Gourmet Gallery has expanded its footprint into Oklahoma City by opening a second store in Northpark Mall.
The new store is an offshoot of the specialty and gourmet food store at 1532 S Boulevard in Edmond, but with an emphasis on made-in-Oklahoma products and gift baskets — two aspects of the business that are booming, said co-owner Janet McDonald.

The Northpark Mall store, 12032 N May Ave., offers one of the largest selections of made-in-Oklahoma products in the state.

Altogether it offers more than 100 products from about 25 different product lines.

Locally made products make up about 80 percent of the store's inventory, McDonald said.

The decision to open a store highlighting food made in the state was inspired in part by Oklahoma's 100th birthday.

"With the centennial, it just seemed to make sense,” said co-owner Cindy Utecht.

Several products already are sold in the Edmond store, but the new store allows Gourmet Gallery to expand its current made-in-Oklahoma lines and offer several of the products' full lines.

The store sells the full line of Krebs-based Lovera's Famous Foods, including pizza sauces, pestos, rubs and summer sausage.

"We're the only one in this area that carries their full line of products,” Utecht said. "They have quite a following.”

"We have customers tell us that they drive all the way out to Krebs to get it,” McDonald added.

The store also offers Neighbor's Gourmet coffees and teas, salsas, dip mixes and chips made by Enid-based Maria Rae's, jams made by The Prairie Gypsies, peach butter and salsa made by Stratford-based Peach Crest Farms and a variety of products made by Lawton-based Pepper Creek Farms, including margarita, cosmopolitan and chocolate martini mixes.

"People are really excited that we're here,” McDonald said. "This is an Oklahoma-owned, boutique mall. It really fits with what we're doing. All the stores here are locally owned, so a gourmet food store fits in really well.”

The store also sells the full line of Paul's Valley-made Bedre Chocolates, including the famous chocolate-covered potato chips and white chocolate popcorn. The sweetened popcorn makes popular gift basket items and is a hit with every client, McDonald said.

"When we make a gift basket, we always ask if it's for a family, an office or an individual because every basket is custom made,” McDonald said.

Last Christmas, Edmond-based Gourmet Gallery made hundreds of gift baskets, nearly running out of room in the Edmond store, she said. The new store will allow room for the gift basket portion of the business to grow.

Kevyn Colburn, vice president of Morris Enterprises, which owns the mall, said she approached the owners about opening in the mall about five years ago. They've looked at several mall spaces in the past few years, but recently decided that the timing and location next to the southeast entrance of the mall was right.

"It's a great addition, something we really needed,” Colburn said. "I think people are really into entertaining and having people into their homes, and I think the Northpark customer definitely does that.”

And the opening of the second Gourmet Gallery comes in plenty of time before Christmas.

"In the retail business, if you're going to be ready for the last quarter of the year, you've got to be open (early).

"Christmas, for us, starts in September,” McDonald said.

This makes me hungry.

Too bad it's 2am, and I'm at work.




I

i went by there yesterday wasnt too impressed