All of the things here mentioned. Including great friendly service.

JesBelle - A few years back, I owned 7 retail unisex clothing stores in a major city in all of the major malls in that city. Within each mall confidential data is collected to determine the highest producing store in each category (i.e., unisex clothing, sports, electronics, etc.). In every mall my stores were #1, consistently beating all of the national majors and the other smaller stores. We paid the same wages, etc. However, we built our reputation on being the place to shop and we had A LOT FUN - all the time. We never had to advertise for help. That's management and any store can do it. It's the place people want to work at and shop at.