A few years ago, Nathan’s Hot Dogs of New York came here like a big-time gunslinger with the well-advertised intention of knocking off Chicago-style hot dogs as No. 1 in town. It took a fancy space on Rush Street, papered the media with press releases and sat back to await profits.
It took only a few months for Chicago to send Nathan’s home like a whipped puppy.
Last spring, another out-of-town colossus invaded us, seeking to lay local competition to waste. Byerly’s Fine Foods of Minneapolis-St.Paul set down in Highland Park near the venerable larder of the North Shore, Sunset Foods. (Byerly’s has since also opened a store in Schaumburg).
While 60-year-old Sunset pioneered such things as personalized service, in-store bakeries and delis and employee unloading of grocery carts, Byerly’s offered more.
Within its 70,000 square feet are a post office, an ice cream parlor, a restaurant with a stone fireplace, a coffee bar, an Oriental grill and a Wolfgang Puck kiosk offering ready-made viands like chinois chicken salad (not Chinese, chinois). All on carpeted floors with aisles as wide as boulevards and food items displayed in intimate lighting worthy of an art gallery.
Knowing that the behemoth was coming, Sunset undertook a $3 million renovation, putting in its own coffee boutique and expanding to 50,000 square feet. Still, when Byerly’s opened, Sunset’s Richard Cortesi admits, he held his breath.
“I’ll tell you frankly, the first month we were down 15 percent,” Cortesi says. “The next month 7 percent and the third month 1 percent. But for the last two months we’re up over last year. I attribute it to customer loyalty.
“Our focus is being part of the community,” he says. “I was born here and I’m going to die here.”
Meanwhile, Highland Parkers have polarized. Some swear by Sunset. “Byerly’s is too big for me,” said a middle-aged lady. But a young dude in a sports car called Byerly’s “awesome. It does everything Sunset does but more grandiosely.”
Grocery wars is not over. Deep-pocketed Byerly’s is to open five more stores here and is going after bigger game than Sunset, namely Jewel and Dominick’s. Stay tuned.
