Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Owner of closed South End(Boston) food market blames customers
Boston Herald ^ | 11/12/10 | Jessica Van Sack

Posted on 11/12/2010 10:19:21 AM PST by GQuagmire

The manager of Don Otto’s - a recently shuttered food market in the South End - is blaming neighborhood patrons for its untimely demise, cooking up an angry message to fair-weather fans of the Tremont Street eatery.

“Don Otto’s Market wants to say we had few customers that understood customer loyalty and its importance to our business,” a message on its Web site reads, later adding: “If you came in only for baguettes, the occasional piece of cheese, the occasional dinner . . . you can not tell yourself you were a supporter of our market.”

(Excerpt) Read more at bostonherald.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; Miscellaneous; US: Massachusetts
KEYWORDS: badbusinessmodel; delirious; massachusetts; napl; opus; waaah
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-5051-54 next last
Sour grapes a specialty.....

More nuggets..

Among their customers were U.S. Rep. Barney Frank and Mayor Thomas M. Menino, who has stopped by for their locally made lasagna. But in this economy, $28-per-pound steak and $8 cartons of eggs was not a recipe for

“In some parts of the world people are accustomed to spending a higher percentage of their income on food, but in America we suffer from sticker shock because of Wal-Mart and other discount vendors,” reads Don Otto’s online farewell. “The reality is we pay for what we eat. Some are informed enough to know what that statement means. For those that don’t, I am not going to elaborate.”

1 posted on 11/12/2010 10:19:26 AM PST by GQuagmire
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: GQuagmire

Wow. just wow.


2 posted on 11/12/2010 10:21:45 AM PST by null and void (We are now in day 661 of our national holiday from reality. - 0bama really isn't one of US.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Slings and Arrows

ping


3 posted on 11/12/2010 10:22:40 AM PST by GQuagmire (Hey now!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: GQuagmire

I think I may see some of the origins of their customer loyalty problems. This loser was destined to fail.


4 posted on 11/12/2010 10:24:13 AM PST by ilgipper
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: GQuagmire

After reading the first page of comments on the article, I do not believe Don Otto’s will be missed.

$8 for a carton of eggs? They better be gold-plated at that price!


5 posted on 11/12/2010 10:24:15 AM PST by ZirconEncrustedTweezers (Attn. GOP: Deliver the goods, or we'll do to you what we did to the Dems!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: GQuagmire

Magnanimous way to treat your clients, I have to say. It’s a wonder they had ANY.


6 posted on 11/12/2010 10:25:37 AM PST by bboop (Stealth Tutor)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: GQuagmire

Hey Don Otton - thank the liberal pols in your s*** h*** area for destroying the economy especially Barney.

Hopefully Aldi will come in. They are German Catholics. If you think Wal Mart’s prices are low - “you ain’t see nothin yet.” Wal Mart gave up in Germany because of Aldi.


7 posted on 11/12/2010 10:26:22 AM PST by Frantzie (Imam Ob*m* & Democrats support the VICTORY MOSQUE & TV supports Imam)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: GQuagmire

What an ungrateful jackass.


8 posted on 11/12/2010 10:27:08 AM PST by SaveTheChief
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: GQuagmire
Schadenfreude!!! If ever there was a business dependent upon the discretionary spending of the wealthy, it is one selling $28-a-pound steak and $8-a-dozen eggs. I wonder what is the owner's stance on tax "cuts" for the wealthy? Will they have a Patches epiphany?
9 posted on 11/12/2010 10:27:14 AM PST by NonValueAdded (Palin 2012)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: GQuagmire

“Gloom, despair, agony on me
Deep dark depression, excessive misery
If it weren’t for bad luck I’d have no luck at all
Gloom, despair, agony on me”

That’s the way the cookie crumbles.


10 posted on 11/12/2010 10:32:56 AM PST by rockrr (Everything is different now...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: GQuagmire

LOL. These Libs belive their own BS when it comes to thinking people actually will pay $8 for a dozen organic eggs and a fortune for “free range” meat. I guess this one just learned a lesson and isn’t too happy about it.


11 posted on 11/12/2010 10:34:26 AM PST by Opinionated Blowhard
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: bboop; ilgipper; ZirconEncrustedTweezers

Bad attitude and sky high prices.

What could possibly go wrong????


12 posted on 11/12/2010 10:37:50 AM PST by null and void (We are now in day 661 of our national holiday from reality. - 0bama really isn't one of US.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: Opinionated Blowhard
I guess this one just learned a lesson and isn’t too happy about it.

Based on what she wrote in the letter, I'd say that she hasn't learned a thing.

13 posted on 11/12/2010 10:39:26 AM PST by Bob
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: ZirconEncrustedTweezers
$8 for a carton of eggs? They better be gold-plated at that price!

They are probably from real chickens.

If you could see where your everyday market eggs, chicken, beef, pork came from, you would probably never eat 'fast food' again.

Visit a large coop Chicken Farm. You'll see.

14 posted on 11/12/2010 10:40:24 AM PST by UCANSEE2 (Lame and ill-informed post)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Opinionated Blowhard

If the economy keeps tanking, you will be paying a lot more than $8 for a carton of eggs.

IF.... you can get eggs.


15 posted on 11/12/2010 10:42:37 AM PST by UCANSEE2 (Lame and ill-informed post)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: UCANSEE2

Eggs from the organic dude who comes to the little suburban farmers market I go to here in North Atlanta are $6 a dozen.


16 posted on 11/12/2010 10:44:02 AM PST by FreedomPoster (No Representation without Taxation!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: GQuagmire

Oops, sounds like someone has an attitude problem. Of course scamming the customer never came into his mind. Wink Wink


17 posted on 11/12/2010 10:46:51 AM PST by freekitty (Give me back my conservative vote; then find me a real conservative to vote for)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: UCANSEE2
If you could see where your everyday market eggs, chicken, beef, pork came from, you would probably never eat 'fast food' again.

Actually, the ground beef that's destined for McDonald's is probably a higher quality that what is destined for a typical grocery store. Otherwise, I see your point.

18 posted on 11/12/2010 10:51:15 AM PST by Drew68
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: GQuagmire
He sounds like the begger in Fiddler on the Roof. "Just because you've had a bad day, why should I suffer?"
19 posted on 11/12/2010 10:52:36 AM PST by Hoffer Rand (There ARE two Americas: "God's children" and the tax payers)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: null and void
Among their customers were U.S. Rep. Barney Frank and Mayor Thomas M. Menino, who has stopped by for their locally made lasagna....

....$28-per-pound steak and $8 cartons of eggs....

In some parts of the world people are accustomed to spending a higher percentage of their income on food, but in America we suffer from sticker shock because of Wal-Mart and other discount vendors,” reads Don Otto’s online farewell. “The reality is we pay for what we eat. Some are informed enough to know what that statement means. For those that don’t, I am not going to elaborate.”

The reality is that I always pay for what I eat. And the reality is that lots of people like to pay $4.99/lb for General Tso's nuggets at the Wal-Mart deli (me too), lots others like to pay $3.50 for a Tombstone Sausage Pizza in the frozen section (me too), and only a shrinking handful of people in the private sector can afford $28-per-pound steak and $8 cartons of eggs in a political economy that punishes achievement with taxes, regulations, fines, and govt seizures.

So if this genius owner knew what "parts of the world people are accustomed to spending a higher percentage of their income on food", why didn't he open his restaurant in those parts?

20 posted on 11/12/2010 11:03:50 AM PST by Alex Murphy ("Posting news feeds, making eyes bleed, he's hated on seven continents")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: GQuagmire

Damn. The guy thinks he is somehow entitled to customers. Dude. You have to earn customers. You owe them. They don’t owe you a damn thing.


21 posted on 11/12/2010 11:08:39 AM PST by Ditto (Nov 2, 2010 -- Time to Clean House.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: GQuagmire

Only a nutjob lefty could actually expect that a private business is something the public has a civic duty to support.


22 posted on 11/12/2010 11:08:53 AM PST by major-pelham
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: null and void

$8 cartons of eggs???

Those were Alaska prices during the building of the Alaska Pipeline!!!

What kind of chicken coops do these people have?
Are they hand feeding these chickens?

At those prices, no wonder they closed.


23 posted on 11/12/2010 11:09:01 AM PST by ridesthemiles
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: GQuagmire

I think he should sue the city. Those people owe him, big time.


24 posted on 11/12/2010 11:10:52 AM PST by trisham (Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkis.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: GQuagmire

If the only thing worth buying in your eatery are your baguettes, you’re in the wrong business.


25 posted on 11/12/2010 11:13:17 AM PST by Tanniker Smith (I didn't know she was a liberal when I married her.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ridesthemiles

What are you...anti-chicken?


26 posted on 11/12/2010 11:13:29 AM PST by trisham (Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkis.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 23 | View Replies]

To: Alex Murphy

The reality is that I always pay for what I eat. And the reality is that lots of people like to pay $4.99/lb for General Tso’s nuggets at the Wal-Mart deli (me too), lots others like to pay $3.50 for a Tombstone Sausage Pizza in the frozen section (me too), and only a shrinking handful of people in the private sector can afford $28-per-pound steak and $8 cartons of eggs in a political economy that punishes achievement with taxes, regulations, fines, and govt seizures. “”””

My local Wal-Mart has a bakery. They make some of the best 16 ounce French bread loaves you can ever find. Some have Garlic & Parmesean cheese. Some are called The “Everything French Bread”. Garlic-salt-poppy seeds-sesame seeds on top. Really tasty!!

Price $1.50. Fresh every day.
Their ready to heat Garlic french bread loaf is in a nice foil bag- spread with garlic spread & cut lengthwise. Pop into over at about 375-400 for 8-12 minutes (I live at higher altitude & have to compensate). Excellent.
Cost? $2.24. I cannot buy a regular loaf & do the prep for garlic bread for that price & I don’t have the foil bags to heat it in.
Wal-Mart also makes a roll called a ‘Steak Roll”. 24 to a bag- $3.75. I can buy a bag of those & just munch my way around the house until they are gone. Now I put 2/3 into the freezer to slow myself down a bit. They are delicious- especially with a big bowl of homemade chili.

On my FROZEN Soc Sec money- I better be getting more than ONE POUND of anything for $28. Cattle producers are getting about 75 cents a pound on the hoof.


27 posted on 11/12/2010 11:17:13 AM PST by ridesthemiles
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: FreedomPoster

Rip off. I sell mine for $3 a dozen.


28 posted on 11/12/2010 11:21:09 AM PST by Peter from Rutland
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: GQuagmire
This guy had apparently carved himself out a market niche that proved unsustainable. I've see those sort of grocery stores before - usually they are in or near very affluent neighborhoods, so they benefit from a local customer base that has more money than good sense - and will pay more for the "convenience". Keeps them from having to go mingle with the rabble at Kroger or Wal-Mart, y'know.

When belts get tightened, though, that sort of spending gets a hard re-think. C'est la vie.

29 posted on 11/12/2010 11:24:27 AM PST by Charles Martel ("Endeavor to persevere...")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ridesthemiles

WALMART frog bread sucks!!! No crust, no crumb. Made from gooey frozen dough.


30 posted on 11/12/2010 11:30:42 AM PST by Little Bill (Harry Browne is a Poofter.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 27 | View Replies]

To: GQuagmire; MeekOneGOP; Conspiracy Guy; DocRock; King Prout; Darksheare; OSHA; martin_fierro; ...
*facepalm*


31 posted on 11/12/2010 11:35:12 AM PST by Slings and Arrows (You can't have IngSoc without an Emmanuel Goldstein.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: GQuagmire

Good thinking Don Otto...

Sheesh..


32 posted on 11/12/2010 11:39:18 AM PST by mylife (The Roar Of The Masses Could Be Farts)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: GQuagmire; Slings and Arrows
They would have gone out of bidness years ago. This was the first year without a Ted Kennedy.


33 posted on 11/12/2010 11:40:27 AM PST by a fool in paradise (The establishment clause isn't just against my OWN government establishing state religion in America)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: GQuagmire
Here's a Quarter, call someone who cares.


34 posted on 11/12/2010 11:40:50 AM PST by darkwing104 (Lets get dangerous)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: GQuagmire

Oh well....his linen service can provide him with a crying towel.


35 posted on 11/12/2010 11:44:37 AM PST by count-your-change (You don't have be brilliant, not being stupid is enough.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Slings and Arrows

Among their customers were U.S. Rep. Barney Frank and Mayor Thomas M. Menino, who has stopped by for their locally made lasagna...

______________________________________________

I wonder if this place also had the best freshly packed fudge. I wonder where Bawney will get his fudge from now on?


36 posted on 11/12/2010 11:45:58 AM PST by Responsibility2nd (Yes, as a matter of fact, what you do in your bedroom IS my business.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 31 | View Replies]

To: GQuagmire

A classic Opus.


37 posted on 11/12/2010 11:48:34 AM PST by Erasmus (Personal goal: Have a bigger carbon footprint than Tony Robbins.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: GQuagmire
`Otto's Opus'

An Economic Darwin Award goes to the author.

38 posted on 11/12/2010 11:53:31 AM PST by Ol' Sox
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Charles Martel
[...] so they benefit from a local customer base that has more money than good sense [...]

One of lifes great mysteries: How does a person's money ever come to exceed their good sense?

The only answers yr obt svt can propose are inheritance and dumb luck.

39 posted on 11/12/2010 11:56:05 AM PST by Erasmus (Personal goal: Have a bigger carbon footprint than Tony Robbins.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 29 | View Replies]

To: Responsibility2nd

I don’t think that Barney has any trouble finding freshly-packed fudge.


40 posted on 11/12/2010 11:59:26 AM PST by Slings and Arrows (You can't have IngSoc without an Emmanuel Goldstein.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 36 | View Replies]

To: All

41 posted on 11/12/2010 12:05:53 PM PST by Liz (Marxist O/Care provides two brands of toothpaste---mint and plain.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 40 | View Replies]

To: GQuagmire

. “People don’t understand their purchases make a difference, and that by buying something that wasn’t exactly what you want, it gets you closer to what you want. It’s an investment.”

What the heck- who would by something they didnt exactly want and pay a hefty price so they can invest and enhance the owners bottom line-—Ridiculous and good riddance to them


42 posted on 11/12/2010 12:13:34 PM PST by funfan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: GQuagmire

[“In some parts of the world people are accustomed to spending a higher percentage of their income on food. . . “]

Yeah, the black markets in Cuba and North Korea come to mind.


43 posted on 11/12/2010 12:50:54 PM PST by Brad from Tennessee (A politician can't give you anything he hasn't first stolen from you.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: GQuagmire
“People don’t understand their purchases make a difference, and that by buying something that wasn’t exactly what you want, it gets you closer to what you want. It’s an investment.”

I do understand that concept. That is why when I need 4 AAA batteries for the remote, and the store doesn't have them, I buy the much more expensive 12 pack of D cells, that the store has in stock. It gets me closer to what I want/need.

What an imbecile. A business is in business to supply the customer's wants and needs, and stock accordingly. It is not up to the customer to supply the owner's needs by buying what the owner thinks they should want...except in an old style Soviet People's Store.

44 posted on 11/12/2010 1:15:56 PM PST by ApplegateRanch (Made in America, by proud American citizens, in 1946.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Peter from Rutland

It seemed high to me, although the better mass-produced eggs are around/over $3/dozen here. I passed.


45 posted on 11/12/2010 2:35:57 PM PST by FreedomPoster (No Representation without Taxation!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 28 | View Replies]

To: ridesthemiles; null and void; All

$8 cartons of eggs???

*********

Just wow. We sell our free-range X-large brown eggs for $3.00/dozen.


46 posted on 11/12/2010 3:39:24 PM PST by JouleZ (You are the company you keep.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 23 | View Replies]

To: GQuagmire
For their part, others at Don Otto’s aren’t lashing out.

“In my opinion, it’s that people just didn’t have the money,” said Don Otto, 72, whose son named the store for him. “There’s no anger or anything - it just wasn’t paying for itself. My son had aspirations for success.”

Sounds like they should have had the old man run the store. They might still be in business.

47 posted on 11/12/2010 3:50:29 PM PST by Huntress (Who the hell are you to tell me what's in my best interests?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: rockrr

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQ5ob9B9yD4


48 posted on 11/12/2010 4:01:33 PM PST by Huntress (Who the hell are you to tell me what's in my best interests?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: Huntress

At least the old man understands that people have less right now, not thinking they should be appreciative to spend their money in the store. . It’s why the mom and pop stores aren’t doing well. They complain about the likes of Wal-Mart, then charge ten times as much. I don’t mind spending a little more for something better, but not for something I do not use or that I cannot afford.


49 posted on 11/12/2010 4:04:35 PM PST by HungarianGypsy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 47 | View Replies]

To: Responsibility2nd
"I wonder if this place also had the best freshly packed fudge."

I hear Barney was a sucker for their uncut kielbasa.
50 posted on 11/12/2010 4:39:46 PM PST by AndrewB (FUBO)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 36 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-5051-54 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson