History, Knowledge and Quality All Meet at this DC Butcher Shop
By Stephen Jackson, September 14, 2009 - Examiner - Washington, DC
When was the last time you went to a butcher? Not the white-coated person that answers your bell ringing at the local supermarket, but an honest-to-goodness butcher in his own storefront, who shoots the breeze and can gauge with his eye and hand the exact weight of a cut before it hits the scale? If you're living in urban and suburban America, chances are you've never been to one at all. The butcher shop business model has been under severe attack like all small retail businesses in the food industry.
Be prepared to discuss your meal plans when you enter Wagshal's Market in the Spring Valley Shopping Center on Massachusetts Avenue. Be prepared to bask in DC history since it hangs on the walls and in the air; even the shopping center where it is located is a declared historical site. Be prepared to learn something about the food you are seeking and be prepared to gain confidence in the food experience you are planning.
Wagshal's is dedicated to keeping its customers loyal and turning you into a regular if you are a first-time visitor. In order to do that they need to make sure you enjoy your visit, you learn and feel like you have gained control over your food plans. They want your eating experience to be successful. This is a very smart focus. This is how businesses can build trust. Show your competency and expertise, show that you have the customer's best interest at heart, their success, and trust naturally follows. Trust leads to brand loyalty and brands can and do cost more.
Stepping into Wagshal's is like stepping into another world. Your senses are confronted with stimuli from many directions and for many reasons, one of which is because Wagshal's is more than a butcher shop and offers top-quality seafood, produce, pastry and bread. Your attending Wagshal's employee will probably ask you how you plan to cook what you buy. S/he asks because s/he knows their trade well, and does it because they have the time to listen to the answer and help you out, the way a neighbor would.
Though customers may find less expensive meat at the local grocery store, Wagshal's tends to offer the same high-quality cuts and grades or better than you find at gourmet and high-end stores like Balducci's, Dean&Deluca, Sutton Place Gourmet or Whole Foods - for same price or less.
And for the growing demographic of home cooks who devour food magazines and the Food Network and have a real thirst for information about different types of food and cooking, Wagshal's helps develop their skills and expand their cooking. Customers today will make the special trip to a butcher shop if they get something extra, if they learn about their food, gain cooking advice or find that special unique product.
People in DC entertain as much or more than elsewhere; their special occasions often have significant personal, local, national and international import. Why risk it and shop at the supermarket when you can enter a world of expertise and high quality food to gain control over that special occasion - even if it is just for yourself!
