If you wonder how a small business can grow into a solid medium business, Rob Kaufelt, the Owner of Murray’s Cheese, can show you how. Established since 1940 on Greenwich Village, Lower Manhattan, New York City, NY, USA it’s not only surviving the ups and downs of the economy, but also thriving.
Thanks to Rob Kaufelt, the third owner of Murray’s Cheese since 1991, today the cheese shop is no longer a, well, cheese shop; it has now transformed into a brand with national recognition.
How Mr. Kaufelt does it
The keyword of Murray’s Cheese’s success is innovation; Mr. Kaufelt takes the shop by hand into the new age of innovation. He wanted to make the business more fun and exciting – and found profits while doing so.
Here’s how Mr. Kaufelt takes the cheese brand into the 21st century – and still growing rapidly today:
First off, to target better market Mr. Kaufelt has relocated the flagship store across the street to Bleecker Street in 2004. Then he opened the second location in Grand Central Terminal.
Not stopping there, Mr. Kaufelt continues his journey of innovation by opening mini cheese shops in grocery stores across the U.S. He also opened a cheese-themed restaurant nearby the flagship store.
The big plans? By the end of 2013, Rob wants to open 30 additional Mini Murray’s shops, bringing the total mini shops up to nearly 100 locations. Not only shops, Mr. Kaufelt also explores more products, such as a new line of cheese sandwiches and so on.
As you can see, his focus on innovation has carried Murray’s quite far.
Probably the most interesting innovation of all is the cheese caves. A best practice in France, where cheeses are stored in cellars – just like wine – Mr. Kaufelt adopts the method by building a 13,000 sq.ft. cheese warehouses – called cheese caves – to store and age cheese for supplying Murray’s stores, shops and restaurant.
Well, the innovation seems to work out just fine: Today, Murray’s sells $20-25 million-worth of cheese annually in New York alone. With Mini Murray’s shops across the country, the total sales will be around $125 million annually.
So, what’s the driving factor of the healthy business growth?
According to the interview with Mr. Kaufelt, there are two driving factors of the economic-depression-defying business growth:
1. The customers and their changing needs
Mr. Kaufelt mentioned that, today, cheese customers want more than just paying money for quality cheese; they now want advice – which cheese types would fit with their eating habits; which cheese would go well with what wines; and so on.
More sophisticated customers will certainly get good advices from Murray’s. They may also enjoy Murray’s cheese-based restaurant. What about the rest of us? Well, grilled cheese sandwiches will surely cater your curiosity on different types of cheese Murray’s sells.
2. Innovation should be embedded in your business’ DNA
Companies – especially a 72 years old one like Murray’s – need innovation. Without innovation, they can’t stand the test of time. Innovation should be your entire company’s mantra and every employee should embrace it.
Innovation keeps things fun and interesting. Some things work out well, some don’t; that’s innovation. One thing for sure, what you find out through innovation will be responsible for your business growth.
So, are you ready to innovate and be responsive to changes like Rob Kaufelt?
