Newport Avenue Market Adds Virtual Housewares Section

BEND, Ore. - Newport Ave. Market here said yesterday it has formed a partnership with Cooking.com, an online retailer of kitchen and housewares, and Gourmet Catalog, a buying group of over 150 independent kitchenware retailers across the country, to dramatically expand the grocer's housewares product selection.

For the project, Cooking.com built an e-commerce Web site branded with the Newport Ave. Market name, where consumers can shop an assortment of more than 50,000 products online - much more than any brick-and-mortar store's square footage would allow, said the community-based independent grocer. Shoppers click the "Shop" button on the home page of the grocer's Web site, and are then directed to the housewares site.

"The merchandise is really just an extension of what we already are," Rudy Dory, Newport's owner, told Progressive Grocer. "The positive thing is it allows us access to products that we cannot or do not want to meet the minimums [to stock]. An example might be, a person would like for us to get a certain product but the minimum purchase direct from the company might be $300. Now, we can offer that product, and not have to worry about inventory."

In addition, Newport Ave. Market is considering leveraging the partnership with Gourmet Catalog to create its own high-end gourmet catalog, which would be available this fall.

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-- Joseph Tarnowski
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