Thursday, August 26, 2010

Chuck's Produce & Street Market

Looks like opening day is getting nearer for Chuck's Produce & Street Market. Here's a link to their website:

http://www.chucksproduce.com/

It's just a single splash page, but keep checking back for more news.

Here's my report on my visit to Chuck's

18 comments:

  1. Do you know of any way to contact the buyer for Chucks? Thanks.

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  2. Sorry Julia, but I haven't the foggiest idea. Unfortunately, there's no contact info on their webpage either.

    I think I mentioned previously something about Chuck's needing to get their lines of communication and web presence a bit more in order...

    Regardless, I drove by this morning and they're looking like they are moving forward quite rapidly. Perhaps you can drop in and see if there might be someone available to speak with or at least leave them your card.

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  3. How do you know if you got a job there or not?
    I hope I find out soon!

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  4. they need a web presence.

    also, I am curious as to how they will position themselves: it will be ewasy to beat Whole Foods on price but difficult to beat Winco, both about a mile away. Will it be the Trader Joe's model in a bigger space?

    it will beinteresting to see if Safeway survives.

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  5. The Produce Buyer is Paul Todak. They are looking for good quality, local produce. Your best bet is to take a sample with contact information to him.

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  6. Safeway will survive just fine...especially since Chuck's is planning on being closed on Saturday's (according to today's Columbian). Bad business decision Chuck's. People grocery shop on the weekends.

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  7. I'll throw my two cents in and say:

    1)Why would anyone care if Safeway "survived" or not? If Chuck's is going to present a better more locally oriented grocery store to our community, then I say good riddance to Safeway.

    2)Being closed on Saturday "might" be a way the folks at Chuck's can help attendance at our weekend farmers' markets? Don't know, but I can't imagine it will matter either way...except for the duly noted inconvenience to shoppers. I'm betting that the Saturday closure doesn't last long.

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  8. I think closing on Saturday is a great way of saying SPEND ONE DAY OUT OF SEVEN thinking about family. I think it is a great way to send the message.

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  9. Nicely said, Anonymous.

    Fortunately for me, Chuck's WILL be open tomorrow. Looking forward to some good grocery shopping!

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  10. I'm betting the Saturday closure WILL last. I happen to know it is in observance of God's Sabbath that they choose to stay closed on Saturday. It is amazing to see a local company sticking to it's religious beliefs and not caving in to what is "easy" or "normal". I hope they do well here.

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  11. Anonymous,

    You are correct! They do observe the Sabbath AND they also carry no pork or shellfish products. So much for my local bacon making dreams...

    Just got back from Chuck's and I'll have more to report a little later.

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  12. Great store, clean, adorable-from scratch cakes,reasonably priced. Produce looked excellent. Lunch there was excellent w/a giant turkey sand, good addition to CC.

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  13. I have been to the store twice an absolutely love it! The staff is very friendly and helpful, but not overbearing. The meat market is unlike any other in town, the produce fresh, fairly priced and items available that you dont find elsewhere. So far the bread purchases we have made have been great and stayed fresh several days, and today I purchased some salad from the deli and once again - fantastic! Chuck's is exactly what we were waiting for - good luck Whole Foods - I would say your days are numbered.

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  14. Seeems to be a hit............... took me 25 minutes to PARK! On a Monday afternoon. The store is clean and well stocked. Beautiful produce!

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  15. The store opened last week and I was excited to have a store in town that was not a big box store.

    It was very dissappointing!!

    On the plus side, they had pumpkin bread that was still warm from the oven that was awesome. Not enough to keep me coming into the store.

    On the down side, the prices were high. I bought some enormous mangos. Every single one of them was bruised through and through. I also tried some of their "brand" fresh pasta with sauce. Two days later it had mold on it (the package had not been opened and was not due to expire until 10/27.

    It will take alot for me to go back again.

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  16. I sent to Chuck's Grand opening today seduced by the promise of samples and demos throughout the store. There were a lot of customers there but the samples and demos were a fiction. There was absolutely nothing and I saw several other people who also were there expecting a grand opening party. The prices were high, the produce did not look good. At checkout I was overcharged for 3 of the 6 items I bought. When I mentioned this to the checkout clerk she did fix them but without apology and I had the definite impression that she had been overcharging all day. All in all, the store was very disappointing and it is unlikely I will ever go back.

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  17. I was very excited about Chucks opening until I visited and found that they are closed on Saturday and they do not sell pork or shellfish. I don't care about the reason, it's a bad business decision. I forgot to notice if they sold wine or not. Quite frankly I think chicken has eclipsed pork as the most unclean meat.

    Coming from Arizona, I was hoping for a good mid sized market along the lines of Sprouts or Sunflower. I was very disappointed - prices were high and it seems to be just a copy of other upscale markets in Portland. The one bright spot was the produce, they had the freshest rapini (broccoli-rabe) I have ever seen. So if I need rapini I'll go back. Thank goodness for Trader Joe's.

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  18. I work at a buisiness in the same plaza and since McDonalds is under construction I thought I would go there for a coffee. When I walked in nobody greeted me. I went to get my coffee and it was not the best tasting. Then I was browsing around and everything is way more expensive than the other organic stores in Vancouver. I have been looking for a better job so I walked up to the costomer service to ask for an application. I waited for about 5 minutes for someone to even look my way. Then when somebody finally came I asked for an application and the woman rudly told me they were not hiring. I said well I still want a application so you will have it on file and she said sorry we are not hiring and then walked off. That was my first and last trip there. My mom also went there 1 time for a small item as we live right down the road and they were rude to her so she left and went to safeway. I give then a 1/2 star...

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