Wikipedia: Dash's Market

Info:

Dash’s Market is a small family owned and operated supermarket chain located in New York State. Dash’s has four locations throughout the Buffalo area and was started over 88 years ago. http://www.buffalonews.com/business/article514813.ece

The Dash’s on Hopkins and West Klein is known as the central location. Previous experiences pushed President Joe Dash to centralize the baking in order to avoid inconsistency of products.

All four locations include an in-store bakery and a Spot Coffee café. They also provide a simple meal opportunity by offering “Dinner in a Dash”, where customers can order some popular dishes to take home.

Dash’s is well known for their Famous Friday Fish Fry, as well as the ability to cater to large parties.

Dash’s is all about the customer experience. People are able to sign up for text message alerts notifying them of weekly deals, along with occasional coupons.

“Our goal at Dash's Market has been to create a shopping experience that combines the convenience of a smaller, more user-friendly store with great prices, while offering unique products and services and superior customer service.”

History:

Joseph and Mary Dash began the business in 1923, and have handed it down two generations. Joe Dash, the current owner and operator of Dash’s Markets is a third-generation grocer. The first Dash’s store was opened by his father, Frank, around 1955. The Dash family also had one of the first Tops franchise, turning it from a small store to an employer of almost 1,000 people.

However, the franchise was sold back to Tops in 2003 and since then, Joe has opened four Dash’s locations.

http://www.amherstbee.com/news/2010-11-03/Business/Dashs_Markets_gives_back_to_community.html

“We had to figure out how to take a new brand out onto the street that hasn’t been around, competing against some of the best supermarket competition in the world in Tops and Wegmans,” said Dash.

http://www.buffalonews.com/business/article514813.ece#comments

Community Involvement:

Joe has carried on his family’s tradition of generosity by helping various clubs and organizations.

The Tape Saver Program allows people to accumulate receipts and provides $3.50 for every $100 of the receipt tape value to nonprofit groups for them to use at their discretion. There are hundreds of organizations involved. Mark Mahoney, director of operations, said the store chain is also a big supporter of the Check Out Hunger Campaign, which assists the Food Bank of Western New York, and the 5K Dash for Dad, a race to help eliminate prostate cancer.

It supports other organizations such as Kids Escaping Drugs and the American Heart Association.

http://www.amherstbee.com/news/2010-11-03/Business/Dashs_Markets_gives_back_to_community.html

Dinner in a Dash:

One of the first things Dash and Mahoney did when they returned to Buffalo was to hire Chef Sean Van Volkenburg, who had been chef at a locally revered, four-star restaurant.

Unlike most supermarkets, Dash's always devotes an entire page in its ad circular to its fresh, prepared foods.

Headlined “Dinner in a Dash,” the page offers a huge variety of prepared foods, and different ways to buy them — by the pound, by the each, by the plate. “Dash's famous stuffed banana peppers” and other enticing entrees sold by the pound are advertised. At least three “family meals” to serve four, for $13.99, have a top spot in the ad.

The temerity it took to launch a long menu of chef-prepared foods just down the street from Wegmans — known throughout the industry for its hot meals and prepared-food programs — has continued to pay off.

“Our prepared-food sales have grown every year, including last year,” Dash said. “We didn't react [to tough economic times] by lowering prices, or quality or portion sizes, and still we did well.”

Last year before Lent, some customers had suggested that Dash's offer a tavern- or pub-style fish fry, but Dash said he was a little reluctant because he was “afraid the store would smell like hot oil.”

Apparently hot oil didn't bother anybody, because after a trial in one store, it was full speed ahead for the Wednesday and Friday fish fries.

“It worked so well there, that we quickly put it in all four stores. Now we're mobbed on Wednesdays and Fridays all day long. [The fry runs from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.] And sales are double what they were a year ago.”

Dash and Mahoney see their success with the meals business continuing to prosper. For one thing, consumers are not going to become less busy, they said.

“We'll continue to grow this part of our business disproportionately,” Dash said.

“We've already allocated more physical space for it, and it will be a larger part of our business going forward. We'll put more capital into it because we see a great future for hot prepared food to go and for grab-and-go.”

Seafood:

Dash’s seafood is delivered weekly from Hawaii and Boston, but finding a fresh source, keeping it fresh, and minimizing waste is a difficult task.

“We’ve always worked with third party companies, but I’ve never been a big fan of that arrangement,” said Dash.

Joe has hired two sushi chefs in order to gain control over the quality of the product and its ingredients. It took only two weeks before the sushi sales doubled as a result of the new chefs.

http://www.buffalonews.com/business/article514813.ece

Bakery:

Led by manager Penny George, the bakery is a cyclic, constant process. Keeping the floor filled with bread, cakes, pastries, muffins, bagels and doughnuts is not a simple task. The bakers are in the store overnight preparing the baked goods, which will be ready and shipped to the other location early in the morning.

Locations:

Clarence

8845 Main St. Clarence, NY 14221

phone: (716)-650-2888

fax: (716)-650-2890

Hours: Open daily 6am-11pm

North Buffalo

1770 Hertel Ave.

Buffalo, NY 14216

Phone: (716)-835-3082

Fax: (716) 834-9307

Hours: Open daily from 7am to 10pm

East Amherst

499 West Klein Rd.

East Amherst, NY 14221

Phone: (716) 204-0386

Fax: (716) 204-0433

Hours: Open daily 7am to 11pm

Tonawanda

1210 Covlin Blvd.

Tonawanda, NY 14217

Phone: (716) 874-1989

Fax: (716) 873-5277

Hours: Open daily 7am to 10 pm