People often ask me, “What’s the favourite kind of photography you do?”
That’s a tough one, because I love just about everything we do. However, I do like to “exercise my photographic chops” on commercial assignments, whether it’s a big industrial factory or a small “mom & pop” operation. As long as I get a chance to make it look good – I’m a happy guy!
Last November I got a call from Joe Tarnowski from Progressive Independent Grocer magazine in New Jersey to photograph Kudrinko’s grocery store in Westport. Neil and Martha Kudrinko have been friends of ours for quite a few years. In fact, Martha ran a successful photography studio in Westport until family duties with kids meant the studio had to go.
Needless to say I loved touring the store and photographing whatever Joe pointed out. Along the way, I learned a lot about the grocery business and some of the state-of-the-art things Neil has added to his store to make it more energy efficient and to offer the best quality possible to lucky shoppers in the Westport area.
The article featured many of Neil and Martha’s thoughts on how an independent grocery business should run and the efforts and investment they make in keeping their customers happy, their quality high and their store as efficient as possible.
For instance, when Neil decided to purchase off-grid solar light poles for his parking lot the only available source was in Boise, Idaho. But he discovered since the product was so new, there were no certified installers in Canada. Not to be stopped, Neil took the online certification course and installed the poles himself. Now his parking lot is lit by LED light powered entirely by the sun – “light-powered lights”, says Neil.
If you are in the Westport area and need to shop – stop at Kudrinko’s – you’ll be glad you did!
Do you already shop there? Do you shop there when you’re at the cottage in the summer? Share your comments in the comment section below. We all should be supporting local business as much as we can. Love to hear from you!
