Grocery Life July 25, 2014

Grocery Life July 25, 2014

By Tom Butler

Good morning from Butler and Bailey Market. I hope everyone is having a good week. My family and I got back from Montana late Wednesday night, so it’s back to the real world. This was our kids’ first visit to Montana so Erica and I were a little apprehensive about how they would like it. I think it took them a day or two to realize it’s not like going to Disney World, but once they did, they seemed to really enjoy it.

Lauren says her favorite thing about the trip was riding horses. I don’t really like riding horses especially for four hours straight. My body apparently is not designed for a horse. I am still sore from the waist down.

Another concern for me was how Tyson would do on a horse. Anytime he rides on anything that moves he will fall asleep. This is nice on long car or airplane trips, but when riding on trails with steep drops off either side it was kind of scary. Every time we got in that situation, I would start asking him questions to make sure he stayed awake. I think our guide was concerned also because he kept telling Tyson, “no siesta, no siesta.” Well Tyson managed to stay on his horse as did the rest of us and we saw some beautiful scenery along the way.

Tyson’s favorite thing was the zip-line/ropes course. We had no intention of doing this, but when we were leaving Yellowstone Park, Tyson spotted it from the car window. I was tired from two days of driving around Yellowstone but since Lauren got to pick horseback riding, we figured it was only fair to let Tyson pick an activity. This is another thing my body is not designed to do. I don’t mind the climbing and zip lining; it’s just the harness you have to wear to do this. It wraps around your waist and between your legs in these crisscross patterns and then is cinched tight.

I think the lady that fitted mine must have just come out of a bad relationship with a guy. She cinched mine really tight and when she asked me how it felt I told her it hurt. She just smiled and said that’s perfect. When she wasn’t looking, I loosened them enough to where I didn’t talk in a high pitched voice and climbed and zipped with the kids for the rest of the afternoon.

Erica’s favorite thing in Montana is Jim Allison, our fishing guide. I often accuse her of loving him more than she does me and she has never denied it? The way I figure it as long as she loves the fishing guide, the more I get to go fishing in Montana. Marriage is all about compromise.

It was great to spend the week with my family in Montana. The kids got to do and see a lot of things that only Montana and Yellowstone have to offer. If you ever get the chance to go, I would. It’s a special place.

Well back to business. The store did fine while we were gone. It always does. Sometimes I think it runs better when I am gone. Business was good and has been good all summer. I hope that continues. All the new things we have started offering seem to be really taking off. The fried chicken is really doing well and also all of the meats we are doing on the smoker. The South Carolina peach quality is improving every week and the new line of fresh local leafy greens we are getting from Eco-Rich Farms are really selling well.

The August cooking class schedule is out and several of the classes are already full. You can find the schedule on our website if you would like to look at the dates and menus of the classes.

Beef prices continue to go up. Usually in the summer months they trend down, but they continue to increase this year. This is a bad sign for the fall and holiday season. They have always trended up in the fall months, so there is no telling how high they will go. I have noticed several of our competitors are starting to promote lower grades of meat trying to combat the high prices. We are going to stick with the same grades and quality we have always used. In the short run sales may slow down, but in the long run quality and consistency always wins out.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Thanks for letting us be a part of your community,

Tom Butler

Respond to:tom.butler44@gmail.com

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Butler and Bailey Market

7513 Northshore Dr.

Knoxville, TN 37919

(865)691-8881