Good afternoon from Butler & Bailey Market. I hope everyone is having a great week! The weather warmed back up this week but it is going to cool right back down. Surely, Fall is on the way.
In the last Grocery Life, I mentioned how hard it is to get equipment in a timely manner, most things being six to twelve months out. One of the things we ordered was a new warming case for our rotisserie chickens and various other things we sell hot instead of cold. Well they called me recently and told me it has already shipped, so we should have that in the next few days. Not real exciting, but our present one is about worn out. We are also getting a new front end computer system in October, although that’s been on order for several months. More boring stuff that costs a lot of money.
I didn’t even think or know that we needed a new computer system for the store. The one we have now seems to take your money in a timely fashion, I somewhat know how to operate it and I think it is only about fifteen years old which seems new to me compared to some things around here, myself included. Anyways, I came in one day several months ago and the staff that does most of the computer work here told me the company called and said they can no longer support our system. Not knowing what that meant, I asked them. It means if something breaks or goes wrong with it, they will no longer fix it. Next question, so they just decided one day they can’t fix it any longer? Then my guy goes into all this jargon about software, hardware, compatibility etc. etc. stuff I don’t understand or want to understand, ever. So I said, let me guess, they also sent you a quote for a new system. They did…of course they did. So now I get to spend tens of thousands of dollars on something I didn’t think we needed and I have zero interest in until some techy guy in Atlanta called to say his company doesn’t support it anymore. In my mind, these guys are sitting around their office, playing on their phones because business is slow, and they come up with the great idea to call all their clients and tell them they can no longer support your system and you will go out of business unless you replace it. We are also glad to present you with a quote for the latest and greatest system on the chance that you don’t want to go out of business when yours crashes and burns. My guys convinced me that we had to do it, so I guess I’ll be the proud owner of a boring new computer system. Just know I’m going into this kicking and screaming. I don’t trust techy guys, probably because they are smarter than me. They did assure me that the transition would be seamless and our business would not be interrupted. So I will go ahead and apologize in advance when our business gets interrupted and you can’t get your groceries checked out in a timely manner. I’m actually planning on being out of town when they install it, so you won’t have to witness me trying to hang a bunch of computer geeks with CAT 5 wire from the rafters when they most likely will interrupt our business with their new, supported technology.
On to more interesting things. We continue to support local businesses and items in the store that are a good fit for us. A few of the most recent ones include Aunt Nazzira’s hummus. We sell a lot of this! They deliver every Wednesday, so I usually write the check when they deliver and the amount seems to grow every week. It is produced right here but is inspired from Egyptian recipes. Apparently, it’s addictive, so try it at your own peril. Another company we brought in is sweet goods and desserts from Magpies Bakery. A different flavor profile from hummus, but seemingly just as addictive, based on sales. They upped their deliveries from once a week to twice a week, and it wouldn’t surprise me if it went to three times a week before long. We also just added local honey from the Knoxville Honey Company. My brother connected me to this family and their honey business. Folks claim local honey relieves seasonal allergies. I don’t know if that is true since I don’t suffer from allergies, but we are already selling a lot of it. Could be for allergies, could be because people want to support local. Probably some of both, but most importantly, it is really good honey. When I talked to him about selling it here, he told me, if I remember correctly, he had 257 bee hives. Wow, that’s a lot of bees to support, so I hope you will buy his honey and help him out. Another company in that category is Jammin Jams. They have a large variety of gourmet jams and jellies. Here’s a weird one, Extraterrestrial Fungi. They grow and sell several varieties of mushrooms. I’m not a mushroom connoisseur, but we have several customers that are, so they have been a great addition to our produce department. I have also come to find out a lot of high end restaurants in town buy from them. We also sell Frog Juice in our produce department. Once again, I’m not a connoisseur of artisanal kombucha, which is how they describe their products, but our customers buy a lot of it.
We have several local coffee companies that sell their products in the store. Our latest addition is DJ Roast. They bought Golden Roast’s operation and rebranded it. We used to sell a lot of Golden Roast coffee, so I imagine this one will do well in the store. Other local ones include Three Bears Coffee, Vienna Coffee and K Brew Coffee.
On to the beer section. We have several local breweries represented in the store. I’m sure I will leave some out but the best selling ones right now are Xul, Abridged, Yee Haw, and Peaceful Side. We are always adding new ones, so it’s hard to keep up, and it is also hard to draw the line on local, when a lot of breweries are just a short drive from here but not in Knoxville.
This is not a local company but I’m going to throw it in. Sparkman Wines. Their winery is in Washington state, but Chris Sparkman started the winery, and he grew up right here in Rocky Hill. I actually went to school with him at Bearden. His winery is highly respected, and he has even made the cover of Wine Spectator. We sell several varieties of his wine and are proud to support him here at the store. I also understand that if you visit his winery in Washington with Tennessee clothes on, you get the VIP treatment, so he obviously has never forgotten his roots.
Last but not least are Cruze Farm Dairy and Benton’s bacon and ham. I don’t think these two need any introduction, since they are pretty much world famous at this point. Even so, they are about as local as you can get in the way that they still run their businesses, which I appreciate. I hope the store has played a part in the start and success of these companies. I know they have played a big part in our success so thank you for supporting them!
Finally, I wrote about my daughter’s last go around and several people have since asked how my son Tyson is doing. Well, he is 19 years old now and a sophomore at the University of Tennessee. I think he has probably already disqualified himself from the academic awards that my daughter received in college. He seems to be pursuing a more well rounded education with academics playing a much smaller part. He clearly takes after me. I hate that for him, but I do take selfish pride in it.
Monday morning a week ago, I was here at work and out of the blue he texted me a video of himself doing a skateboarding trick at the skate park. Of course I was proud he had learned this difficult trick and congratulated him on it, but I thought it was weird he was at the skateboard park on a Monday, mid morning. So when I got home that evening I asked Erica if Tyson has school on Mondays and she said yes, he has classes all day, why do you ask? I was like, no reason, just trying to keep up with the kids. So that’s kind of Tyson in a nutshell. He does pretty well in school, but sometimes he has more important things to accomplish on certain days. I can appreciate that because that is kind of how I have rolled through life and certainly when I was in school. I will say he is a very talented skateboarder and very well may be at the top of his class in skateboarding at UT.
So now, I don’t only have a job here to take care of but maybe an even more important job at home. Protecting my first born son from the wrath of his mother. You see, she is always going to put going to class and academics ahead of learning a skateboarding trick, even if it is a really hard trick. In my mind, excellence in skateboarding instead of academics is still excellence. Hopefully, moving forward, he will get more focused on pursuing excellence in something that stands a better chance than skateboarding of paying his bills. Or, knowing him, he will buy a Powerball ticket on the way to the skatepark one day and win a billion dollars, proving all of us wrong. Until that time, I will continue to be his best defense from his mother.
Thanks for all your help supporting local businesses and thanks for letting us be a part of your community!
Tom Butler