instore - October 2017 - 13

cover story

used to be the industry norm for traditional grocers. Now it's maybe 7
or 8 percent." Significant growth, in other words, but still just a third of
Straub's share.

items include Busseto Foods salami, Volpi Foods Italian deli products, Fermin deli meats, Miller and Double G hams and cheeses from
Vermont Creamery, Sartori and BelGioioso.

Deli prepared, front and center

Deli appetizers sold at Straub's include specialties like Bacon Cheddar
Pecan Spread, Five Onion Quiche with Bacon and Fontina Cheese,
Antipasto Skewers, Chicken Satay and Almond Encrusted Brie Bites.
Party tray options include upscale variations on the usual fruit, vegetable and meat combinations as well as some novelties: Best of Italy
Prosciutto Melon and A Taste of New Orleans, to name a few.

You can see evidence of deli's prominence at Straub's in the vintage
photographs that line the hallway outside the Clayton store's corporate
offices. One, from 1948, shows the store's first cheese case (cases of St.
Louis-brewed Budweiser are lined up in front of it, perhaps an early
effort at cross-merchandising).
Sherri Valenti, Straub's bakery director, is gracious enough to concede
that, as great as her baked goods are, deli is boss at Straub's. "Deli
prepared foods is the business of Straub's." LaBerta looks forward to
having some new toys to play with when the remodel is finished. There
will be a pizza station, for starters. And a new grill, which will allow
Straub's to prepare hot homemade lunches, dinners and - for the first
time ever - breakfasts.
All of Straub's salads are made in-house, LaBerta says. Salads with a
four- or five-day shelf life are made at the company's central kitchen in
its Webster Groves store. (Webster Groves was Straub's first home. The
Clayton store followed in 1933, Central West End in 1948 and Town and
Country in 1966.) Salads with a two- or three-day life, like coleslaw, are
made at the store they're sold in.
Webster Groves is also home to Straub's smoker, and all of the smoked
meats sold at the chain's four locations originate there. The company
also parks its food truck there. "We love it anytime we can bring food
to other people," LaBerta says of the food truck. Straub's full-time soup
maker operates out of the Clayton store kitchen, making chicken noodle
soup and chili every day and rounding out the menu from a repertoire
of about 40 different varieties. Every month, even in summer, hot soup
makes the list of Top 10 deli items sold at Straub's. Straub's employs
about a half-dozen chefs full-time in deli prepared to make not only its
soups but also salads, deli salads, dips and other prepared foods.
At any given time the department's front case will feature at least 60 salads,
LaBerta says, and thousands of unique SKUs rotate through deli/prepared
on an annual basis. Customers who come to Straub's for one of the chain's
signature prepared dishes - Salisbury steak, meatloaf, creamed spinach,
broccoli salad, just to name a few - are as loyal as they come.
"They've been buying from us for years, and we don't ever want
them to go away," LaBerta says. "People don't like it when we get rid of
comfort foods. We bring them back."
As vital as its in-house products are to the success of its deli, top brand
name offerings also feature prominently in Straub's mix. Featured

Straub's also has special menus for eight holidays. Its full-course
Thanksgiving dinners are legendary. One year, LaBerta says, a
woman called to make sure Straub's could cater her holiday bird
and trimmings. Her son was coming to town, and he made a point
of requesting it. Here's guessing there weren't many leftovers - for
seven years, after all, James Laurinaitis was a starting linebacker for
the St. Louis Rams.
With so many of its foods made instore - and so much of the store's
success riding on it - it's essential that Straub's use the best equipment,
LaBerta says. Mettler Toledo scales, Globe slicers, a Henny Penny rotisserie oven, a Power Soak wash sink, an M&M Label label maker and
Hussmann display cases make it easier for employees to do their jobs
day in and day out.
The importance of deli prepared at Straub's is also clear as soon as you
pull up the retailer's home page (straubs.com). Just below the site's
main image are two boxes, one linking to "Lunch at the Deli," the other
to "Dinner for Two."
Lunch at the Deli entrees one week in August at the Clayton store
included grilled salsiccia, a create-your-own nacho plate, chicken
piccatta, smoked pulled chicken, fried pangasius and fried cod.
Featured entrees change daily. Dinner for Two reheat-and-eat options
for the same week included beef stroganoff, stuffed green peppers,
grilled petite beef tenders, smokehouse half chicken and a "summer
Thanksgiving" meal, all for $19.99.

Iconic chicken salad
In the interest of saving the best for last, no discussion of Straub's
deli would be complete without an homage to its piece de resistance:
chicken salad, made in the Clayton store kitchen, by hand, by the same
two employees, every day. Chicken salad alone accounts for 15% of the
stores' deli sales, LaBerta says.
"We've sold 27 tons so far this year," LaBerta said Aug. 10. "Hand-pulled
chicken, all white meat, Hellman's, fresh celery and special seasonings,
very meticulously made."

instore * OCTOBER 2017 * 13

http://www.straubs.com

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