If you’re into food, retail, and innovation, the legendary Zingerman’s of Ann Arbor, Michigan rises to the top. This is a good company.
They are great editors
All the products they sell are good. You can’t get crap olive oil from Zingerman’s. You can’t get bad vinegar from Zingerman’s. You can’t get bad bread or bad cheese or anything bad at Zingerman’s. They seriously care about the quality of their products and often have a personal relationship with the people who make them.
They let you taste stuff
If you go to their store in Ann Arbor you can taste the oil, taste the vinegar, taste the honey. They’re confident in their product and they want you to be comfortable with your purchase. I’m sure it increases sales as well.
They have fun
Go to their store or pick up their catalog and you’ll see what I mean. They don’t take themselves too seriously. Their entire catalog is hand illustrated too which is always fun.
They teach the Zingerman’s way
They have classes on the The Art of Giving Great Service and a class called Small Giants which they describe as:
Are you struggling with how to grow your business? Do you feel overwhelmed by the sheer number of “opportunities” that confront you? Does the idea of growing as big as you can as fast as you can leave you uninspired (and exhausted)? In researching his book, Bo Burlingham uncovered a whole group of companies that chose alternative routes to success. Learn what qualities distinguish these organizations and explore whether or not the Small Giants’ path is a viable route for you.
They even offer an unconventional finance class:
No, we’re not talking Enron-style bending, but solid, ethically-oriented ways to make great finance a successful part of the organization at every level instead of just hiding it in the accounting office. We do weird stuff like teach finance classes to line cooks; post our financial performance on wall-mounted white boards; calculate how many scones we have to sell to buy a new oven; teach costing and pricing classes to our front-line crew; post service and quality bottom-line measurements right next to our financial scores; and share the winnings with as many people as possible.
They’re curious
If they find something they really like they’ll sell it even though it doesn’t fit into their traditional categories. Here’s a list of “the great unknowns “ they’re currently offering.
They’ve taken their time
They’ve built their business the old fashioned way and stayed true to their roots in Ann Arbor. They’ve been around since 1982. Started as one small corner deli. 25 years later, the Zingerman’s Community of Businesses employs over 450 people and generates annual sales of over $30 million.
Next time you are in Ann Arbor, check out Zingerman’s Deli. Or, order some stuff mail order. I think you’ll love it.
Update: Here’s a piece from Inc. calling Zingerman’s the coolest small company in America.
Alan Gutierrez
on 21 Apr 08Oh, Noes! Signal vs. Noise is going to be the subject of an AnnArborIsOverrated.com post. I can see it now. Worlds collide.
Back in the 90’s I lived in Ann Arbor. Here are the economics of the time. Zingerman’s sandwich was $10.00. Ann Arbor parking tickets for expired meters were $5.00 if you paid them through the drive-thru window at the police station within 24 hours.
Zingerman’s would give you a discount on your sandwich if you brought them an Ann Arbor a parking ticket. They would give you two sandwiches for the price of one if you brought them two parking tickets.
Whenever I got a parking ticket, I pluck the ticket and wait for the second one, before treating a friend to Zingerman’s with and breaking even.
Christopher
on 21 Apr 08Zingerman’s is great. Excellent post.
BenJ
on 21 Apr 08World’s colliding indeed, I went to high school next door.
And, yes, Zingerman’s is delicious and wonderful once you get past the food-snobbery of it all. Best part of all, after living in San Francisco for 7 years their prices don’t even seem that unreasonable anymore.
73 Tarb’s Tenacious Tenure FTWJim McDavid
on 21 Apr 08While zingerman’s as a company is all well and good, Zingerman’s as a brand is way over priced and over hyped for their deli. If you want to get sandwiches that are good or better than the Z for a way less price I suggest you try either Maize N Blue Deli or Sottini. Zingerman’s is for posing and saying how “with it” you might be. Real people who want real good quality food can go to either of the 2 I mentioned above.
Christoph
on 21 Apr 08hihi …. german “vollkornbrot”. so nice :)
i’m suprised that so many english nouns are from the german language. “kindergarden”, “bratwurst”...
nice to read it on a page of a seemingly great shop.
greetings from germany.
Carl Collins
on 21 Apr 08While living in Ann Arbor, I appreciated not just the Zingerman’s food (which is all good quality) but also the way they conducted business and their endless fascination with their product. I’d never considered how their way of doing things, especially the small giants philosophy, might apply (or so closely correlate) to something like 37signals own ideas. Neat.
Jim McDavid
on 21 Apr 08While they might be interesting from the small giants view, I find that people who praise zingerman’s food are either just following a lemming mentality, or likely, just not experienced the real top quality delis in AA.
Jake Walker
on 21 Apr 08Jim – what’s the real top quality deli in Ann Arbor? Amer’s? Otherwise, let me know… I’d like to go try it.
Second of all, in addition to the excellent sandwiches at the Deli, they also run a fantastic restaurant, Roadhouse, which has some of the best (albeit most expensive) burgers in A2, and serves a fantastic weekend brunch. It’s right off of I-94, and is worth stopping it, even if you’re just passing through. They also operate a drive-thru sort of thing out of a trailer that has pretty decent sandwiches, including an excellent North Carolina Pulled Pork sandwich with slaw for $5.50 through the drive through.
JF
on 21 Apr 08While they might be interesting from the small giants view, I find that people who praise zingerman’s food are either just following a lemming mentality, or likely, just not experienced the real top quality delis in AA.
Or maybe they actually like the food? Or maybe they have different taste than you? Or maybe they like other AA delis food too, but especially like Zingerman’s food?
Why the chip on your shoulder over a deli and what food other people like?
Erin
on 21 Apr 08Yes, the quality of the food is generally excellent. That’s why I go to Zingermans from time to time – the experience is consistently good.
That said, this is a place that has no problem asking for $15+ for a couple brownies. Most locals understand that, as another commenter mentioned, the “brand is way over priced” from a consumer’s perspective. For that reason, I struggle with thinking about them as a ‘good company’. Yes, they offer free samples. But what they do is roughly equivalent to letting people read ‘Getting Real’ for free online and then charging $59.99 for a hardcover book if they want to get their hands on it.
Nate Westheimer
on 21 Apr 08I LOVE Zingerman’s.
When I was 10, we were visiting our friends there (owners of 4th St Birkinstock) and my mom went into labor 2 months prematurely.
Two blessings came of this:
1. My brother ended up being healthy and awesome 2. I got to eat at Zingerman’s for a month straight!
Peter Baker
on 21 Apr 08Zingerman’s is fantastic. They also treat their employees very well (I worked their for a while in college), even if they are a little full of themselves. They even designed their own typeface around the original handwritten style of one of their first designers and have used it for everything since.
Any animosity towards it is just indicative of how strong and full their brand is. Amir’s or the other delis in town don’t even register an emotion, good or bad. Zingerman’s gives the foodies something to obsess over (variety/quality), and the haters something to keep pointing out (price/snobbery).
I hardly enjoy spending $12 on a sandwich either, but I sure as hell enjoy the sandwich I get.
Anonymous Coward
on 21 Apr 08Most locals understand that, as another commenter mentioned, the “brand is way over priced” from a consumer’s perspective.
Is it? They’ve been in business since 1982. They seem to have a good handle on the market.
coldclimate
on 21 Apr 08Zingerman’s gets a mention (might even be a chapter) in Bo Burlingham’s Small Giants. I get the feeling that 37signals might get a mention if he ever wrote a followup.
FredS
on 21 Apr 08And while you’re in town, stop by Bubble Island for the best bubble tea I’ve ever had. Better than Joy Yee’s.
Ian Jones
on 21 Apr 08Here’s another native’s vote for Zingerman’s. Maize and Blue, which I like and visit fairly often, is a well-run little student sandwich shop. Same with Amer’s and Sottini’s. Zingerman’s is a full-blown New York deli with (somewhat unfortunately for us) full-blown New York prices. Two different beasts.
The NYT had a good writeup last year that may explain, among other things, why the prices are what they are.
Joshua Kaufman
on 21 Apr 08Katzingers is a sort of Zingerman’s clone based in Columbus, OH also worth checking out.
Alex
on 21 Apr 08YES! Zingerman’s is beyond compare. To categorize it as just another deli is a monumental mistake. Here is a company that absolutely obsesses over minutia in order to bring its customers the best tasting food. As an example, you need only to look their Bakehouse, which produces what simply has to be the most ridiculously delicious artisanal bread known to man. When other delis settle for third party breads baked in a factory, Zingerman’s went to work on building an enterprise around bread baked without taking shortcuts. And their hard work makes all the difference. No soggy rye on the #2, that’s for damned sure. Good luck getting bread like that elsewhere. Lord knows, we’ve got nothing even in the same ballpark here in Austin.
dick costolo
on 21 Apr 08i am a zingerman’s OG and was there in 1982. It was just as good then.
Ryan Cannon
on 21 Apr 08I feel like this is pretty much a general critique that well-designed and high-end things receive. Sure, you can get a very good, cheap sandwich at other places, but you miss out on the attitude, design and exotic ingredients. Comparing Zing’s to another deli is like comparing a MacBook Air to a $300 Dell laptop, an em dash to hypen-hyphen, or a well-architected site to one thrown up over a weekend.
Design costs. Well-trained employees cost. It’s not a poor value, it’s a different set of values. If all you were looking for is to fill your belly then water, oats and a multi-vitamin will fill you for a dollar per meal.
Jason
on 22 Apr 08I love the sound of their classes on the The Art of Giving Great Service. Has anyone attended this? What’s your take?
On the same note, what other Customer Service training would you recommend along these same lines? NOTE: not necessarily interested in the “customer service” section of a sales training company. Really looking for a seminar/class/series on customer service as a culture.
Is that out there?
Brooks Jordan
on 22 Apr 08I love how Zingerman’s and craigslist.org work on so many of the same principles and just feel very similar and yet have a totally different business focus. Two great models to put side by side to see what can be gleaned.
Brooks Jordan
on 22 Apr 08Really, Dick, you worked there in 1982? Interesting . . .
What carried forward to the rest of your career/Feedburner, etc? Anything specific?
Jason
on 23 Apr 08@Jason
I’ve taken the “The Art of Giving Great Service” class, and found it to be extremely valuable. our training was food business based, but the topics covered really hit on extablishing “service” as a culture. The main take home for me that day (and for my boss) is that your employees are your number one customers and deserve the same quality service you give the folks bringing the money in. For my part, I implemented that attitude to great success with my team.
Rick
on 23 Apr 08I lived 3 blocks from Zingermanns for 2 years.
Ari, the founder/owner, is like the Seth Godin of food. He’s very approachable and has great ideas that extend outside of food.
My tip: Fall Saturday in AA: farmer’s market for Michigan rasberries, then bbq at zingermanns, and then a UofM football game.
sharon
on 25 Apr 08Zingerman’s is better than just the best of food, service, etc. They have affected the lives of thousands with their community philosophy and PRACTICE. I worked for the Food Rescue Program-Food Gatherers-for a year and their dedication to making a difference in the community was just as intense and focused as their retail business. The prices seem high until you start to look at what they accomplish in the community. If more businesses, and governments ran with the same level of integrity and purpose we would all be a lot better off.
This discussion is closed.