Symons General Store

Talk about a family dynasty...
Founded in 1956 by Tom Symons, Symons General Store - now a beacon of downtown Petoskey’s Gaslight District - got its start at Boyne Mountain Resort in Boyne Falls. In 1960, the Petoskey location was added (also founded by Tom), and was taken over by his wife, Lynne, in the late ‘70s.
Thirty-some years later, it’s son Chandler Symons who is running the business, which has now expanded with the addition of Chandler’s Restaurant (right across from Symons’ wine cellar) and the conversion of the Boyne Mountain location of Symons into Pierson’s.
For Chandler Symons, it’s simply a matter of keeping it all in the family.
“I basically grew up in the business,” Symons explains. “My parents were always entertaining guests, so I was exposed to an appreciation of fine wine and foods at an early age. I joined the staff as a full timer after I finished my education at MSU and the Culinary Institute of America in California.”

WHAT’S IN A NAME?
Symons keeps his days busy running both Symons General Store and the restaurant that bears his - and his father’s, and his grandfather’s - name. The restaurant was actually named by the youngest Chandler Symons - Chandler Symons, III, our interviewee - in honor of his father, Chandler Symons, II. Got that?
While it’s likely hectic at times, especially during tourist season, Symons feels it makes sense to put his stamp on both businesses. “It’s not difficult to run both, as I feel they’re closely related,” he explains. “You can buy the same great food and wine that we serve at Chandler’s right at Symons General Store - without the chefs of course,” he laughs, “and both businesses strive for quality.”
While Chandler’s offers up prepared meals, it’s the ingredients that you’ll find in abundance at Symons, plus a whole lot more. The general store specializes in quality, hard-to-find gourmet items, including artisanal cheeses, patés, crackers, chocolates, candies, baked goods (“The morning buns are a must have,” enthuses Symons), mustards, sauces, jams, jellies, coffee, tea, cookies, olive oils, vinegars, bread dippers, and a broad selection
of wines, which Symons was recently acknowledged for in the October issue of Food & Wine Magazine.
The wines, for Chandler Symons, are one of the benchmarks of the store, as are the cheeses.
“I think our wine and cheese selections stand above all else,” Symons says. “Those are what separate us from the pack. Over half of our retail space is dedicated to wine. As for cheese, we are always looking for the next must-have cheese. A lot of the food magazines are focusing on cheese at the moment - Spanish cheeses, for instance, are the next “It” cheese. We have really just scratched the surface on most of the available imports out there, but we are bringing them in as quickly as we can learn about them.”

AHEAD OF THE TRENDS
All Spanish cheeses aside, Symons and his crew strive to stay ahead of the food trends, attending food and beverage conventions in order to personally palate-test the items that they are considering bringing into the store.
“Nothing is worse than buying some expensive item for Symons, thinking it was going to be great, only to find out that it had a nice label, and that was about it,” he explains. “Today’s consumers are much more food savvy, so more and more people are traveling and reading foodie magazines, and they come to us in search of the special ingredients that they need for their new recipe. The staff at Symons General Store really has fun tracking these ingredients down. We also take a lot of special orders.”
And the customers appreciate it, just as much as Symons appreciates his downtown Petoskey location. “I absolutely love downtown Petoskey. I couldn’t ask for better neighbors or a better support community. I think all of downtown Petoskey does a great job of balancing our guests’ needs and provides just the right mix of quality shopping, dining and entertainment. And let’s not forget that it is simply a beautiful town to look at,” he affirms.
Next up for the store this summer is... well, more of the same, according to Chandler Symons. And since he terms that as “service, quality, and consistency,” that’s a good thing. Symons claims that they do have a few “surprises in the works” - including a new local and exotic produce section that customers can expect to see at the store this summer - but he won’t give away all the details yet, so you’ll just have to visit Symons General Store to find out for yourself.

Symons General Store is located at 401 East Lake Street in downtown Petoskey, telephone 231-347-2438.


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