A bit on Simon David

I apologize for not having a lot of posts on the backburner, most of which what I do have is some old Safeway/AppleTree type posts, and those don't have any good pictures. So, while I am working on the Westheimer/Voss Albertsons and try to get more content, here's an article on the new 1985 Simon David, which was sadly demolished in 2010 for a Tom Thumb Flagship. Simon David was the "upscale" brand that Tom Thumb owned (as if Tom Thumb wasn't already upmarket), which languished under Randalls ownership (a failed attempt to expand the SD brand was replaced with the "Tom Thumb Flagship" name, and under Safeway ownership, Simon David would vanish completely).

I'd like to write a full article on Simon David eventually, but settled on this because right now I'm physically exhausted from a full day of hard labor (my day job doesn't have enough hours) and I don't want to run the risk of being completely burned out from this blog. Here's an article instead from the Dallas Morning News, called "Checking Out a Ritzy Grocery Store", originally published May 9, 1985 by Maryln Schwartz. Enjoy.

I arrived at the grand opening of a North Dallas supermarket thinking I'd gotten the wrong address. It could just as easily have been a deb party.

There was valet parking. Admission was by invitation only.

BMWs, Mercedes and Jaguars were lined up around the location at Inwood Road and University Boulevard. And the women were wearing serious diamonds -- nothing I'd ever associate with buying brussel sprouts and Windex.

"Welcome to Simon David,' a Tom Thumb-Simon David employee said as he handed me a long-stemmed red rose and directed me toward a woman serving white wine.

"You will notice this is the first supermarket in Dallas to have a mezzanine,' he pointed out.

I gazed up, and sure enough, there was a mezzanine running all around the store.

"How do you haul a shopping cart up to the second floor?' I asked.

"There's an elevator, of course,' he explained.

I had come to this grand opening with a friend, but I wandered off on my own to get the feel of the glitzy new surroundings. I didn't get too far.

No strings attached

I had to stop to listen to a quartet playing chamber music and nibble on the duck pate that was being served in the store's cheese and pate bar.

"You're not going to believe this!' my friend said as she rejoined me. She was munching on a piece of almond gateau she found in the pastry area where pastry filled with asparagus also was being served.

"I know,' I said. "I've already seen the cello and the violins. You don't get many string concerts in a grocery store.

"Not that,' she said. "Look at the store directory. This grocery store has a gift-wrap department. I don't mean paper and ribbon to take home. They will actually gift-wrap your grocery purchases.'

I would have gotten more involved in the gift-wrap concept, but something else caught my attention. An employee was pointing guests to the chocolate boutique on the mezzanine.

"You can't miss it,' she said. "It's right behind the perfume boutique and the Simon David's Cafe.

"You have a cafe in a grocery store?' I asked.

"Yes,' she answered. She explained that shopping is much more pleasant when one can relax over a glass of wine or chocolate mousse.

I hopped on the elevator and went right up to check this out for myself. Not only did the menu feature mousse, but also lamb aux honey mustard, lobster and seafood Louie. And the tables were conveniently placed so diners could look over the railing and watch other customers zipping their carts up and down the aisles.

Just past the cafe was the perfume boutique -- an entire glassed-in area featuring everything from Halston to Polo.

No holds (chocolate) barred

Then I saw it -- the chocolate boutique. No Reese's Pieces or Hershey Bars here. No, there were glass cases filled with giant truffles, 15 varieties in all. There also was a potpourri boutique for custom-made sachets and a floral boutique dripping with orchids.

After strolling the mezzanine, I took one more turn downstairs and watched guests get in line to sign up for charge accounts. Then I wandered over to check out the fresh pasta bar that featured such delicacies as salmon and beet pasta.

I counted 14 different varieties of mushrooms at the produce counter and noted that fresh oysters, mussels and live crayfish also were available.

By the time I caught back up with my friend, she told me something was bothering her.

"I think it's wonderful to have duck mousse and white asparagus just a half block away from my house,' she said. "But this is my neighborhood store. Do you think they have things like mops?'

We checked. In a tiny corner of an aisle was one small rack of mops.

A few minutes later, Tom Thumb executive Charles Cullum asked what I thought of the new store.

I had to tell the truth. "If you put in condos,' I confided, "I might move in.'

Cullum smiled. "We didn't think of that,' he said, "but it might work.'

What's interesting about the store is that it many ways, it kind of reminds me of the modern-day Market Street stores, which do have gift shops on the mezzanine (or so I've heard) and several other niceties, though not nearly as over-the-top in terms of other things. However, other things have been standardized in it and other stores: a wine bar, for one, is not unheard of (Whole Foods, the late Hiller's Market).