Grocery Life November 14, 2014

Grocery Life November 14, 2014tom tyson and bear

By Tom Butler

Good afternoon from Butler and Bailey Market. It is windy, cloudy and bitterly cold as I write this. It just took a couple of days of this weather for me to remember how much I dislike the cold. I am sure Erica is already preparing for me to be grumpy for the next three months.

Business seems to be holding up pretty well. We had a little snow rush yesterday afternoon which always helps. The problem with snow scares is you have great business for one day but that is usually followed by three or four really slow days. Typically one good day cannot overcome several bad days but you take business when you can get it.

We are hard at work preparing for our Holiday Open House next Saturday the 22nd. It always seems a long way off and then all of a sudden we realize it’s next week. We will be spending the next few days finalizing the foods we are going to sample, who is going to be working at each station and the appropriate order to serve the food in. We are also confirming with the vendors that are participating. I talked to Cruze Dairy Farm in Kodak, Vienna Coffee in Maryville, and Carnathan’s honey here in Knoxville yesterday and they all confirmed that they will be here for the event. Barbara Tenney, our cooking class instructor, will also be here to share some of her favorite holiday recipes. Several other vendors will be here along with the aforementioned so it should be a great event.

2011 open house

We have a very complex way of figuring out the quantities we need for the event. Every year when we finish the event, we take a black sharpie and write the quantities we used on a plywood wall in our back room. When the next year comes around, we go look at the wall and adjust the quantities we will prepare. This year we year we are really upping them. We are expecting a big turnout. We do the same thing for turkeys at Thanksgiving and beef tenderloin at Christmas. I bet some of you have a wall in your home that you use as a growth chart for your children. It’s kind of the same concept, just in a business application.

sales wall

Erica and Lauren are going to be out of town this weekend so Tyson and I will be bachelors for a couple of days. We are going to do the typical guy thing on Saturday. We are going to Frank’s Barbershop to get him a haircut. Tyson loves going to Frank’s because he gets root beer in a frosty mug, they have dartboards and a pool table and a lot of beautiful women who work there.

tyson at barber

I don’t like root beer, I can’t really throw darts with my arm yet and I have never noticed all the pretty ladies working there. I like Frank’s because they know how to cut hair and when they cut it, they manage to keep it from going down my shirt collar. To me, that’s the true test of a barbershop. Frank seems to operate a great business so if you are looking for a “man cave” that cuts hair, that might be the place for you.

franks barber shop 2

Before I started going to Frank’s, I used to walk down the sidewalk to Rocky Hill Barbershop. Glen and his daughters ran it. They were nice folks but Glen passed away and the daughters decided not to keep it open. I always like a short walk to get where I need to go instead of getting in the car and driving so I think for my next haircut I am going to walk over to Yellow Sky Salon. It is just across the street from the store.

I really like the owners John and Cristina McClure. They have done a great job of converting an old house into their hair salon. It’s really a nice space inside! They probably cater more to women than men but now they are going to have to put up with me. I want to support folks that are advocates for the Rocky Hill community and they certainly are. They are also loyal customers of ours.

yellow sky pic

All of the businesses in our community seem to take a great interest in the success of each other’s businesses. I guess that’s part of what makes Rocky Hill, Rocky Hill.

Have 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

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