Farmer's Pick: Your Friendly Neighbourhood Market

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Alfonso Curcio, the Owner

We opened our store in 1992 and ever since then people have been asking me "when are you going to open another one?" My answer's been the same for fourteen years: never.

We've got something really special here, but it takes a lot of work and you can't do it if you're trying to run more than one store. I've seen too many people open up a great place and then they expand and before you know it quality starts to slide and service suffers. That's never going to happen here.

Farmer's Pick is something special. It's a traditional supermarket where the owner is in the store. I'm here every day. I get in at six and I don't leave 'til suppertime. I've been doing that since we opened and, by now, I know almost every customer who walks through the door.

• Meet the Owner
• Meet the Greengrocer
• Meet the Butcher
• Meet the Cheese Guy
• Meet the Deli Man
• Meet FNG Italian Bakery

They know me, too. Customers know that I'm out on the floor and very approachable. We don't have a suggestion box here and we don't do customer surveys. People just say "Hey! Alfonso, what about this or that." It's great. I'd say that most of the specialty items that we offer are here because somebody suggested it. If I had a bunch of stores, I'd never have time to talk to my customers.

Staff are another reason I'm sticking with one store. We have a super team here. Most of the gang have been at Farmer's Pick for years. They're great people and we treat them well. But great people are really hard to find. Our department managers have been in the business for ages and they really know their stuff. And our cashiers are the friendliest in the city. I don't know where I'd find more people like that.