Today we’d like to introduce you to Jan Dane.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Jan. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
The idea for Stock Culinary Goods was conceived during my long commute from Pawtucket to Watch Hill where I was the Director for Culinary Education and the Food Forager for the Relais & Chateaux resort, the Ocean House.
Each day as I passed a long-empty storefront on a street known for its interesting shops and independent spirit, I thought, I wish I were going to work… there. Of course, there was nothing there. So it took a few months for me to even formulate which of my many interests I was fantasizing about. But the notion that kept resurfacing was that Providence needed a full service, independent kitchen store.
Although I had no experience with retail, I had spent many years writing little guidebooks to cities based on their independent stores and their chef-owned restaurants. These little travelogues were meant to capture the soul of the city not through its big box, richly marketed properties, but through the little Moms & Pops that actually make a city’s character shine. So I took a business course and with the help of my husband and young children, turned an empty space into a…. slightly less empty space. Yes, that’s right, because with my small SBA loan, I just didn’t have that much money left for inventory.
But as small business often goes, one sale produced two purchases and so on and so on, until six years later we have a thriving and wonderful neighborhood kitchen store that is accessible to all and in which we pride ourselves on our expertise and our welcoming, friendly approach. We love to feature those things that are small batch or locally and regionally produced and we have established a reputation as a place to find those things as well as the many staples needed in the modern kitchen.
We have become a destination for the many talented chefs in our region, as well as culinary students, home cooks and anybody who has a passion to cook, eat, talk about or learn about food. Shopping at Stock can be a very social experience, with introductions between strangers, lots of knowledge sharing, lots of laughter and an overall happy vibe. As the sign outside our door says, Stock offers “a parade of neighbors, rampant conviviality and happily dispensed advice!”
Has it been a smooth road?
In Stock’s first year we experienced waves of complications. Our HVAC system broke just as winter hit and I was without heat that entire season. I wore fingerless gloves so I could use the Point of Sale keyboard. Around the same time, the basement flooded, not once, but twice and for two completely different reasons. Then, about six months in and as we were just finding our footing, the City of Providence announced they would be closing down Hope St., a major through street and the beating artery on which Stock is located, for several weeks so they could replace the water pipes. It almost felt like I should shut it all down!! But this turned out to be a great gift! The amazing Hope Street Merchants Association rallied to find the best in the situation. What could have been “oh no, this will hurt us deeply,” became, “Isn’t this great! Cleaner water feeding into the Bay!” Maybe it sounds like just a PR move, but it was such an important mind shift for my fledgling career. In that moment of possible peril, I took it to heart that there is always a way to find the good in a challenge. Our neighbors and customers were astounded at our good spirits while we operated from behind Jersey barriers. That was all the first year; since then thank goodness, it’s been relatively smooth sailing aside from the usual nicks and bruises of small business. But whatever hardship or setback comes along now, I know I’m already battle hardened and pretty hard to fluster.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Stock Culinary Goods story. Tell us more about the business.
Stock Culinary Goods is an independent, neighborhood kitchen store that sells food and cooking products to those who value good design, small batch artistry and local craftsmanship.
With our deep product knowledge, our welcoming environment and our effort to find best-in-class products, we deliver a shopping experience that makes customers feel confident in their purchases and engaged in their community.
While we are certainly proud of the product we carry, the relationships we’ve forged, the businesses we’ve helped incubate through our pop-ups, what really thrills us is how we’ve become a social hub for people who love food and cooking and eating. Every day we strike up conversations with people who share our interests. And then we widen those conversations until the whole store is humming. We introduce people to each other, we make connections, we are constantly referring, collaborating and supporting. We feel like we are the luckiest people in the world to be on this corner, in this city of Providence, at this time. And we think our contentment and pride and enthusiasm is infectious.
So we’ll always be selling whisks and skillets and aprons and the like, but it is our engagement in our community, with professional chefs, culinary students, home cooks, and even enthusiast baking kids that we feel sets us apart from the rest.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
Brick and mortar retail has been on the decline, and Internet shopping on the rise, since we opened our doors. And yet every year, we grow stronger. In part that’s because we keep learning how to be the store the community wants us to be, but also we believe it’s because the appetite for an authentic shopping experience is growing. As long as we find that important niche of people who value having real character and real organic businesses in their community, I think we’re going to be fine.
When we opened our door six years ago, it was very important to us that we carry products, such as cutting boards, ceramic bowls, and tea towels that were made by artists and artisans here in the Ocean State. We had a Rhode Island made section that was small but mighty. And some people expressed interest, but not that many. Just a few years later, this is our most bustling section. Everybody wants something that carries the imprint of its maker or its place. We are grateful that we are in the midst of this real “local” movement, when people are genuinely feeling pride of place.
The local movement and the small business movement may be blips in the long scheme of things, but we are sure that there will always be room for the personal touch and products made by real people with real stories to tell.
Pricing:
- We give an industry discount to anybody in any kind of food or drink job; 10% off everything!
Contact Info:
- Address: Stock Culinary Goods
756 Hope Street
Providence, RI 02906 - Website: www.stockculinarygoods.com
- Phone: 401 521 0101
- Email: jan@stockpvd.com
- Instagram: stockpvd
- Facebook: stockpvd
- Twitter: stockpvd
Image Credit:
@vicyo Victoria Young
Getting in touch: BostonVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
