1
2
Dedication
To my sister, Courtney, for being the greatest sibling I could’ve ever asked ever.
Acknowledgment For all the hard work Petra, Marc, and their father have put into Dittmer’s since the day it opened. The community thanks you.
3
4
Table of Contents Foreword . . . 6
Introduction . . . 8
Chapter One . . . 10
Chapter Two . . . 16 Chapter Three . . . 21 Works Cited . . .
29
5
6
Foreword At a very young age, when I was in second grade, I had to do a culturalism report about one of my heritages. Though my roots stretch back to many places, I chose Germany, and wrote the entire report about it. One difficulty was we had to bring food that was eaten in that region. While I had no idea where to obtain the food, my mother knew the perfect place: Dittmer’s. After visiting it for the first time, I knew it would be the store I’d go back to for years to come. When learning about the Documentary project at Freestyle, my great experiences at Dittmer’s flooded back to me and I knew it was the right choice. Through the research I completed, I found something I never actually knew much about: the failure rate of small businesses. As you will soon read, many, many small businesses go under after less than a year. Despite the odds, Dittmer’s has endured as a small, authentic place where people of all varieties and tastes can come and enjoy quality food. My purpose for writing this book is to give recognition to Dittmer’s for all the hard work they’ve put in since the day they opened. Even with their store burning down in 2011, they still persevered, beat the odds, and built back their reputation as one of the best butcher shops in the Bay Area. Such dedication and commitment to their customers should not go unnoticed. When I proposed the topic in my English class after my first attempt to contact a company failed, many people had enthusiastic reactions to hearing about Dittmer’s. Everyone in the community knows of them, some better than others, but almost everyone has had some memory of a great experience they’ve had at Dittmer’s. From the overwhelming class support, I knew I had chosen the right spot to document.
7
8
Introduction In 1977, a businessman thought up an idea and turned it into a reality. Less than a year later, he opened up his shop and to great success, won award after award for the coming years. As he began to garner popularity, he realized his dream had become a success story among the community. With people of all races and ethnicities flocking from all over the Bay Area to eat at his butcher shop, he understood that his business had become a public icon. Flash forward twenty-three years and the worst possible thing occured. After all of his and his family’s hard work, the shop burned down. With only the memories of the store, all seemed lost, but with emails flooding in day-by-day asking for the store to reopen, he understood how truly successful his butcher shop was. Despite having nothing left of the shop, the family built it back up from scratch and through the owner’s hard work and dedication to the community, this once thriving store has become all it once was and even more. This is the story of the humble shop, Dittmer’s, founded by the one and only Dick Bubert. With this success, one must ask, what made this small business, and so many others, successful? According to Wagner, an entrepreneur who studies the success of small businesses, “8 out of 10 entrepreneurs who start businesses fail within the first 18 months. A whopping 80% crash and burn.” To make matters even more difficult for potential business owners, eating places, such as restaurants and butcher shops, are ranked as the fourth highest failure rate after a five year period (Daily Stat). This means that out of every industry in the United States, places to eat have one of the highest failure rates. Nevertheless, Dittmer’s overcame this obstacle and created their store and a community along with it. The reason for Dittmer’s success lies in two key areas: their products and their connection with the community. The reasons are that Dittmer’s products are authentic and the workers have an intimate connection with all of the customers, both new and old. 9
10
Chapter One A
t Dittmer’s, authenticity is one of the essentials you’ll find in every purchase you make. Ranging from their lunch meats to the small deli section to the products you’ll see on the shelves, you’ll only taste the highest quality in the Bay. Despite the questionable meat packing industry, all of the meats at Dittmer’s are made in the store and are fresh as soon as you eat them; they haven’t been laid out for weeks to be served to an unsuspecting customer. Bubert, the store owner, shed his light on the subject, “...we’re striving for quality and freshness. What I always tell my employees is if you wouldn’t want to eat the meat, you shouldn’t be serving it.” At first glance, that meat on the shelves of your local grocery store made by a large corporation may look great, but who really knows what’s been thrown into it? According to PBS, the
system of meat is categorized as , “prime, choice, select, and standard, whereas commercial, utility, cutter, and canner grades refer to more mature meat”(Frontline: Modern Meat). Only three to five percent of meats are of prime quality, which is the absolute highest, and it is seldom found in grocery stores, more smaller stores and fancy restaurants. What is placed on grocery store shelves is usually centered around select and standard. These are often created through mass production at larger ranches, and although they may taste about the same, they are often genetically modified to make them superior. For example, these
modifications can range from an increase or decrease in fat content, an increase in size, or even creating a better taste. With all these questions wandering around, some cite the old text The Jungle, the 1906 novel describing the horrendous meat packing industry. While the industry has made serious progress, it’s far from perfect.
11
12
To emphasize quality, every item found in Dittmer’s is of prime quality. Ask any of the Dittmer’s employees and they’ll be more than happy to tell you what has gone into the meat. What’s gone into the meat is nothing but the finest. If a person really wasn’t sure, they could go to the store itself! A short view behind the front counter you’ll be able to see Marc, who is Dittmer’s son, and his fellow employees in the back area creating the food that’ll soon be on your plate. While Dittmer’s quality is far above that of the average grocery store, it isn’t the only thing they focus on. As a native of Europe, Bubert apprenticed
as a butcher and learned all the original recipes. When he apprenticed, “(Apprentices) went to school one day a week, nothing but making sausage and cutting meat,” and through his hard work he became one of the most skillful butchers around. When Bubert emigrated from Europe to Canada and later to America, he brought along all the recipes he could remember. What you find around the store are the original recipes and creations he learned along the way. Due to their authenticity, people of both American and European descent are able to enjoy the delicacies found inside. Michelle Coffman has been visiting the store for over fifteen years now.
When she happened upon the location in Mountain View, it was purely by accident, but little did she know it was going to be one of her new favorite stores for years to come. In her opinion, the meats simply surpassed anything she had ever had: grocery stores couldn’t even compare to the quality and authenticity of the sausages and plethora of other meats. She, and countless others, have all been coming back to Dittmer’s for years, craving just one of the many excellent things you’ll find there: the quality.
“Most of our customers are ‘foodies’ where they love food... Plenty of our employees are interested in learning what they’re cooking and they’ll have tips on what they like. It becomes more of a conversation of ‘What’s for dinner?”’ - Petra Bubert
13
14
15
16
I
Chapter Two
n 2011, a disaster occurred. Dittmer’s original location in Mountain View had a fire during the night and it proceeded to burn the entire store and all of their years of hard work. Little did they know, within the coming months, they’d be receiving a myriad of emails coming from the most dedicated customers to the occasional visitor all asking the same question: “When’s the store reopening?” Originally, the family had no intention of reopening Dittmer’s, but from the overwhelming outcry from the community they changed their mind. According to Petra, Bubert’s daughter, “...we had a fire and we had to close, we didn’t know what we had until it was gone....there was a big response from the community so we knew we were something special”. Despite being a small store in Mountain View, they were the one butcher shop everyone knew of and enjoyed going to every week. According to Klein, a writer for Businessweek, there’s more to making a relationship than what most business owners believe. She says:
...you can meet or exceed customer needs [by] really listening—not just to what they’re telling you, but to get beyond that and understand their unstated needs.... When people feel listened to, valued, and important to a company, it’s rare (Klein). What many business owners fail to do is “to get beyond and understand [customers’] unstated needs”. While plenty hear what their customers are saying, they don’t actively listen to them and therefore don’t make the deeper connections. At the store, Petra, Marc, and Bubert are always hearing these unasked questions and suggestions in order to improve the store every day. In the book Start Up From the Ground Up, Cynthia Kocialski analyzes the different traits small businesses should have in order to find success. According to Kocialski, “As the store’s manager, you’re the one in charge. Don’t expect your employees to make the ever-lasting
relationships you can. You own the place and its success is your own, so take the extra one hundred and ten percent”(Kocialski 194). While some managers stress over employing the correct people, it often matters more about the owner of the business and how they attempt to make a memorable experience. Employees come and go for a variety of reasons, but the one constant in a business is the owner. If one gets to know their customers, they’ll be able to hold intimate relationships with them, creating an environment where the customer feels happy and welcomed! Walking into Dittmer’s, you’ll experience a warm, welcoming environment. Aside from the long array of meats and other delicatessens, the employees, and even more so the owners, create this amazing store where people from all edges of the world can come to experience the finest of meats! You’ll be warmly greeted by the employees and will often be offered free samples to help you find a new favorite meat.
17
18
ou 8 “
to
sw r u en e r p re t n e f 10
ho
- Eric Wag n er
r n. � bu
s t ar t b u si n es s es fa il w
s. A w h t n o m 8 it hin t h e f i r s t 1
80 g n i h o pp
ra s c %
n a h
d
19
20
Chapter Three A
audience to buy your product. Ranging from color scheme to elements of design to the overall visual appeal, the thought and effort that one must put in to get consumers to visit their store is immense. What’s even more surprising about this is the fact that, while we are surrounded by As mentioned, effective advertis- advertisements everywhere, we ing can catch the eyes of custom- often aren’t even aware we are ers who would otherwise turn being manipulated. In the subtheir heads and ignore your conscious mind we process all of business. Letting potential custhe influences from advertising, tomers know about your store yet few make it to the conscious grants people, who would othmind where we actually are erwise have never known, the aware of this. The best of the knowledge of where they can best are the ones we remember and that actually do their job of Effective advertising reaches find and receive your services. In modern times, advertis- making us buy their product or potential customers and in- ing, arguably, has become its service. forms them of your products own form of art. All the small or services. Ideally, advertis- details that go into each advering should capture the pro- tisement help to portray a cerspective customer’s attention tain message and convince your s you pass by the outside of Dittmer’s, on the large sign indicating its location, you’ll see the large text “Dittmer’s Gourmet Meats & Wurst-Haus”. Next to the large text is a drawing of a small butcher holding meat proudly; this small man is one of the few things that you’ll remember visually after leaving the store. Amongst a competitive industry such as meats, advertisement can make or break your business. According to the journalists at the online business consulting company BizFilings:
and entice them to use your product. Regardless of the method, all your advertising should be clear and consistently reflect the unique positioning statement of your business(Effective).
21
22
“When people feel listened to, valued, and important to a company, it’s rare. . . .It’s a mind-set of respect and accountability where you do what you say you’re going to do for the customer. . . . you’ll create a great experience for everyone.” - Karen Klein
While Dittmer’s doesn’t air TV or radio advertisements, they’ve taken a different approach which connects to its customers. A road often less traveled by businesses is that they rely on the good word of others to garner success for the company. Amongst the community,
little to no one has a negative thing to say of the store and when the store is mentioned in conversation, one will often hear of their great experiences at the store and Dittmer’s high quality of meats. To many, the word of others is much more convincing than a thirty second radio advertisement featur-
ing someone repeating their business number three times. While this path is often less traveled, it can produce immense success and allows your stores profit to grow exponentially.
23
24
Conclusion F
rom their humble origin to the great icon they’ve become now, Dittmer’s has been a story of a small business defying the odds and statistics. A long-time customer Michelle Coffman praises the store’s meat: “...since it’s all homemade, it’s fresh. At larger supermarkets their meats are shipped in and there are all these different things in them”. The dedication to meat has been a driving factor in their success. With Bubert’s authentic education as a butcher, he has all the tools in his kit to create only the finest for his customers! With Bubert’s experience in the realm of meats and authentic recipes, they are using his knowledge to enhance the experience at Dittmer’s. Though they already have a massive array of meats of all different kinds, Bubert is looking to make new business partnerships and find even more quality suppliers. With more partnerships, in future years we can only expect even more great food at Dittmer’s! With all of Dittmer’s success in recent years, it seems as though they’ll be around for years to come. Their commitment to the quality of their products and their dedication to holding intimate relationships with customers has only helped produce this great success! Looking forward, they hope to increase their variety of outstanding products! With customers returning week after week, I believe we can all agree this has been the an inspiring story of working from the ground up, facing challenges, and persevering to become an icon amongst society.
25
26
27
28
Works Cited Bubert, Petra. Personal interview. 12 Feb. 2014. Coffman, Michelle. Personal interview. 25 Feb. 2014. Dick, Petra. Personal interview. 18 Feb. 2014. “Effective Advertising Makes People Remember Your Name.” LLC & Incorporation. Business Owner’s Toolkit, 24 May 2012. Web. 20 Mar. 2014. “Is Your Meat Safe?” PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2014. Klein, Karen E. “Building Customer Relations by Listening.” Bloomberg Business Week. Bloomberg, 01 June 2007. Web. 20 Mar. 2014. “Meatpacking Industry: Still a “Jungle”?” PBS. PBS, 15 Dec. 2006. Web. 19 Mar. 2014. “Startup Business Failure Rate By Industry.” Statistic Brain RSS. Statistic Brain, 1 Jan. 2014. Web. 19 Mar. 2014. Wagner, Eric T. “Five Reason 8 out of 10 Businesses Fail.” Forbes. Forbes: Entrepre neur, 12 Aug. 2013. Web. 20 Mar. 2014. 29
30
Taking the Extra Step Hunter Coffman
Hunter Coffman was born in Los Gatos, California on June 25, 1997. Since an early age he’s been interested in a few things: gaming, science, and food! Since the age of six, he’s had an immense passion in gaming and especially loved it when his sister accompanied him! As well, he’s always really enjoyed studying things such as Physics! Lastly, thanks to his amazing chef parents, he’s always loved eating! Going to a restaurant and indulging in all the great food was a definite favorite of his as a child! Going forward, he sees a future for himself as a Game Designer, specifically in level design. He hopes to major in this field when he goes to college. As a back up, he’s looking into obtaining a PhD in the study of Physics and becoming a research physicist! After this all happens, who knows where he’ll go?
Tak
Ext
ing
ra Sthe tep
Written and Designed by Hunter Coffman