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“What is it about Ohio and knowing how food shopping should be done?” Food & Wine contributor David Landsel wrote. “What else can we say, except that they’re just really damn good at it. For roughly 80 years now, the well-heeled Daytonite has relied on this tiny chain of markets, offering just three locations, which proves, and wonderfully well, that you don’t need to have massive reach to leave a lasting impression.”
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“From gorgeous loaves of fresh bread to artfully arrayed produce, to an embarrassment of delicious prepared foods, prepare to be spoiled, and perhaps slightly sad when you think about your shopping options back home.”
DLM operates three stores, in Oakwood, Springboro and Washington Twp. It was founded in 1948 as a fruit stand by Calvin Mayne and his business partner, Frank Sakada, at the corner of Far Hills Avenue and Dorothy Lane. The stores are overseen by the Mayne family, including the father-won duo of Norman and Calvin Mayne.
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Norman Mayne said this morning that he was “totally surprised” at the Food & Wine recognition.
“This just proves what a great group of people I get to work with every day,” Mayne said.
Dorothy Lane Market does not dwell on what their competitors are doing, its CEO said.
“We concentrate on what we’re doing inside our stores,” Mayne said. “We try to create faster than others can steal.”
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It is not the first national recognition for the local grocery chain. In 2013, Norman Mayne received the Robert B. Wegman national award for entrepreneurial excellence from the Food Marketing Institute (FMI).
The award, named for the former head of Wegman’s Food Markets, “celebrates the food retailer or wholesaler responsible for creating exceptional retail innovations” and is presented to someone in the field “who is exercising entrepreneurial leadership in the design of retail strategies and imaginative merchandising,” according to a spokeswoman for the Food Marketing Institute (FMI).
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