Store Stats

Number of Stores: 3 brick-and-mortar, 1 Internet
Year Opened: 1995, second store 2002, third store 2005, and Internet retail business in 2006

Number of Employees: 48

Web Site: www.cookswarehouse.com

Mary Moore grew up on a 100-acre farm west of Atlanta where her family raised chickens and cattle, and she spent her time riding horses. Her childhood in the south fostered an appreciation for the earth's bounty and set her on a path that ultimately led to a life in the culinary arts.

She began her career at award-winning Atlanta restaurants Partners and Indigo, serving as line cook, expeditor, kitchen manager and day chef. After that, she moved into the world of retail as director of research and development for Harry's Farmers Market.

Now she oversees the operation of three of her own cookware stores — The Cook's Warehouse — with the largest consumer cooking school program offered in the greater Atlanta region, garnering recognition as the best in Atlanta among consumers and professional chefs.

Cheers!
Moore first opened the doors to her cook shop in 1995, expanding quickly to include a cooking school with over 150 classes per quarter taught by renowned guest chefs in four kitchens.

There is a cooking school director, but each store has its own cooking school lead who is in charge of what happens at the location. The classes also benefit from the 950 volunteer-core Moore has cultivated from cooking enthusiasts who work in the classrooms.

"We have 300 active volunteers who, instead of paying for the class, come in and set up, work and then clean up," Moore explained. "We also have one principal assistant at each class along with the three volunteers."

The cooking school kitchens are not only places of learning; they are showrooms for the large appliance inventory sold at The Cook's Warehouse.

"It works well because we have built-in showrooms and utilize them for the cooking school," she explained.

The Cook's Warehouse concept began as a single 2,500-square-foot store. Moore doubled the space to 5,000 square feet in the fall of 2000. This successful operation actually all began because of a void Moore found as a professional chef in the Atlanta market.

"I cooked my way through business school, and I was a kitchen manager and expeditor," Moore explained. "I really felt like there was a void in the Atlanta market for a serious gourmet store. When I cooked professionally, I would try to find specific cooking tools and I would order equipment I needed, and people didn't know what I was talking about. When I was working at Harry's, we went to New York one weekend to cook at The Green Market, and we were going to do crepes with sautéed apples. We didn't bring a crepe pan, thinking we could just pick one up in the city. We went to all the stores in New York but we couldn't find a basic 9-inch carbon steel crepe pan. I couldn't believe it. So we went to Bridge Kitchenware and they had everything. When I walked out of that store, I knew I wanted to have a store like that . . . it was really my inspiration. And I had no idea how or when or where but I really felt at that moment that I was meant to do it; and it was about 14 months later that I opened the store."

Eventually, Moore grew her one-store operation on Amsterdam Avenue to a three-store operation with a partnership with Sherlock's Wine Merchant. The Cook's Warehouse now offers a mail order catalog, Web site shopping and a quarterly newsletter.

Moore explains her mission simply by saying she wants her customers to feel comfortable browsing in the stores for hours, talking about recipes and cooking, and feeling at home.

"We provide a relaxed learning environment for our students that allows them to ask many questions. We have both demonstration and participation classes for different styles of learning," Moore explained in her gia application. "My goal is to make sure that my customers have room to walk, look and shop. We work hard to not have the traditional 'congested kitchen store' feel. Our merchandise is grouped mainly by category. However, we cross-merchandise a great deal to tell the customer the story of how items are to be used. Our wines are mainly displayed by region although we cross-merchandise with cookware for occasions. For example, we had a beautiful Thanksgiving display with all of the essential tools for the meal plus the perfect wines to complement each course."

Moore's foresight in partnering with Sherlock's is just one example of her business acumen. When developing plans for her second retail location, this new partnership brought together the best of both worlds for a gourmand. In the spring of 2002, her cook shop, cooking school and retail wine center opened in Atlanta's Brookhaven neighborhood. The new location, shared with Sherlock's Wine Merchant, enabled Moore to offer the finest in cooking and wine to a dedicated customer base. In addition to featuring the finest in cookware, kitchen appliances and unique gadgets, the Brookhaven store boasts a fine selection of artisan wines from around the world and a beautiful wine bar. The wine and cookware departments work as two separate businesses under one roof, with Sherlock's owner Doug Bryant keeping his own operation separate.

The businesses co-exist beneath one roof and share licensing and other economies of scale while maintaining separate corporate entities. To the customer, the store is one business. In the fall of 2005, Moore opened her third retail location in the downtown area of the city of Decatur. The new location is a partnership between her, Doug Bryant and Craig Maske, the general manager of Sherlock's Wine Merchant. As with the Brookhaven store, this location offers the finest in cookware, kitchen accessories and appliances, and unique gadgets, as well as handpicked artisan wines and cooking classes.

The Perfect Store
While Moore loves all three stores, the new Decatur location is particularly dear to her as it encompasses all the facets of the first two locations in perfect synergy. Oddly enough, Moore opened the store at the request of business leaders in Decatur who called on her to expand into their quickly developing urban setting.

"It was huge when they called. I lived in Decatur for nine years. I love the sense of community here. It's a community in a way that no other part of the city is. Decatur is a place that's hard to get in and out of, it's a place people come to and stay," Moore explained. "It just felt like the timing was right. We found this space and negotiated pretty hard for it. We had to have some legislation rewritten so we could do the wine tastings here the way we do them."

The end result has worked. The two-year-old Decatur location is popular with the community. While midtown does a high cookware volume and Brookhaven has a large wine volume, Decatur is a store with balance, selling about equal along both lines. And the partners share equally in the profits here as joint owners rather than the separate business setting in Brookhaven.

"We needed to date before we married," Moore joked of the change to full partners in the new store. "The Brookhaven location worked out very well, so when it came to time to do the Decatur store, we decided to do it together.

"I love the way this store looks and feels. I love the neighborhood. I love the beautiful natural lighting," Moore explained as we walked through the wide aisles. "I have the best employees, too. You can't do it without the right employees. It takes a lot of passion."

The store has changed since its opening as Moore's team learned the likes and dislikes of the store's consumers.

"We started with the core merchandise of the other stores and changed it to fit the neighborhood," Moore began, pointing out kitschy wine T-shirts that aren't sold in the other stores. "Brookhaven has $500 bottles of wine but none of those are sold here right now. The customers here don't spend the same kind of money. But these people love to cook."

A Store With No Walls
Moore joined the Gourmet Catalog Buying Group and uses its catalog for mail order purchasing, but she also publishes her own 30-page quarterly newsletter and cooking class schedule.

Her Web site, www.cookswarehouse.com, is an ongoing project that was relaunched in 2006 to include a full retail section. Web offerings include top brands of cookware, cutlery, kitchen electrics and gadgets, as well as new, unique and local products. Moore relocated the offices of The Cook's Warehouse and opened a warehouse to support cookswarehouse.com in the fall of 2007.

The relaunch of the site was another turning point for The Cook's Warehouse. The new retail site houses a powerful cooking school database that takes real-time reservations and tracks customer data. The new site allows for simpler interface with staff, allowing in-store reservations to be processed more efficiently as well. The Cook's Warehouse site also publishes a weekly e-blast that communicates events, special classes, in-store demonstrations, sales, recipes, job notices and more.

Moore's Merchandising
The Cook's Warehouse is simply a fabulous store to walk through and shop. Around every turn there is something else to play with, sample, test and, of course, buy. Cross-merchandising is a key element to the success of the store.

"Some of our best displays cross-merchandise all aspects of the business — from tools to cookware to serveware to wines paired for each course," Moore explained. "We have certain bold vendor statements such as a WMF store within our store and a very expansive display and selection of All-Clad."

In fact, the WMF concept is new for The Cook's Warehouse. Smaller displays were previously showcased in all locations, but Moore took a chance and expanded to a bold statement with the vendor which resulted in a 168 percent increase in sales.

Customers are further enticed by seasonal music and culinary aromas.

"Our scents are those from the cooking school or fresh-baked cookies or breads when there is no class," Moore explained. "Other than around major holidays, we also feature a table of new introductions where our customers can quickly identify our latest finds. We have rich and soothing colors on the walls of the stores, and beautiful wine racks along the walls of the two that carry wine."

In addition to displays, the store keeps customers entertained with interactive demonstrations each weekend featuring different products and showing multiple products with each demonstration.

When considering inventory, Moore's approach is to determine her choices on items of value and items she approves.

"It must just be some innate thing within me about cooking. I still have 80 percent of the core inventory I began with and I just bought what I liked," she explained. "I like things that last — quality merchandise that people can count on and would not be coming back and saying, 'Why did you sell me this cheap whatever?' I really narrow it down to product that is great product. We test them and make sure they fit our mission. And we also make sure we have those gadgety things, too — like onion goggles."

Deep Roots
Community involvement is a high priority for the business and Moore. The Cook's Warehouse hosts many cooking classes to benefit organizations such as the Atlanta Community Food Bank, Les Dames d'Escoffier, Georgia Organics, Refugee Family Services, Share Our Strength, and many more. The company raises more than $35,000 a year for these causes, and it also provides a venue and instructors for teaching the elderly, troubled youth, and other groups in need. In addition, they donate gift certificates and/or gift baskets to over 100 charitable entities annually.

The Cook's Warehouse offers more than 600 classes annually including both public and private classes. Moore makes her kitchen studios available for commercials, photo shoots and kitchen segments. She continues to focus on hosting or sponsoring local events such as the Share Our Strength Baking Contest, Taste of the Nation, the Junior League of Atlanta Tour of Homes, the Decatur Book Festival, the Decatur Wine Festival, Taste of Atlanta, and Taste of Brookhaven.

"Our grass-roots marketing efforts keep us front of mind in the city year round," she explained.

Additional marketing materials include a quarterly newsletter and cooking class schedule, and an annual product catalog. Each month, promotional brochures and coupons are placed in 58 locations around the city for pickup. Print advertisements also appear in Flavors magazine and Edible Atlanta.

Business Practices
In order to run an operation such as this as efficiently as Moore does, she has to have an incredible staff and well-maintained business practices. The stores all work together and technology is shared among the stores to keep the process fine-tuned.

"We use as many technological advances and software applications as possible to streamline, fine-tune and master our processes. All three stores share information, signage, marketing ideas, etc. The entire team is constantly working together to propel the business forward," Moore explained. "Our business practices, customer service, product selection, high standards and work ethic, and cooking schools make us a retail leader."

In order to keep all this running smoothly, Moore makes sure her staff are people who are passionate about cooking and great tools.

"It is much easier to train someone to be an effective salesperson than to give them a passion for our products," she explained. "We train employees on an ongoing basis. Their first task is to learn the philosophy of the business and the layout of the store. Next they are taught how to use the POS and the policies and procedures of the company."

Ongoing training includes lessons on product via in-store demonstrations by vendors and manufacturers at staff meetings. There are also instructional DVDs, pamphlets and brochures from the vendors, as well as internal training from long-term employees, managers, and Moore herself.

"Employees are also given the benefit of attending any of our cooking classes which solidifies their culinary techniques and teaches them further about our products as our cooking schools are equipped with the products that we carry in our stores," Moore continued. "Our best customer service practices are to always treat every customer with the utmost respect and patience. No matter what the question, request or concern, all customers are to be treated as friends, and be given gracious, educated and efficient help. Whether in the store, on the phone, online or internally, all customers are to be treated the same — extremely well. Our staff is instructed to find solutions whether it's another resource, store or person within the company. There is never a flat answer without a suggestion for other options or follow-up."

And yet even with all these great tools in place and a staff that loves what they do, challenges still arise. Moore explained that expanding is always a challenge as construction and licensing for the stores is difficult.

"We actually had to get new legislation passed to be able to do business the way that we wanted to with the wine sales, tastings and classes along with the cookware and cooking classes. For the third store, they weren't going to let us use the word 'Wine' in Sherlock's Wine Merchant on our signage."

Other challenges include planning the inventory for new markets.

"We have a core that is the same at all stores but there is about 10-20 percent of our inventory that is different per store. I really want the stores to remain highly specialized, which means catering to the neighborhoods where they are located. It's interesting to see the differences between them. The good news is that we can transfer inventory between stores if something is or isn't working well."

She continued, "Staffing is a challenge in any business. I expect my employees to be just as passionate about food and cooking and our offerings as I am, so sometimes it takes a while to find the right team. Currently, I have the best team in place that I've had in my 13 years. It's such a pleasure to work with strong managers, buyers and sales staff."

Comments? mmoran@gourmetretailer.com

Inventory Profile
The Cook's Warehouse stocks over 12,000 items in a variety of categories. Here is a sampling of those brands:

Ateco

Chicago Metallic

Doughmakers

Emile Henry

Heartland Bakeware Company

iSi

Kaiser Bakeware

LorAnn Oils

Nordicware

Parrish's Bakeware

Bialetti-Bradshaw Int.

Bodum

Chemex

Nissan/Thermos

Numi Tea

Tea Forte

Timolino

Toddy Products

Chantal

Frieling

La Cafetiere

All-Clad

CM International

Le Souk Ceramique

LODGE

Mauviel USA

MIU France

Myson Corp

Reco-Romertopf

Sante

SCANPAN

Staub

Swiss Diamond
Wisconsin Aluminum

Le Creuset

Fresh Wave

Fruits & Passion

Ilio

Let's Gel (Gel Pro)

Loofah Art

Microthin Products

Mystic Maid

Bosch

Hadco

Installation Trends

Vent-A-Hood

Westye Group

Nachtmann

Neuwirth Company

SengWare

Sisson

Wilton Armetale

Zak Designs

Zrike Company

Proforma

Univogue

Wine Enthusiast

Profile of a Leader
Mary Moore is well-respected among her retail peers and culinary friends. Aside from her most recent recognition from The Gourmet Retailer as the winner of the International Housewares Association's "Global Innovator Award, USA," she has received the following accolades:

• Georgia Trend Magazine, "40 Under 40: The Best and Brightest," 2007
• HomeWorld Magazine, "The Players - People to Watch," 2008
• KAI USA, Shun "Retailer of the Year Award," 2007
• Gourmet News Magazine, "Leadership Awards," 2006 Finalist
• Catalyst Magazine, "Top 10 to Watch," 2006
• National Assn. of Women Business Owners, "Woman Business Owner of the Year," 2006 Nominee
• Creative Loafing, "Best Place to Buy Kitchen Gadgets and Best Cooking School in Atlanta," 2006, 2007
• Creative Loafing, "Best Place to Buy Kitchen Gadgets in Atlanta," 1997– 1999, 2004, 2005
• Gourmet News Magazine, "Top 20 under 40," 2004
• The Gourmet RetailerMagazine, "25 Most Important Gourmet Retailers," 2004
• Harper's Bazaar Magazine, "Top Cooking Schools in the Country," 2002
  

Industry Leadership Roles