In Print » January 2011 » Features » Retailer Profile

2010 Independent Retailer of the Year
Wolverines fans flock to The Big House for football come fall, but foodies make the pilgrimage to Ann Arbor, Mich., year-round with another destination in mind: Zingerman's. n What began as a delicatessen back in 1982 has grown into a one-of-a-kind experience. The Zingerman's Community of Businesses offers visitors everything from specialty sandwiches to meats and cheeses to breads and pastries to fresh-roasted coffee and gelato, including a growing line of private-label Zingerman's brand products. The independent food seller was the brainchild of friends/founders/former Wolverines Ari Weinzweig (CEO) and Paul Saginaw (Chief Spiritual Officer), who met while working together at an area restaurant: Weinzweig was a dishwasher, and Saginaw was general manager. Others who were employed at the establishment now serve as managing partners in the business, too.

Photography by Vito Palmisano Clockwise, from top left: Paul Saginaw (left) and Ari Weinzweig, founders of Zingerman's; Zingerman's Delicatessen is an Ann Arbor, Mich., destination; the cheese case features products made right at Zingerman's Creamery; a variety of dried meats are available.

"Who knows why we were all there together," Weinzweig says, hinting at a predestined fate.

Zingerman's Delicatessen first opened in the exact same spot where it resides today, in a now 4,321-square foot storefront facing the one-way brick road that is Detroit Street, just three-quarters of a mile from the University of Michigan. At the time, Weinzweig and Saginaw had just two employees, five tables and four seats at a counter, in addition to a menu of 25 sandwiches plus some Jewish specialties — both men grew up eating the latter.

It wasn't until 1991 that the company renovated an old house beside the deli, calling it Zingerman's Next Door. The expansion gave customers 60 more seats on two levels. Today, visitors also can sit in the outside patio, which provides an additional 200 seats.

Ten years after opening, Weinzweig and Saginaw were faced with a decision: franchise Zingerman's by opening a series of Zingerman's "replicas" in every Big Ten town or keep it local. They chose the latter.

So Much More Than a Deli
The only aspect that's small about this downtown Ann Arbor gem is its footprint. The cozy space boasts high ceilings and is chock-full of culinary sights, making it larger than life to those who come in to order lunch or purchase from the store. Whether it's bagels and cream cheese or a fresh-made reuben you crave, Zingerman's has it.

Deli sandwiches are sorted by protein source: corned beef, pastrami, beef, all-natural turkey, fish, free-range chicken, pork, hot dogs, vegetarian. Hashes, salads, "Break-Feast," "soup from scratch," "traditional Jewish foods," "house specialties," desserts, gelato, beverages and a kid's menu also are featured, as is a "sandwich of the month."

Meanwhile, the case and counter contains a wealth of meats and cheeses; the latter includes products produced right at Zingerman's Creamery, located five miles away.

Just across from said staples is a bakery counter offering loaves of artisan breads such as pain de montagne, paesano, rustic Italian rounds, caraway rye, sesame semolina baguettes and San Francisco sourdough as well as pecan blondies, sour cream coffeecake (a best-seller) and other baked goods, all of which are produced at Zingerman's Bakehouse.

Zingerman's Delicatessen offers shoppers everything from sandwiches to meats, cheeses, baked goods and private-label products.

The store side features a large display of olive oils and vinegars, not to mention the jams, jellies, preserves and other condiments that line one wall. Near the register, one can find candy (including Zingerman's own Zzang! Chocolate bars, available in four varieties) and books as well as souvenir t-shirts, hats, travel mugs and postcards.

Among Zingerman's various product offerings are private-label products bearing the Zingerman's name, created through long-standing relationships the retailer has with various manufacturers. Through these connections, Zingerman's has found one of many ways in which to differentiate itself. Private-label products account for 27 percent of total sales, Weinzweig notes.

In-store merchandise changes "every day," he adds.

Zingerman's Deli has enjoyed much celebrity and success. But rather than resting on their laurels, its managing partners are growing a unique, multifaceted company.

Creating a Community
Until 1992, Zingerman's had to pick up baked goods with which to make its sandwiches from local bakeries every morning — that's when Zingerman's Bakehouse came on the scene. Initially, the bakery only offered bread "and a lot less of it," Weinzweig says (9-12 varieties, to be exact.) Today, it produces breads, pastries and other baked goods for Zingerman's Deli plus 100 other Michigan accounts, making deliveries four times a day. It also creates wedding cakes with "imagination defying designs that taste as great as they look." In addition, the Bakehouse offers Hands-On Baking Classes (www.bakewithzing.com) for customers, teaching how to bake everything from Bavarian baguettes to cinnamon rolls to tiramisu; there's even a course on "bakin' with bacon."

Specialty food retailers may know Zingerman's for its training business, ZingTrain, which followed two years later. ZingTrain offers a collection of two-day seminars (such as "Bottom-Line Training," "Fun, Flavorful Finance" and "MerchandiZing!") as well as 2-8-hour workshops; custom-built workshops also can be arranged. ZingTrain even makes DVDs such as the "Zingerman's 3 Steps to Giving Great Service Training" and "Zingerman's 5 Steps to Effectively Handling a Complaint."

Although it is a small part of the overall business, Weinzweig notes, accounting for $700,000 out of $33 million in annual sales, ZingTrain is an important part of what makes the Zingerman's model a success.

Zingerman's accelerated in growth well into the '90s. In 1996, Zingerman's Catering (which is run out of the deli) got its start. It was succeeded in 1998 by Zingerman's Mail Order. As of 1999, shoppers also can place orders online.

In 2001 came Zingerman's Creamery, a member of the Michigan Cheese Makers Cooperative. It produces 10 soft cheeses plus one aged variety, Great Lakes Cheshire, as well as 10 cheese spreads and several flavors of gelato. The retail storefront sells dried meats, crackers and jams plus locally made milk, butter and eggs. It offers monthly tastings, classes and Sunday tours of the facility, too.

James Beard-nominated Chef Alex Young created Zingerman's Roadhouse in 2003. Located at 2501 Jackson Ave. in Ann Arbor, the Roadhouse is a full-service sit-down restaurant that markets "Really Good American Food." It also features drive-thru and walk-up windows at an Airstream trailer that's attached to one side of the building. Young, who serves as managing partner/executive chef, oversees the produce and meat that's grown and raised on Cornman Farms for the restaurant. The farm has more than 130 varieties of more than 27 types of vegetables. It also houses a selection of livestock, old breeds of hogs and cattle raised according to sustainable practices.

"You really can taste the difference" at Zingerman's Coffee Co., which was founded in 2003, allowing customers to "buy your coffee where it's roasted." The business serves wholesale products to retailers in the Michigan, Ohio and Western Pennsylvania, as well.

"We don't care about price," say managing partner Allen Leibowitz. When it comes to sourcing beans, he notes, "The first criteria is taste." Zingerman's Coffees tend to be single-origin or from small estates, says managing partner Steve Mangigian, adding that it receives 10-15 coffee bean samples per week.

"We'll try anything ... we're known for liking unusual things," Allen notes, as evidenced by the Indian and Ethiopian varieties it carries. All in all, Zingerman's Coffee Co. roasts 15 varieties per day.

One of the newest businesses is Zingerman's Candy, which opened in September 2010 and resides inside Zingerman's Bakehouse. It is there that Zingerman's Zzang! Chocolate bars are made.

Each of these businesses stemmed from a seed of an idea that evolved into a series of visions by Weinzweig and Saginaw. In 1993, Zingerman's drafted its first vision, "a detailed picture of what the future looks like," Weinzweig says, for a Community of Businesses with the goal of helping others and not just itself. The vision for 2020 (written in 2006) is to grow into 12-18 businesses, whatever those may be.

Train-Spotting
When asked what it's like to work at Zingerman's, Weinzweig defers to his staff, stopping several workers as they pass by, some carrying trays full of hearty sandwiches from the deli. Each one serves up a warm review that Weinzweig couldn't have scripted better himself.

Zingerman's is "a breath of fresh air," compared to other retailers, says Kate Thomson, who has worked there for 2.5 years, and cites the consistency and quality of employee training as an example of what makes this company different. "It's important to make sure we get what we need to do the job well."

Mikki Vincent agrees that "training is the biggest part," adding that after just two weeks on the job, she can say that she has never worked anywhere as organized as Zingerman's.

Kat Mitchell Simpson, another staff member with 2.5 years of experience, points out that "Everyone is always in a really good mood," adding that Weinzweig and Saginaw stop in almost every day, "which is nice."

"I'm excited to come to work," notes Mara Boyd, who has one year under her belt.

Becca Trupiano, another one-year veteran, says that it's her co-workers that make the difference. "You're surrounded by very passionate people," she says.

Clockwise, from top left: Managing Partner Frank Carollo at work in Zingerman's Bakehouse; Zingerman's Creamery produces several varieties of cream cheese; Zingerman's Coffee Co. roasts its own beans; Zingerman's Roadhouse offers "Really Good American Food."

"It's pretty fantastic," sums up Margot Miller, who has been with Zingerman's for just over a year and dropped out of a master's degree program in architecture to work there full time. Although retail jobs usually are "dead ends," she says, her experience at Zingerman's has parlayed itself into a career as the company's chocolate buyer.

Zingerman's workers aren't trained to follow orders ... just to do what needs to get done, Weinzweig says. Starting with a two-hour new staff orientation, "We teach them to be themselves," he explains, which may account for employee satisfaction.

Employee satisfaction is high at Zingerman's, where staff training is key.

Customer service is a top priority for the company, which conducts 20-40 internal training classes plus on-shift training for employees as part of its ZingTrain concept. In 1995, Zingerman's added Passport Training Classes to the mix; it has since become "one of the key elements of bottom-line training," Weinzweig says.

Emily Hiber should know. She got her start at Zingerman's as a runner, serving sandwiches to customers seated at Zingerman's Next Door. Ten years later, Hiber still is with the company, where she has served in various capacities. She credits Zingerman's for its open-book financing, which allows all employees at every level in on the numbers that are traditionally reserved for top executives. "We all know where the money is going," Hiber notes.

Zingerman's began applying open-book financing (based on Jack Stack's "The Great Game of Business") in the mid-'90s and has been teaching it as part of the company's ZingTrain program for five or six years, notes Weinzweig, who calls this concept "the future."

As such, all 17 partners and 500-plus employees are privy to sales stats and cost percentages, he explains."It brings more to your work ethic" to be in on such information, Weinzweig says; for example, if you drop something, you know what it costs to replace it. "We have 17-year-olds learning open-book financing — they're going to carry that with them wherever they go."

At the heart of the Zingerman's overall philosphy lies the 12 Natural Laws of Business, which Weinzweig writes about in "A Lapsed Anarchist's Approach to Building a Great Business," one of his many books. In short, any good business is living in sync with certain natural laws, he says, but in the American business world, "we're heading toward an energy crisis" that's comparable to the environmental one — namely, businesses don't respect their workers and treat them like intelligent, creative people they are.

"Our employees are at work, but they're having a good time," Weinzweig asserts, adding that it's all about building a "sustainable business," that benefits everyone: the employees, the vendors, the partners and the customers.

In the Midst of an Expansion
In 2012, Zingerman's will celebrate its 30-year anniversary with the completion of a major expansion, already in the works. The company plans to break ground in early 2011.

It's a "huge project" that has involved four years of meetings for Saginaw and managing partner Grace Singleton, Weinzweig says.

Although it's difficult to say how many buildings there will be in the end, Singleton says, the existing deli and annex will remain, with a new building to go up behind them; all three will be connected by a new atrium and deck. Once complete, the area will take up about 9,500 square feet.

The final set-up will "fit into the context of the Old Fourth Ward Historic District," according to www.zingermansdeli.com/deli-construction-news. "So though a new structure, the new addition to the deli is envisioned as a simple two-story brick masonry building. It harkens back to an early 20th century industrial loft in its materials and massing, respecting the historic deli and our surrounding neighborhood. ... Another design objective is to achieve outcomes that are sustainable, environmentally friendly and welcoming and efficient for all who enjoy the spaces."

"Our intention is to make the deli and the entire campus much more accessible to guests and staff," the site summarizes. "We're committed to keeping our outdoor space as a welcoming gathering space for our guests and in place of the deli's well-used outdoor 'big top' tent will be a permanent pavilion offering the familiar, casual, outdoor enjoyment of the deli's central courtyard."

The biggest challenge for Zingerman's will be remaining open for business during the construction, but "we are up for it," states the URL, where visitors can go to keep informed on the expansion's progress as well as view plans, drawings and photos.

After all, just as Wolverines fans mark their calendars for the arrival of fall football season, so do foodies anticipate the evolution of the Zingerman's experience.