Satisfaction Guaranteed
How Zingerman's Built a Corner Deli into a Global Food Community
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $14.99
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
From an accomplished journalist, this illuminating chronicle of the trials, tribulations, and triumph of Zingerman’s—a beloved, $70 million-dollar Michigan-based gourmet food store with global reach—is “thoughtful reading for foodies and entrepreneurs” (Kirkus Reviews).
Certain businesses are legendary, exerting immense influence in their field. Zingerman’s in Ann Arbor, Michigan, is one of those places. Over the years the flagship deli has expanded into a community of more than a dozen businesses, including a wildly successful mail order operation, restaurants, bakery, coffee roastery, creamery, candy maker, and events space—transforming Ann Arbor into a destination for food lovers.
Founded in 1982 by Paul Saginaw and Ari Weinzweig, Zingerman’s philosophy of good food, excellent service, and sound finances has turned it into a company whose reach spans all corners of the gourmet food world.? Famous for its generous deli sandwiches, fresh bread, and flavorful coffee—all locally produced—Zingerman’s is also widely celebrated for its superb customer service and employee equity. The culture is one of respect and innovation, while maintaining very high standards. Every employee has access to the financial records, everyone has a voice, and everyone is heard. It has legions of enthusiastic customers, fans across the food world, and business principles and a work ethic that have been admired, analyzed, and copied. All that is revealed here, in Micheline Maynard’s Satisfaction Guaranteed.
Discover how by 2019, Zingerman’s employed hundreds of employees and achieved close to $70 million in annual sales. When the pandemic struck, Zingerman’s growth momentarily screeched to a halt—but it survived by reinventing itself, while still serving its beloved food and selling its wide array of groceries. Now, as Zingerman’s looks forward to a half century in business, it is on track for stronger results than ever. A recipe for success in business and in life, Satisfaction Guaranteed provides a roadmap for manifesting joy and purpose in everything you do.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this stale hagiography, journalist Maynard (The End of Detroit) chronicles how the specialty food store Zingerman's went from "a single crowded corner deli in a leafy college town to a $65 million business." She writes of the company's founding in 1982 in Ann Arbor, Mich., by friends Paul Saginaw and Ari Weinzweig and details how it evolved into a major force in the gourmet food industry, gaining renown for its dedication to customer service and thoughtful treatment of employees. While Maynard clearly admires the business (comparing it to "some of the world's most successful companies, especially Toyota"), readers may find the niche store's business model more tiresome than inspiring. The owners' purportedly unique "Visioning" process, for instance, recommends that one's "effective vision" be "inspiring," "strategically sound," "written down," and "communicated"—four conditions that, on the whole, seem pretty basic. The same could be said about Zingerman's "12 Natural Laws of Business," a list of ideas the company operates under, which includes such banal points as "Profit is good" and "Greatness takes time." Equally bemusing is the way in which Maynard describes the impact of Covid on the shop's customers, who felt an "emotional loss" due to "the absence of the big menu boards with... fun sandwich names." This one's reserved for Zingerman's zealots only.
