Balducci's
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Balducci’s Food Lover’s Market | |
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| Type | Subsidiary of Bear Stearns Merchant Banking |
| Founded | 1916 Brooklyn, New York 1946 Greenwich Village |
| Headquarters |  Bethesda, Maryland |
| Area served | Connecticut Maryland New York Virginia Washington D.C. |
| Key people | Louis Balducci (founder) |
| Industry | Retail |
| Products | Specialty Grocery |
| Parent | Bear Stearns Merchant Banking |
| Website | http://www.balduccis.com/ |
Balducci’s Food Lover’s Market is a specialty food company in the United States, with ten grocery stores and four restaurants. The company headquarters is in Bethesda, Maryland,
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[edit] History
Balducci's was the first company in New York City to sell premium quality foods, with an excellent butcher shop, fishmonger, deli and greengrocer in the same store. It became a model for specialty markets all over that city.[1]
In 1999, Balducci Enterprises - then consisting of an 53-year-old grocery store in the Greenwich Village neighborhood in Manhattan, a cafe, and a mail-order business owned by Andy and Nina Balducci - was purchased by Sutton Place Gourmet, which owned eight stores with that name, plus four Hay Day Country Farm Market stores in Westchester County and Connecticut. Sales for the combined company were more than $130 million per year.[2]
The company was purchased in November 2003 by an investment group led by Bear Stearns Merchant Banking.
The company's flagship store on 8th Avenue and 14th Street in Manhattan opened in December 2005.[3] Following its opening, Local 1500 of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union began protesting, outside the store, the non-unionized status of employees.[4]
[edit] Marketing
The company markets its specialty products to a very affluent customer base: The average customer has an annual household income of approximately $185,000 USD per year. [5] It has stores in Connecticut, Maryland, New York, Virginia, and Washington, D.C..
[edit] In fiction
In the popular sitcom Will and Grace, Will Truman regularly visited the store in New York City before it was closed in 2003.
[edit] References
- ^ Marian Burros, "Balducci's: A House Divided Stands in Name Only", New York Times, June 28, 2000
- ^ Florence Fabricant, ["Sutton Place, Balducci's in Partnership"], New York Times, June 23, 1999
- ^ Florence Fabricant, "A New Balducci's, Back Downtown", New York Times, December 14, 2005
- ^ Liza Monroe, "Lining Up at Balducci's, and Not for the Salmon", New York Times, March 6, 2006
- ^ "Posh Americans enticed with Aussie food", Sydney Morning Herald, Sydney Morning Herald, 2007-06-03. Retrieved on 2007-07-02.
