ACTON, Mass. -- The New England Convenience Store Association (NESCA) has recognized Mike and Corinne Abboud, owners and operators of the Tedeschi Food Shop in Acton, Mass., as its Store Operators of the Year, said The Lowell Sun.
"We worked hard to achieve this," Corinne told the newspaper. "You have to understand, this is a lifestyle. Our daughter grew up in a playpen behind the deli."
The Abbouds were national winners in 2002, an award they hope to pick up again early next year. They have previously won the New England title [image-nocss] in 2000 after redoing the store, and captured top recognition for their deli in both 2001 and 2002, the report said.
Corinne said the process started when the Abbouds' store was nominated by Tedeschi field supervisor Chuck McGrath. Some 2,000 candidates are eventually whittled to 85 after "surprise visits" from NESCA judges. "They come to see how your operation is running, how clean your store is," she said. In the final round, she said, "two judges come and just rip apart your store and conduct a two-and-a-half-hour interview.
She recalled that one question from the judges was to provide a one-word description of the store. "We answered 'family'," Corinne said. "That's how we look at this business. We run it as a family and we view our customers and vendors as family."
The Tedeschi convenience chain, which includes Li'l Peach and Store 24, is also family-run. The Rockland, Mass.-based business, Tedeschi Food Shops Inc., operates stores in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Connecticut.
Mike Abboud previously worked as a manager at the White Hen Pantry and other c-stores, according to the report. Corinne was an assistant manager at Oscor Drugs for 12 years. The two met in 1990 when Corinne was a customer and Mike a manager at the former 1717 Convenience store in Lowell, Mass.
Their Tedeschi store in Acton is a 5,100 sq.-ft. store employing 12 people, including Corinne's father. Its deli, which Corinne runs, includes a toaster oven and offers bread and pastries made on site.
Technology is also a key element to the business' success, they said. "We run a paperless store," Mike told the newspaper. "All ordering is done on a system on Palm pocket PCs, data going back 13 months, invoicing on pdf files, vendors are on a Web-based ordering system.We have a home office at our house, where we can access all computers, and all banking is done online."
"We have a full-line deli, best-brand names, good quality steak, tuna to everything else," Mike said. "We have a variety of grocery lines, including ethnic foodsItalian, frozen food, the most updated products in the market.
The Abbouds are constantly educating themselves to get even better. "We visit food shows to see what's going on," Mike told the paper. "We have tried to implement what we have in our background. We cannot sit still, because the market doesn't."
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