These days, when it comes to retail, it’s hard to find a place that mixes the styles of the old and the new. But Busch’s Fresh Food Market, based in Ann Arbor, Mich., says it offers customers the right balance of the two.
“Busch’s is the family supermarket that blends the best of today’s freshness and style with the traditional values, personal service and wholesomeness you expect from the neighborhood grocer, but seldom find at other supermarkets,” it declares.
The history of the privately held, independent supermarket chain goes back to 1975, when Joe Busch and Charlie Mattis acquired two stores in Clinton and Saline, Mich., from Vescio’s Foods. The two named the stores J&C Family Foods.
When Busch retired in 1986, his sons, Doug, John and Tim, took over the business and added more stores, which were either constructed or acquired. Today, Busch’s says it has 15 locations and Store Equipment and Design Magazine has recognized it as an industry leader.
Passion for Hospitality
According to Busch’s, its locations are free standing or anchored to neighborhood stopping centers. However, “Our central production facility, located in Clinton, is where we use only the finest ingredients to make our gourmet Busch’s Kitchen and Bakery items,” it says.
Busch’s adds that its deli, bakery, meat, seafood and produce departments are complemented by the level of product variety it offers. “Our great selection is matched only by our passion for hospitality,” Busch’s declares. “We listen to our guests and associates; our success comes from understanding and meeting their needs.”
Company Cornerstones
Busch’s is proud of its locations’ produce sections. “Since our start in 1975, Busch’s has made produce the cornerstone of our business,” it says.
Compared to other stores, “Busch’s produce is bigger, juicier, sweeter and more plump,” the company declares. “To ensure we carry the highest-quality produce, we receive fresh produce deliveries five days a week from the Detroit Produce Terminal and Eastern Market.”
The company says that its locations also stock organic products as well, such as “hard-to-find varieties of fruits, vegetables and fresh herbs.”
Busch’s also boasts about its bakeries, which specialize in artisan breads, pastries and desserts, including baguettes, pies, cakes, donuts, cookies and cream puffs. “The aromas of Busch’s hard-to-resist breads and bakery treats fill Busch’s Central Kitchen on a daily basis,” it says.
The company highlights its fresh fruit tarts, which are “made with a rich, creamy custard, over a buttery shortbread crust,” Busch’s describes. “[They are] then topped with seasonal fruit and a delicious thin, gelatin glaze.”
Busch’s also sells products from Zingerman’s Bakehouse, an Ann Arbor-based producer of breads and pastries. “Our Bakehouse is a wholesale bakery for specialty food stores, cafés and restaurants in southeastern Michigan, a retail shop and a baking school for home bakers,” Zingerman’s says.
Community Support
Busch’s strives to be an active member of its community. “When [customers] walk into Busch’s, we’ll always go out of our way to please [them],” it says. “We view our role in [their] community the same way.
“That’s why we go way beyond the occasional program sponsorship provided by most other businesses to offer more far-reaching, ongoing support to the communities that we serve,” Busch’s says. The retailer has contributed to organizations such as Food Gatherers, a nonprofit food rescue organization that provides food to more than 150 community programs.
“In the past five years, Busch’s contributed 372,601 pounds of food from Washtenaw County stores and helped Food Gatherers raise enough funds to provide an additional 787 tons of food to hungry people in our community,” Busch’s says.
Busch’s adds that it also has given to Holy Cross Children’s Services (HCCS), an outreach program that helps youths and families in crisis. “Busch’s supports the HCCS goal of changing lives for the better by holding four wine-tasting events yearly that provide the organization with financial support,” it says.