Graul’s Market – Baltimore Magazine

Cornering the Market

Lauren Cohen — Tue, 08 Sep 2020 08:00:20 +0000

Siblings Kate Poffenberger and Dennis Graul. —Photography by Scott Suchman

At the height of the coronavirus pandemic, as most Marylanders were following Governor Larry Hogan’s mid-March stay-at-home mandate for all but essential businesses, Dennis Graul, his younger sister, Kate Poffenberger, and their staff of some 200 were stocking shelves, baking cakes, ordering from suppliers, and cheerfully ringing up customers at the Graul’s Markets in Ruxton and May’s Chapel.

Similar scenes were playing out across four additional locations of Graul’s owned by fellow family members in Hereford, Annapolis, St. Michaels, and Cape St. Claire. In other words, as most of the state was shut down, at Graul’s, it was just another day at the office. Then again, as the classic supermarket marks a century of business in 2020, this independent merchant has long been an essential part of Maryland.

The exact 100th anniversary date is not known, says Dennis, who co-owns the Ruxton location with Kate and is the sole owner of the May’s Chapel store. “No one wrote down the date back then,” he says. “They just went to work and did what they did.” And today, as the markets celebrate this milestone, that’s still the case. Although there was a time when “blue laws” banned business activity on Sundays, these days the stores are practically 24/7 operations. “The last person leaves at nine at night, and the baker is back by three in the morning,” says Dennis. “We are open 361 days a year, minus Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s, and Easter.”

In many towns, small grocers are still the cornerstone of “village” life, places where it’s not uncommon for cashiers, seafood sellers, deli workers, and people like Bob Fitzpatrick—who is celebrating his 50th year of employment at Graul’s—to toil until retirement.

“I started when I was 16,” says Fitzpatrick, now 66, who manages the stores on Taylor Avenue and Cape St. Claire Road in Annapolis. “I came to bag groceries and mop the floors and help customers out to their cars with their groceries. I went from there to stocking and ordering and becoming a department head at stores. It’s just so friendly here. You can get a loaf of bread anywhere, but you can’t get the ‘Hi, how are you?’”

Now, more than ever, in the era of COVID-19, people crave that kind of friendly, throwback feel and a sense of contact and connection as much as they need milk or eggs. When everything else seems askew, Graul’s has become a beacon for Baltimoreans that provides a sense of normalcy—and, when the stay- at-home mandate was in effect, it was also one of the few places that remained in stock with in-demand items like flour and yeast.

“YOU CAN GET A LOAF OF BREAD ANYWHERE, BUT YOU CAN’T GET THE ‘HI, HOW ARE YOU?’”

“Countless customers have pulled me aside in the store,” says Dennis, as he walks the market floor talking to customers and arranging the items just so—a bag of in-house popcorn here, a bunch of bananas there. “They were just so appreciative of us and the service we provide. And not only that we have what they need but that we were willing to be here and take the risk when the pandemic seemed so scary and we were going to work seven days a week. People said, ‘The world had literally shut down and you guys never blinked.’ I think that was one of the most rewarding things I can remember. For me, it’s a culmination of our life’s work.”

And while the Grauls certainly never set out to profit from a global crisis, the pandemic has led to at least a 30 percent growth in revenue at the six locations (as well as the company’s three bottle shops) when normal good growth is in the low single digits. “There has been a tremendous, tremendous increase in sales,” says Dennis. “This is extraordinary. Things will revert to the mean one day, but, in the meantime, hopefully we’re getting some new customers who will stick around long term.”

Of course, veteran customers such as former Maryland Public Television host Rhea Feikin have long appreciated the market’s charms. “I lived not far from the Ruxton store when I was raising my children and family,” Feikin says. “And I went to Graul’s all the time. Everyone was always friendly, and they got to know my name. It’s just a really pleasant place to shop.”

It’s that family feel that customers come back to again and again—and for good reason. Dennis and Kate, along with their relatives at the other stores, are the fourth generation of Grauls to run the family business, which started, ironically, at the end of the Spanish flu pandemic in 1920. Kate and Dennis’s first cousin, Bryan, the baby of the family at age 39, runs the two Annapolis stores, as well as the Hereford location, which was built in 1979 to look like a barn. Another first cousin, John Evans, runs the newest outlet in St. Michaels.

For as long as they can remember, the family members have all worked in the business. “Dennis and I worked in the store ever since we were very young,” says Kate. “We lived on Old Court Road and on Saturday mornings, our grocery manager would stop and pick us up, so we didn’t have to go in as early as our parents. My husband laughs at me because we never watched Saturday morning cartoons—we were working.”

“WE’D DELIVER TO PEOPLE’S HOUSES AND THEY’D LEAVE A KEY UNDER THE DOORMAT.”

“It was fun to work in the store when I was a kid,” recalls Dennis. “When I was less than 10, I’d go around and fill up whatever was selling, and milk was really popular. In the St. Claire store, they’d make doughnuts and put them on the sheet pans on top of the bakery counter and I had a liberal employee consumption policy. Every time I’d go to fill the milk, I’d eat a doughnut. By the end of the day, I’d eaten two dozen.” Bryan puts it like this: “The store was my parent’s babysitter,” he says with a laugh.

The first full-scale store selling packaged goods, as well as both prepared and fresh foods, stood at the corner of Monument and Streeper streets in East Baltimore. Dennis and Kate’s father, Harold Jr., along with his three siblings, lived above the store on Monument Street, which was founded by their great grandfather, Fred, a German immigrant who came to America after World War I, when he first opened several meat markets in Baltimore with his wife, Esther, and his brother, Harry, in the 1920s. By 1958, their son, Harold Sr., and his wife, Mary, moved with their four children, Harold Jr., Tom, Susie, and Fred to open a Graul’s in Cape St. Claire in Annapolis. Eventually, each of the children, all of whom worked in the business at a young age, opened spin-off locations.

“I started working at the store on Monument Street in elementary school,” says Harold Jr., who opened the Ruxton location in 1973. And he never stopped. Back when the now 76-year-old Harold Jr. was in community college, he recalls, “I used to leave the house at 11 every other night, get off at 10 in the morning and then have the day off in between. I’d get back from market at 6 or 7 in the morning, and then work in the store all day. Back then, it was not uncommon to work 12- to 14-hour days, seven days a week. By the time I was 18, I worked full-time.”

At that time, it was also not uncommon for Harold and his siblings to make deliveries when no one was home. “We’d deliver to people’s houses and they would leave a key under the doormat,” he recalls. “We’d put the cold stuff in the fridge and freezer and leave the deposit for their glass soda and milk bottles. Customers knew who you were, and they trusted you. It was a much simpler time.” Harold Jr. and Tom would also visit customers—many of whom were neighbors in their Baltimore rowhomes—to make their shopping lists, go back to the store to fill the orders, and then deliver them later that day. On Thanksgiving, the duo also went to the farm in Westminster to hand-pick the turkeys while the birds were still alive. (These days, they sell 1,000 turkeys at each location.)

Harold Graul, Sr. stands in front of a delivery truck in 1947.

In Maryland itself, a few independent supermarkets, including Eddie’s of Roland Park and Green Valley Marketplace in Howard and Anne Arundel counties, are the last of their kind. Graul’s is the only independent market in the state with more than a handful of locations. “There are only a couple of us left that are truly independent supermarket owners in the state,” says Dennis. “Maryland has rolled itself up to be a chain-store town. Giant is owned by a company in the Netherlands. Weiss is this huge conglomerate. Shoppers is a regional conglomerate.”

While supermarket trends have followed the bigger-is-better model, and delivery services via Instacart and Amazon Prime are getting a share of the market in Maryland, many consumers still prefer the smaller, more manageable markets whose motto is: “We’d rather be good than big.”

Pikesville resident Sharon Bass and her husband, WJZ-TV news anchor Marty Bass, have been shopping at the store for decades. “I’m not one to go to a Giant or a Shoppers for my fish and meat,” she says. “I like a small store and Graul’s is so personable. Everyone recognizes Marty, but they also know me there whether he’s standing next to me or not.”

But it was the scratch-made cakes (and their delightful decorations courtesy of Dennis and Kate’s mother, Juanita, a self-taught cake artist) that first got Sharon Bass in the door. “When I got married and moved to Baltimore, everyone told me about Graul’s and the cakes,” she says. “For my daughter Savannah’s first birthday, she got a Graul’s cake. For her 16th, 18th, and 21st birthdays, she got a Graul’s cake, and then, when she got engaged, we flew with a Graul’s cake from Baltimore to Tuscaloosa to Birmingham—and Graul’s made her wedding cake. Graul’s is such a staple.”

The chicken salad, of which the market sells 200 pounds a day per location, and other homemade family recipes also set the stores apart from the competition. “Our coleslaw was our grandmother’s recipe,” says Dennis. “Until not that long ago, the recipe was written on a 3-by-5 card.”

There are also recipes created by market employees, including a hot milk cake and an oatmeal cake with walnuts, coconut, and caramel. And then there’s the emphasis on made-in-Maryland products—including Woot! Granola, Mouth Party Caramels, Fisher’s Popcorn, Taharka Brothers Ice Cream—and a stellar seafood department with local crab and live lobster. (“We had a customer come in and buy live lobsters. When they called to order them, they asked us if they needed to bring a leash for the lobsters,” cracks Kate, whose nickname is “Cake” for her ability to ice like her mother.)

While the supermarket business has always been somewhat recession-proof, the pandemic has forced consumers to become reacquainted with their home kitchens—and, in turn, back to the market for provisions.

“In the world of our parents’ generation, people used to cook at home like people are doing right now,” says Dennis one early June day. “You’d go out to dinner occasionally. It was a treat—and then over the years, we’ve evolved to a population that ordered in and ate out a lot. We’ve watched the reinvention of America in the last few months. People are not going to go back to dinner out five, six nights a week—that’s not going to become the norm any time soon.”

Eating out, he says, will take on a new meaning. “My prediction is that in the next year, the idea of going out to dinner with friends is going to be, ‘Your back porch or mine,’ and that’s going to be the vibe of the future.”

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Grocery Workers Manage to Keep Morale High and Give Back Despite Long Hours

Evan Greenberg — Mon, 06 Apr 2020 14:20:00 +0000

Last week, Kate Poffenberger, the owner of Graul’s Market Ruxton, woke up at 4:45 a.m. worrying about eggs. As one of the essential businesses allowed to stay open during the coronavirus pandemic, grocery stores and markets like Graul’s have taken on an even greater utility role as a provider for quarantine supplies.

“You start going through your brain to think about what else we need to do to make sure customers have food,” Poffenberger says.

On the supplier side, that means going to great lengths to ensure stores are stocked. Poffenberger has done everything from renting trucks and driving to pick up inventory from a wholesaler in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to frantically calling New Jersey and Virginia suppliers to restock.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Poffenberger says. “We’re trying to get stuff from anywhere and everywhere. I think that when this is all said and done, no one’s going to buy another roll of toilet paper.”

Indeed, certain items—including hand sanitizer and toilet paper—have become hot ticket purchases to the point where stores are having trouble keeping them on shelves. Across the country, a hoarding mentality has become common among shoppers, and supplies are being sold for exorbitant prices online.

However, locally, Poffenberger says that she has been heartened by those who have reached out to help ensure people are getting what they need.

“We hear about customers who are shopping for their elderly neighbors who can’t come out to shop,” she says. “People really are helping each other.”

Additionally, several Graul’s customers have taken to buying boxed lunches and dinners for Greater Baltimore Medical Center and Johns Hopkins Hospital employees, and the store is doing its part by offering significant discounts on these items.

Meanwhile, at the Safeway in Charles Village, a welcome consequence of the increased volume of customers has been the need for more employees.

At a time when unemployment numbers are skyrocketing and millions of Americans are being laid off, hiring more employees has been a point of pride for the store’s director, Dee Frances. Frances has recently hired 30 people, and started referring other applicants to surrounding Safeway locations as her store reaches its employee limit.

“We know we have to be here,” Frances says. “Because if we’re not here, who’s going to be here for the people? We all made a commitment, and we all know what we have to do.”

Both Safeway and Graul’s are ensuring their stores are as safe as possible. By the end of this week, Frances will have five employees whose sole job will be keeping the store clean.

Additionally, both stores have instituted special hours for elderly shoppers. Graul’s Ruxton offers these hours Mondays and Fridays from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m., while Safeway has designated time from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

At Harris Teeter, similar measures have been taken on Mondays and Thursdays, as 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. has been reserved for seniors and vulnerable shoppers. And at Giant Food stores, the first hour of every day—6 a.m. to 7 a.m.—has been dedicated to customers 60 or older.

These changes also mean longer hours for store employees, who are working around the clock to ensure their stores are stocked and sanitized.

“It’s stressful,” says Lester Watson, who has worked at Graul’s as a stocker and cashier for 25 years. “You go home and you’re more tired than normal. It’s a faster pace.”

Both Safeway and Graul’s have taken measures to ensure morale stays high among workers on these extended shifts. Frances has prepared meals for her employees a few times a week and provided bagels in the morning, while Poffenberger has tried to keep things light, giving employees special hats and gift certificates along with free lunches.

“I’m a small part of this,” Poffenberger says. “There’s a whole group of workers down there talking to customers. That’s our biggest challenge—keeping morale high and everybody healthy.”

Because grocery stores are firmly cemented in the communities they inhabit, workers often get to know customers on a personal level. This idea is heightened at a moment when the ability for human connection is severely limited. As those on the front lines tell it, these circumstances have brought out the best in people.

“We know a lot of our customers already,” Poffenberger says. “A lot of [our workers] have fairly good relationships with them, so we almost feel like they’re family. There’s some pride in that. We’re still here, and we’re still taking care of them.”

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Lawn Party

Jess Mayhugh — Wed, 24 May 2017 08:30:00 +0000

What is it about eating outside that seems to make food taste better? Maybe it’s the sunshine, or the breath of fresh air. Perhaps it’s the touch of cool grass beneath our feet, or the primal smell of grill marks on a well-seared steak. All we know is, we don’t need an excuse to pack a picnic. Whether it’s an extra-long lunch break or the start of the weekend, in the rolling countryside or right here in the city, fill a basket with these Maryland-made treats, spread out a blanket, and dig in.

Cunningham’s Baguette: Think of the baguette as the foundation for every picnic. Tear it in half and commence the feast. The Wine Source, 3601 Elm St.

Parts & Labor Charcuterie: The house-cured coppa, aged pork loin, and spicy bologna salami from this Remington butcher shop are musts for warm-weather spreads. Parts & Labor, 2600 N. Howard St.

FireFly Farms Black & Blue: Handmade in the mountains of Garrett County, this goat’s milk marvel delivers a welcome bite of blue funk. Whole Foods, 1001 Fleet St.

Hawks Hill Creamery Chesapeake Cheddar: This Old Bay-infused cheddar imparts a smoky flavor to snack on all summer long. Graul’s Market, 7713 Bellona Ave., Towson

Cherry Glen Goat Cheese: The popular MoCo cheesemonger makes a variety of piquant products, but the Monocacy Ash is its crème de la crème. Graul’s Market, 7713 Bellona Ave., Towson

Waxing Kara Honey: A drizzle of this harvested honey tempers even the spiciest of charcuterie. Honey House, 10209 Grand Central Ave., Owings Mills

McCutcheon’s Cherry Preserves: Use this old-fashioned chunky cherry spread as a tart topper for any type of cheese. Eddie’s of Roland Park, 5113 Roland Ave.

Hex Ferments Beet Pickles: With a hint of ginger, these briny beets provide the tangy crunch you never knew you needed. Hex Ferments, 529 E. Belvedere Ave.

Kinderhook Snacks: Whether you’re indulging in bite-size baked cheese stamps or spice-speckled smoked nuts, one handful of Kinderhook will never suffice. Trohv, 921 W. 36th St.

Manor Hill Brewing Grisette: This farmhouse ale out of Ellicott City is
like the love child of wheat beer and
dry white wine. Remington Wine Company, 329 W. 29th St.

Atwater’s Local Rye Crackers: These buttery crisps are great on their own but also ideal for all forms of scooping and spreading. 798 Kenilworth Dr., Towson

Trinacria Foods Olives: At this overflowing olive bar, make your own mix of purple, green, and even garlic-covered goodies. Trinacria Foods, 406 N. Paca St.

Modern Cook Shop Pickles: Ask for a pint of special housemade pickles, like these addictive bread-and-butter chips. Modern Cook Shop, 901 S. Wolfe St.

Rooster & Hen Produce: Round out your basket with juicy local apples. Rooster + Hen, 2302 Frederick Road, Catonsville

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