Ramzi Budayr opened Dolores Deluxe, a historic neighborhood market featuring made to order sandwiches, homemade baked goods, fresh bread, prepared food, and 200+ wines in San Francisco’s Mission District in 2022. Prior to that, Ramzi held several hospitality leadership positions, including managing partner at Marlena, general manager of the NoMad Hotel in Los Angeles and head maître d’ at Eleven Madison Park in New York.
On an episode of Forever Neighbor, Ramzi interviewed Sam Mogannam, the second-generation owner of Bi-Rite Market, a legendary San Francisco grocery store chain founded in 1964. Today, the Bi-Rite Family of Businesses encompasses three markets, a creamery, and a catering company, with ambitious plans for the future. Ramzi walks us through the lessons he learned from his conversation with Sam, which can be inspiring to any mission-oriented business owner looking to improve their operational excellence..
Before sitting down with Sam, what did the Bi-Rite brand represent to you? How does it compare to your experience so far with Dolores Deluxe?
Ramzi Budayr: Walking through the Bi-Rite Market in the Mission and looking at the most perfect produce while my dad was at work is a core memory of mine. And I’m in awe of all that the Mogannam family has achieved. Sam’s early career journey mirrors my experience as owner of Dolores Deluxe, and he continues to set a standard that pushes me to do better in so many ways.
Compared to my little corner store, Bi-Rite is more of a luxury experience – one that people are willing to pony up for a little more because they know the quality is there. The shoppers are intentional and the products are really wholesome. Sam and his team stock the shelves with things that are good for you, the environment, and the planet.
While I really appreciate that approach, it’s not realistic for everybody to stop selling chips with artificial additives, or charge three times as much for premium tomatoes. It took Sam and his team years of experimenting to develop their businesses to the point where they could lead people’s tastes and buying patterns. They weren’t always so precious and dogmatic about their choices. It was a slow evolution led by their customers.
As a new business owner, I need to remember that, like Bi-Rite, we will continue to evolve. I don’t need to have it all figured out right away. But one thing Sam and his team have always prioritized from day one is high-quality interactions with their guests. Even when Bi-Rite switched from getting hundreds of phone orders for the deli to a more efficient ordering system on Square, the team used the time they gained to educate and connect with more guests in person.
What surprised you most about Sam’s story? Not just as a business, but as a continuation of family legacy and community?
Ramzi Budayr: Sam reminded me of a super important piece of advice for anybody who’s trying to do something entrepreneurial in food or any industry: Be true to who you are. You have to recognize that you are going to be living and breathing your business 24/7 for (hopefully) years on end. It needs to be something that gets you out of bed every day. Although Sam’s dad wanted him to take over and continue the family business, Sam actually stepped away for about a dozen years to be a restaurant chef.
When he came back, instead of being obsessed with making the maximum amount of profit, Sam focused on creating a business that he would be excited about. To him, boredom is a business-killer. He brought in some of his restaurant team to build a kitchen so he could cook. He brought in restaurant hospitality people to run the grocery store, a novel concept and key differentiator that helped elevate the shopping experience in a way the neighborhood didn’t expect. Sam ensures that love, passion, and integrity are always at the core of Bi-Rite. He credits a constant curiosity and desire for improvement as essential to the organization’s positive momentum and success.
How did Sam’s approach to scaling change your way of thinking about your growth with Dolores Deluxe?
Ramzi Budayr: One misstep Sam made that we can all learn from is running an organization without a vision. For about 15 years, Sam said he neglected to figure out or communicate where the business was headed long-term. As a result, his employees, which at that time numbered over 100 people, were confused and going in different directions, including backward. That was a struggle and a powerful learning lesson for him. Even though he’s content with where the business is today and now has a clear vision, Sam said he could have been a lot more effective had he put that in place years earlier.
When it comes to running Dolores Deluxe, I’m really impatient and hard on myself. But realizing that I’m only two-and-a-half years in and that it took Sam many years to get where he is was an a-ha moment. Now is the time to stop being reactive. Have a formal vision, start planning, and move forward deliberately and intentionally.
What’s one mindset or philosophy Sam shared that’s stuck with you since the interview?
Ramzi Budayr: Unlike many businesses, Sam and his team pride themselves on doing things the hard way. At this point, given their scale and success, they could just try to squeeze out every dollar and ride that wave. But they are committed to really taking care of their customers, staff and vendors. Their mission is to create community through food, so they’ve created 18 Reasons, a nonprofit cooking school, and want to open a nonprofit community grocery store.
Sam has also been incredibly generous to me as a mentor, even though I’m technically a Bi-Rite competitor. One thing he said really stuck with me: “It’s not about making a buck, it’s about making a friend.” I want to get that printed on a T-shirt.
