Specialty Food Shop Owner Careers Information
Specialty food shop owners are at the forefront of our population’s demand for less common food items. While chain grocery stores combine and grow into ever larger supermarkets in order to compete with massive general stores that are increasingly selling food items, these specialty shops have found a niche in the market by catering to select groups of customers.
Specialty Food Shop Owner Careers & Degrees
- Jones International University: Online
Colorado Technical University - Undergraduate: Undergraduate - Online
- B.S. in Accounting
- B.S. in Business Administration - Finance
- B.S. in Business Administration - Human Resource Management
- B.S. in Business Administration - International Business
American Intercontinental University: Online
Their shelves may have hard-to-find ingredients for foreign recipes or products made for people with dietary restrictions. Though their products are sometimes a little more expensive, specialty food shops give their customers a lot for their money by stocking a unique inventory and offering personal service.
Specialty food shop owners, like other small business owners, need to be aware of the local demand for their products. When starting their business, they need make sure the surrounding area will support such a store.
Many owners who open stores that cater to particular types of foreign cuisine, such as Mexican food or Asian food, choose to locate them in areas where there are significant populations from these cultures; this is especially true in urban areas where large immigrant communities flourish.
Similarly, owners who want to sell only vegan or organic foods need to make sure people in the area will both want and be able to afford the generally more expensive products. Once their store is operational, food shop owners must manage inventories, taxes, and payroll like any other grocery store. Because their stores tend to be smaller than the average supermarket, specialty food shop owners can build a loyal customer following by taking special orders and creating personal relationships with their customers.
Though it is not necessary for them to exclusively live on a diet provided by their stores’ products, specialty food shop owners need to be highly knowledgeable of the products they sell and able to teach new customers about their products.
Specialty Food Shop Owner Careers Path
A Bachelor’s degree is a great start for a business owner. A Master’s degree with coursework in business, accounting, and/or marketing may also be helpful for the business aspects of running the store, but they are not required.
Perhaps the best education for a food shop owner is found by working in the industry, either for a more traditional grocery store or for another specialty shop. Since specialty food shops stock uncommon items, its owner should be very knowledgeable about the products she sells. This knowledge may obtained through study, personal experience, and/or experience working in with such products in the past.
Specialty Food Shop Owner Careers: Compatible Personality Traits
Excellent written and oral communicator, people person, good with numbers, multi-tasker, highly organized, good manager of people, diplomatic, teacher, invested in the product (not simply the money to be made).
Pastry Shop Owner Interview
For a day in the life of a specialty food shop owner, Read More from a Real Pastry Shop Owner…
Specialty Food Shop Owner Careers: Salary Expectations
Like other small business owners, the owner of a specialty food shop has no income guarantee. Managers of regular grocery stores earn an average salary of $35,152 a year, though they may take home more if they earn a bonus based on how much the store sells.
As the owner of the business, a specialty food store owners might expect to earn this, though there is the potential to earn much more or less, again, depending on the region of the country, the type of food products sold, and the health of the business.
Specialty food shop owners who really do their research and open stores in areas with a high demand for their products and services are likely to be the most successful.
Specialty Food Shop Owner Careers: Job Outlook
The job outlook for specialty food shop owners is good in the coming years. While it is true that people are usually happy to have a one-stop shopping experience, many miss the personalized nature of the corner market.
Also, people are increasingly open to trying new cuisines and following restricted diets for health reasons. Oftentimes, they are not able to find all the ingredients and products they need at larger stores to make their special meals and so must visit specialty shops.
Like other small businesses, specialty food shops may face tougher times during economic downturns. But specialty food shop owners who locate their store well, offer products that larger stores cannot, and build customer loyalty through personalized service have the best chance of running a profitable business.
Slightly off the Footpath
- Chef
- Restaurant Management
- Dietitian/Nutritionist
- Food Critic
Source: bls.gov/oco/cg/cgs024.htm
