Ever feel like shopping in one store for everything? Do you need a lot of food-related items you just can't find? Are you sentimental about the down-to-earth atmosphere you remember when you were a kid and used to shop at Uncle Harold's family store, the one he ran out of his basement?
Then the Orson Gygi Co. is the place for you.Anyone who has lived in Salt Lake City for even a few years has surely seen or visited the most unusual, eclectic Gygi store at 3500 S. 300 West. Both the exterior and interior have a well-worn, comfortable feeling, and the exotic items available seem endless.
Although many consider it a restaurant supply house, the Gygi Co. has a little bit of everything, including chairs, tables, ranges, freezers, griddles, broilers, refrigerators, sinks, pots and pans, chinaware, paper products, soft drink dispensers, floor wax, detergents and brushes. For those with a sweet tooth, there are mints, nuts, favors and a complete supply of candy-making materials.
Gygi's doesn't sell anything that requires refrigeration, but you can find just about everything else there.
While much of the clientele comes from churches, restaurants, caterers and other institutions that serve food for large numbers, at least half the people who visit the store are "walk-in" patrons.
A traditional family cash-and-carry business, it was founded by Orson H. Gygi, a self-taught dynamo whose formal education ended with the sixth grade. Gygi was the first Safeway manager in Utah as well as Utah's pioneer of soft ice cream.
He called it "mellow freeze."
Working together with Jay Russell, who later originated Russell's Ice Cream, Gygi started a string of Polar Kings in Wyoming, Nevada, southern Utah and Salt Lake City. They were frequented by soft-ice cream lovers well before the advent of Dairy Queens and Arctic Circles.
But his biggest claim to fame was still to come.
In 1955, he opened a tiny store on 2500 S. State Street, called simply the Orson H. Gygi Co. Using traditional, personal marketing techniques, he filled his bag with condiments and went calling on local restaurants. Gradually, he increased the number of items available in his store, until he expanded his business a couple of years later to the present location.
Gygi had a full, active life, continuing to work 12 hours a day at the store until the day he died, in 1984, at the age of 84. The family business, however, has continued to surge, led by the close-knit family he left behind.
Today, the president is Marjeanne McDonald, Gygi's daughter, and half of the 24 current employees are members of the family. McDonald believes many people come to the store because of its unique character.
"A lot of people say to me, `Don't do anything different,' and we do want to keep the personality of the store," says McDonald. "Dad wanted it as a family business, and it made a good living for him and his family, and that's all he cared about."
McDonald is going to expand a bit, though, to make it more convenient for the walk-in customers. She is also planning to open additional stores in Provo and Ogden in the near future. The reason she hasn't done it before is simple lack of time. "Getting everything onto the computer is a big enough job," she says. One thing she wants badly to change is the weather-beaten sign in front.
"It's just terrible," she says.
It's a safe bet that most regular patrons are not worrying too much about the dilapidated appearance of the sign. They know it makes the store stand out and gives it a strong sense of history. They visit the store because they love the diversity, and many of them enjoy the process of shopping there.
Because Gygi's is especially famous for a complete candy-making line, many people flock to the store at Christmastime, including suppliers for the well-known local candymakers.
McDonald says, "We go through 20,000 pounds of chocolate in three or four days." She also considers it a major center for kitchen utensils. "We do have competition, but no one else has it all."
Connie Henrie is typical of the Gygi clientele. She came recently to stock up on supplies she could use to make a wedding cake. "Everything that goes on it is here," she says. She also shops at Gygi's for supplies for making chocolates as well as pans, bowls and knickknacks for her family.
Betty Ann Kempe frequents Gygi's because "it's a place where you can find things you can't find anywhere else. Whenever I come, I get things for the church and some things for me. I always look for high quality food and pans here, and I feel like they're really trying to help me. I also like to browse, and I usually come away with five things I didn't come in for."
Shannon Johnson, a friend of Kempe, says she comes because Kempe brings her. "Then I'm the one who ends up spending all the money. I'm buying things today for my family."
Ruby Doi and her husband are retired, so they don't come with any thought of buying materials for an institution. They like to buy materials they use at home in bulk, and they find it cheaper at Gygi's than many other places.
Some of Gygi's business is seasonal, with the three months from October through December being the busiest. That's when people come looking for candy, candymaking materials and kitchen utensils to help them get through the holidays.
Almost any hour of the day, the store is likely to be filled with people who have come to purchase a specific item or two, and then stick around to browse. Invariably, they make a new discovery. "Hey, how about some soda pop fountain syrup? I didn't know you could buy that here."
They may have come to secure some of the finest imported cutlery. Maybe they need a variety of paper products. Maybe they have a sweet tooth that refuses to be satiated.
Whatever the reason that brought them here, the chances are excellent they'll return. The simple marketing lesson to be learned from Gygi's is that comfort, dependability and diversity combined with friendly service is more important than a flashy facility.
Maybe the old ways are still the best.