Back on BROADWAY

Broadway Street Market is an excellent grocery store. Edward W. Ring will tell you so, but then he's co-manager of Ring Brothers Farm Market, one of the Broadway emporium's three tenants. Charles C. Bougas, co-manager of New England Meat Market, another tenant, says so too.

If you want an unbiased appraisal, ask John J. Appelbaum '97. The Cabot resident gives the new store, located just beyond the Sackler Museum, the highest accolade a Quadling can offer.

"It rocked," he says. "I live in the Quad, but any time I need a two-liter of Pepsi, that's where I'm going."

The Broadway Street Marlet, located at 468 Broadway Street, opened its doors January 10 inside the former Broadway Liquor building. It contains a full-service indoor shopping area which houses a coffee shop, delicatessen, meat market and produce section, as well as steadily increasing numbers of customers.

"All of a sudden, people discovered us," Ring says. "We advertised all over the area, and it seems like people are starting to take notice. I'm tickled."

"We're right by the University, the student housing and a neighborhood that needs services," Bougas says. "We promise to exceed people's expectations."

Cambridge residents say they are pleased a grocery store has located in this part of the city. In July 1991, another Broadway supermarket closed its doors after 50 years of service, forcing residents to journey several miles into East Cambridge to obtain food, according to John R. Pitkin, president of the Mid-Cambridge Neighborhood Association.

"In a good location where people were used to walking to a neighborhood market, none existed," Pitkin says. "This was a real hardship."

Pitkin says city officials and developers spent much of the past three years searching for prospective tenants. Their efforts paid off when a Cape Cod developer agreed to lease the building and find businesses to fill it, he says.

"[The developer] spent lots of time and energy making many contacts, developing plans...and overcoming the inevitable problems," Pitkin says.

In an attempt to attract elderly customers, students and lunch-time office workers to the market, the owners designed a special sitdown eating section, Ring says.

'Like Mom Used to Make'

The eating small area, which is just to the right of the building's front doors and has a seating capacity of about 30, is reserved for customers who want to read the newspaper or munch on sandwiches prepared in the store's delicatessen.

Lounging at one of the tables, Christine H. Porto, administrative officer for the Russian Research Center, says the market's quiet, cordial atmosphere has made her a satisfied customer.

"I'm the kind of person who likes to sit and have a cup of coffee without lots of people crowding around me," Porto says. "Now, if only the weather would clear up..."

Dawn R. Schoenfeld, a Harvard Law School student, also praises the dining area.

"It's a great place to come study for a couple hours," she says. "And the deli sandwiches are like mom used to make."

In addition to serving the needs of Mid-Cambridge residents, Broadway Market also has attracted a significant number of students from the College and some of Harvard's graduate schools, Ring says.

"Most people on campus don't have cars, so until they opened up here, I used to walk all the way to Brattle Street," says Heidi M.V. Sullivan '89, who is now a Harvard Law School student. "This is so much more convenient."

One undergraduate, Matthew E. Price '97, says he is pleased by the quality service and friendly attitude of Broadway Market employees.

Several weeks ago, Price says, he was waiting in the checkout line to purchase spanikopita, a spinach pie. The cashier told him the pie cost $2.62, but Price had only $2.15 in his wallet, he says.

"I couldn't quite make it, but they said it was all right," Price says. "I'm on a tight budget, so I'll be shopping here from now on."

Bougas says such unexpected instances are all part of a day's work: "We try to cater to everyone," he says.

Of course, as Abraham Lincoln once said, you can't please all of the people all of the time.

"It would be nice if they had real mugs and silverware," Porto says, pointing to the paper cup into which her order of coffee was poured.

Ring says the market also wants to build close ties with Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School, which is just one block further down the street.

"They hire lots of kids from class," says Anna Cao, a Rindge and Latin senior.

According to Bougas, Broadway Market is special because of its "competitive prices."

"We are working to be the most efficient, least expensive store in the city," Bougas says.

When asked about Broadway Market's prices, however, Schoenfeld says they are comparable to those at other Cambridge grocery stores.

"Some things are more, some are less, " she says. "But they are really friendly. They seem to want people's business."

One-Stop Shopping

Another unique aspect of the market is that it is the only grocery store in the area to house several independent companies under the same roof.

"We're all able to concentrate on what we do best," says Ring, whose family has also owned a grocery store on Cape Cod on since 1925.

"It's been a real trip. None of us had ever heard of a project like this before," he says, "but we got together over a few drinks and realized we could pull this off."

The store's computer checkout system, which keeps track of the purchases customers make in each department, allows patrons to make one single payment for all their purchases when they finish shopping, Bougas says.

The profits are then divided at the end of the day, he adds.

"The checkout system was designed to facilitate one-stop shopping by eliminating the hassle of paying five separate companies for the purchases people make in each area," he says.

Keeping the Broadway Market in perfect working condition has been an exhausting, time-consuming endeavor, Ring says, but the owners have been rewarded.

"We put in about 16 hours a day here, but that's what you need to get going," he says. "I mean, you Harvard kids probably study 16 hours a day."

Well, maybe not quite that much, says John J. Appelbaum '97.

"Not on weekends, " Appelbaum says. "We drink some, too."

Richard J. Pimental, general manager, says he is expecting store business to pick up once a proposed liquor store opens on the market's premises. The liquor store, which will be managed by John Lichter, should offer the finest in beer and hard liquor, Pimental says.

"That's going to help us a lot," he says. "There's been a lot of requests about the liquor store."

But Appelbaum and other minors on campus shouldn't get their hopes up too high.

"Don't worry," Ring says. "We'll be carding."