A Duck Soup History Lesson
In the beginning of Duck Soup, there was no history. Richard Ressler and Pierre Weiss were fresh out of the chute, making news... with very little behind them. They really never gave the past much credence as the store grew and moved forward. There was so much happening in the present that they rarely took the time to reminisce on the past. That just never seemed to fit for the Ducks.
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The original storefront in Sudbury, MA, circa 1972 |
But history happens whether one is aware of it or not. As they were in the process of rebuilding after the fire, there was much more time to reflect on where they started, and where they have been – taking a few moments to briefly reflect on the first 27 years of Duck Soup.
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Back in the days when we were young (and had hair). |
Written in Spring of 1999 by Richard Ressler:
My reminiscence kicked in with the myriad of newspaper articles generated post-inferno...
In 1971, Duck Soup was pretty much “It” in terms of what was then known as “gourmet” food. It was a relatively new term, a wide open market. I mean, there was no one who was selling whole-bean coffee anywhere in the Northeast. B-R-I-E was a four letter word that no one could pronounce, let alone know what it was. This takes us back to the time when Bremner Wafers were considered exotic! The specialty food and housewares landscape was pretty uni-dimensional.
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Early Ducksoupians:
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Pierre and I were young men in our 20's back then. I was working at Cambridge Coffee, Tea and Spice in Framingham learning the ropes of the specialty food business. Pierre would stop in after school to eat the Brie we were sampling... his European roots would not be denied. Certainly, we talked... plotted... schemed... and dreamed of what we could do with our combined interests and experiences.
Other than the Framingham venture, there was nothing really out there. There were some “gift shops” around for the independent retailer to dabble in... but not many of those. There was this one very small shop in Brookline that was half made up of health foods (just gaining market popularity) and half made up of toys, that went by the name of Bread and Circus... but that's another story altogether.
Pierre and I saw a massive market demand, and could sense that consumers would be clamoring for what we wanted to offer. We decided to take the plunge in Sudbury. Seemed like a good locale at the time. We were young, could afford to take a chance or two... and never thought that we would be telling this tale 27 years later. To bring all pieces together... and to maintain market flexibility, we named the store, “Duck Soup, A Contemporary General Store”.
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Rita presenting
her 'historical' cake to |
Initially we were fairly deep into health foods... seeds, nuts, bulk items. That was a huge growing piece of our market. We were learning to ride the consumers' awareness. We knew we could succeed with this approach, and ever since we opened the doors, we have been busy. Year in and year out.
I think back to the store then (yes, I CAN remember that far back), and in the mid- to late-70's we eased out of the health food oriented items. That truly represents the only major change in our concept. The supermarkets were just getting into the health food thing, and frankly, we decided to let them have it. We had other ducks to quack. The rest of our concept history has been merely refinement of the basic concept with which we started.
Our logo changed a bit... was contemporized... in the mid 80's, incorporating “Specialty Foods and Housewares” into it. Not only was the term “gourmet” becoming overwrought, but also the market was becoming much more defined. It made perfect sense to get with it and modernize our image. The tag of “Specialty Foods and Housewares” also gave us more flexibility and room to move. Our customers have always been savvy and intelligent. Hence, we needed to be sure we could deliver the goods to them.
A lot of our history, now that I think about it, was linked with the fact that we grew up with Sudbury. Since we opened the doors of Duck Soup, the town has more than tripled in population. We are now seeing our second full generation of customers, and in many instances, a third generation on the way. Pretty amazing stuff when I think about it.
We have kept refining, adjusting, remaining flexible with the market's needs. By staying tried and true to our course, we have weathered many changes. One change that comes to mind involves our cheese counter. In the Mid-80's cheese consumption was peaking for us. However, and it seems like it happened overnight, everyone seemed to be overly concerned with all things low fat... and the bottom fell out of our cheese sales. This trend lasted into the early 90's, and then began to reverse itself. Cheese sales, at the end of 1998, were stronger than ever. We always had the cheese available, just sold a lot less of it for a few years.
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One bit of our history that I am especially proud of is our relationships with our various vendors. A lot of them were just getting started when we were. We forged alliances and stuck with them over the years... and that is a major reason we have the scope and depth of goods available today. We know who the players are, who is the most reliable... and who gives the best service. This of course is passed along to our customers in terms of quality, selection and availability of products. We think it's pretty cool.
Over the years we have seen a lot of similar, wannabe businesses come and go. No big deal. The Duck has never been one to let the term “competition” enter our vocabulary. We find that others are certainly of no threat. They will either enlighten the marketplace and make business better for all of us... or they will do their job poorly and will just fade away. We have never allowed ourselves to get caught up in our knickers over what others are doing. The Duck is The Duck and does what The Duck does. By offering great selection, personalized service, and being responsive by staying owner operated, Duck Soup has managed to hang around... and have an epic history to recount.
I think one key to our success, and having a history to recount, is our desire to diversify. We know we are not all things to all people, and have never wanted to be that. But we have offered a broad enough range of goods to cover all bases... and in the example of the cheese business, can weather trends and economies. We are also (all modesty aside!) good at what we do... and very much like what we do. I couldn't come to work otherwise.
So in a nutshell, that's it. The history of Duck Soup down and dirty. The years certainly have run together, families have grown and milestones have been achieved. Sure, there are lots more details and stories to tell. But you'll just have to duck in and share a cup of coffee to get anymore!