TDG: Harry & David v. Fairway

[Fat Guy]

Harry & David v. Fairway

[201]

Wow... my bookmark takes me right to the NJ Forum and I completely missed the new front page until I clicked that link... and just LAST NIGHT it was the same old "wait while we redirect you" message....

I need some time to process this...

[Ron Johnson]

The Food Network ran a 1/2 hour special (read commercial) on Harry & David and their pears and cherries.

The pears are grown in some special valley. The workers have to pick them a certain way or they are beaten. They have a special truck that transports them to the Harry & David lair, where . . . a special mother/daughter team pack the pears in boxes. The mother is faster than the daughter, but thats only because she has been doing it longer. Apparently, they agree that one day the daughter will overtake the mother.

I am embarrassed I watched this.

Edited December 19, 2002 by ron johnson (log)

[Rachel Perlow]

From your Harry & David article:

At Economy Candy on Manhattan's Lower East Side, however, for $6.99 per pound you can get the far more prosaic, "dried bing cherries covered with milk chocolate." And they're as good or better than the $15-a-pound competition.

The chocolate cherries aren't that easy to find on Economy Candy's website. Go to their "search" page, and search for Chocolate and Bing (Chocolate and Cherry do not bring the right thing up). Their site is rather difficult to navigate but they have a lot of unique and old fashioned items. I searched some more and eventually found these chocolates on page 6 of 7 in the Bulk Chocolate section (well after the Oh Henry! bars and M&Ms).

I do feel compelled to go out and get some Comice pears though. Your article made my mouth water.

[Fat Guy]

I just searched for "cherries" and it came right up, but here's the direct link:

http://www.economycandy.com/store/showdetl...ct_ID=894&DID=6

[Varmint]

One of the other reasons people use services such as Harry & David is the simplicity and reliability of the service, rather than the quality of the product. Ordering is a snap, and delivery is guaranteed. Often, finding the best quality sources takes a lot of time, the vendor isn't really set up to do e-commerce, and shipping may be sketchy (and very expensive), at best. We don't send a lot of food gifts to friends, but we usually try to find something local that is a fair representative of what we might eat ourselves. Our choices, without scouring the countryside, are usually quite limited if we look only at businesses with a solid web presence.

[Ellen Shapiro]

And it's like I've told Fat Guy a number of times--the majority of people who are sending these gifts are probably sending them on expense account so the contributing factors of 1) ease of ordering; 2) pretty packaging; 3) "gourmet" foods that can ship anywhere in the country; 4) an impressive order department that reminds you of the gifts you sent--and to whom--the previous year; and 5) an overall appeal to the general population, make for perfect corporate gift giving. Perhaps if people had to pay out of their own pockets, they'd be more discriminating but I have heard of people who send these products and foot the bill themselves. Our tower of treats (or whatever it's called) reminds me of those gift baskets I see everywhere at this time of year--bath products for women, baskets with an Italian theme packaged in ceramic pasta dishes, etc. These gifts are tremendously appealing and I'd be thrilled to get one because they look nice and seem like fun. In the end I wouldn't know what to do with half of the stuff and the other half I'd likely never use anyway--but there is something very appealing about these sorts of gifts (and at least I know that the person who sent it not only thought about my gift but also didn't go bankrupt in the process). To me it seems that with the prices that Harry & David charges it's like the emperor’s new clothes of holiday gift giving.

Edited December 19, 2002 by Ellen Shapiro (log)

[Suvir Saran]

The Food Network ran a 1/2 hour special (read commercial) on Harry & David and their pears and cherries.

The pears are grown in some special valley.  The workers have to pick them a certain way or they are beaten.  They have a special truck that transports them to the Harry & David lair, where . . .  a special mother/daughter team pack the pears in boxes.  The mother is faster than the daughter, but thats only because she has been doing it longer.  Apparently, they agree that one day the daughter will overtake the mother.

I am embarrassed I watched this. 

If there was any reality to the words in the first paragraph, I feel embarassed for you as well.

Really, how can anyone be proud of beating a worker in this day and age? Got to be kidding. I hope you were. I would be besides myself in rage if I saw that or heard that as a serious report. Tell me you are exaggerating.

Please tell me that.

[Suvir Saran]

And it's like I've told Fat Guy a number of times--the majority of people who are sending these gifts are probably sending them on expense account so the contributing factors of 1) ease of ordering; 2) pretty packaging; 3) "gourmet" foods that can ship anywhere in the country; 4) an impressive order department that reminds you of the gifts you sent--and to whom--the previous year; and 5) an overall appeal to the general population, make for perfect corporate gift giving. Perhaps if people had to pay out of their own pockets, they'd be more discriminating but I have heard of people who send these products and foot the bill themselves. Our tower of treats (or whatever it's called) reminds me of those gift baskets I see everywhere at this time of year--bath products for women, baskets with an Italian theme packaged in ceramic pasta dishes, etc. These gifts are tremendously appealing and I'd be thrilled to get one because they look nice and seem like fun. In the end I wouldn't know what to do with half of the stuff and the other half I'd likely never use anyway--but there is something very appealing about these sorts of gifts (and at least I know that the person who sent it not only thought about my gift but also didn't go bankrupt in the process). To me it seems that with the prices that Harry & David charges it's like the emperor’s new clothes of holiday gift giving.

I use Surroundings based in NYC to deliver my baskets to friends and family around the country. Surroundings will work with only the best Florits and Basket merchants in any city, and then, will take your taste from NYC into account, ask you pointers about the person the gift is being sent to, and then work with their local partner in planning a gift that is most appropriate to their own standards and also yours as a customer of theirs.

I have used them in LA, SF, Atlanta, Chicago (where I was sending a GIANT basket to Jerry Kleiner, owner of several restaurants in Chicago and a man who lives a life that is Over the TOP and everything in his home is HUGE), Memphis, A small town near Louisville, KY, Sun Valley, Boston, Albany, Brooklyn, East Hampton, NY, Toledo, Dallas, and St. Paul. Each basket mail ordered by me has been received by the guests like nothing else they have ever found available locally. And the beauty is that everything you send is local and done by local folk. But there is an effort made to ensure that the basket being sent will create the same magic that the Surrounding customer based in NYC is used to living in this cosmopolitan city.

When I ordered Jerry Kleiners basket, I did so the morning of the evening I was going to be his guest at his home. The basket arrived in the afternoon, I arrived later that evening. The basket had left a great impression not only with Jerry and his SO, but with every person organizing the evenings affair. They were all amazed that a New Yorker with little knowledge of Chicago had been able to use the best florist in the city and to such great success. I did nothing, I only called a great NYC florist with great customer service and great style. They charged me slightly more than what another company would, but they always leave me with friends calling for years after to speak of the baskets amazing legend.

Why then do people go to Harry & David? I am most embarrassed by the HUGE towers of boxes that arrive amazingly packaged in a brown box. They look like a tree almost. And certainly make quite a show. Tacky to me, but I can well understand how many would find it very pleasing. Unfortunately, the products inside are even less inspiring than the common packaging material. The best thing about Harry & David is their reliable brown box packaging and shipping reliability. Other than that, each year, when this particular person sends this HUGE tower of gifts, we are embarrassed and without a clue as to how we can ever get rid of this stuff. It is so bad that I cannot pass it onto anyone else, let my name be sullied by the poor quality. We end up peeling the highly waxed fruits, I try my best to get them ripe somehow, and I serve them in ways that will compensate for their lack of flavor. But only thing that brings me some joy is to send off the empty boxes to elders in the Mid West that are impressed by their gaudy colors and very holiday look. Not sure what they do with them, but I am told they are used as boxes to send holiday gifts.

I would never pay that kind of money for sharing with friends how a gift could be inspiring in its shipping and handling and packaging alone.

Even the cheese and nuts and chocolates are bad. And I love bad tacky candy, it brings out the worst in me, but Harry & Davids stuff is so bad that it does not even excite the tacky candy fan inside me.

I am under whelmed by their products and overwhelmed by their marketing genius. Ellen maybe onto something when she speaks of Harry & David being kept in business by expense account business. Sadly, only those with little if any care for what they are sending to another, could endorse such rubbish with their name.

Call me anything but Opinionated. OK.

[201]

I'm with Suvir on this one. Receiving the tower of boxes from Harry & David doesn't so much fill me with joy as much as it sends me looking for a landfill.

Of course, I've never gotten the chocolate-covered cherries... only the cherry-covered chocolates.

edit: left out a little word

Edited December 19, 2002 by 201 (log)

[Suvir Saran]

I'm with Suvir on this one.  Receiving the tower of boxes from Harry & David doesn't so much fill me with joy as much as it sends me looking for a landfill. 

Of course, I've never gotten the chocolate-covered cherries... only the cherry-covered chocolates.

edit: left out a little word

Land Fill! That is what I think my mind is looking for.

They really come packaged like one would maybe pack a space ship... Alas SOOOOOO much drama and after all that, one gets nonsense enclosed in colorful boxes.

[Cheffie3]

Wow! I can't believe how Harry and David's are being trashed here. I love their Carmel Moose Munch with Cashews and Almonds, Banana Creme Balls and Chocolate covered Blueberries, and don't mind paying the higher cost. I also ordered 10 of the Tower of Treats 2 Christmases ago and my family still raves about how good everything was. I planned on doing the same this year until I saw that shipping would cost me well over $100.

I guess my family and I don't have very discriminating tastes. Granted, the three things I mentioned above are the only things I buy when I go there, the other stuff just doesn't tempt me. Oh well to each his own.

[jhlurie]

Wow! I can't believe how Harry and David's are being trashed here.

Regardless, I for one am not going to waste any sympathy on them. I mean if its perfectly legit for someone to have a 400% markup, its equally legit for someone else to call them on it.

That said, I'm sure they sell plenty of great tasting products. That's not being challenged, I think.

[porkpa]

FG,

Initially at least, you are comparing apples to oranges. You were comparing an outfit that specializes in mail order gift(Harry & Davids) to one that does not even do it(Fairway).

I don't particularly like H & D. I think that they are over rated and over priced. However they are reliable and what they send is not awful. Having said this, I don't use them. I was thinking of trying Fairway on Sunday when sending out my Holiday Mail Order gifts. I went to their website and found that they don't do this.

For the record, I am using five purveyors this year for my Holiday presents.

(1)Graeter's Ice Cream-The best ice cream in North America - maybe the world. Yes better than Berthillon.

(2)Stockyards-Not the very best for steaks, but pretty darn good.

(3)Ideal Cheese-Excellent cheese,large variety,good service and not exhobitantly priced.

(4)Carolina Wine for wine. I have used them for years. Reliable,reasonable prices, pretty good variety, some excellent treasures not often found, especially from Australia, New Zealand and the Rhone.

(5)The Cheesecake Factory. Not cheap. I do have some cheesecake lovers who really like what this company sends out.

[Steve Plotnicki]

How exactly does one get on your x-mas list?

[porkpa]

Steve,

The only person who gets all five mail orders is my secretary, who has put up with my craziness for almost 30 years. Believe me, she still is quite shortchanged.

Most everybody else gets one and sometimes two items.

[Steve Plotnicki]

I'll take it.

[porkpa]

Egulleters, this brings up another possible thread. If you all had your druthers what food or wine related item would you like to have in your Christmas stocking? I know we would all like that Petrus '61, the Screaming Eagle '94 or the Lobel's ultimate steak pack. Please try to be as practical as possible.

Please mention brands.

[Varmint]

porkpa, I'm glad you discovered Carolina Wine Company. Their principal is Chrish (yes, Chrish) Peal, who is a Stanford Law grad who decided he had a passion for wine but not for law. He knows his stuff and has a great knack at finding importers willing to bringing in wines otherwise unavailable across the country. Plus, they keep their warehouse at the appropriate temperature! Finally, they're in my town. Yeah!!

http://www.carolinawine.com/

[Fat Guy]

you are comparing apples to oranges.

I thought I was comparing pears to pears.

[Ron Johnson]

Really, how can anyone be proud of beating a worker in this day and age?  Got to be kidding. I hope you were.

Suvir, I was kidding. However, Harry (or was it David?) made it clear that the pears HAD to be picked in this certain way or else. Two finger stem grasp with counter clockwise wrist roll. NO TUGGING!!!!

It was all a little over the top for me. Its pears for pete's sake.

[Suvir Saran]

Really, how can anyone be proud of beating a worker in this day and age?  Got to be kidding. I hope you were.

Suvir, I was kidding. However, Harry (or was it David?) made it clear that the pears HAD to be picked in this certain way or else. Two finger stem grasp with counter clockwise wrist roll. NO TUGGING!!!!

It was all a little over the top for me. Its pears for pete's sake.

I thought as much.

If you were not kidding, you may have made a more austere and harsh post.

Anyways, I still cannot understand why anyone would use Harry & David. But we do get our LARGE ugly tower of gifts. And each year, we wonder how quickly we can get rid of that stuff. And we have to that by ourselves. For we cannot imagine shaming ourselves by giving it to anyone else.

I cannot think of giving a gift that I have no confidence in, so, I am a stickler for never compromising myself by allowing Harry & David products to get my name or acceptance in any way.

What is most fascinating about Harry & Davids tower is that it comes in a gigantic box and after you open it, and I must be honest, each year for the last 7 years, I become a kid as I open these colorful boxes, and I am expecting somehow that a great treat will come out of even just one of the many I will open. But I keep opening, keep removing layers of tissue and layers of packaging stuff, all goes into trash.. and in the end, there is barely even enough stuff to stack one shelve. So much fluff (in this case packaging). And really, nothing worthy of much attention by anyone seriously into fine products. If you live in a desert, perhaps many of these things will bring you great joy, otherwise, most all of us will have local options that will provide equally good if not much better product. And if we have access to a telephone and have friends with references, I am sure we can do way better for our money than Harry & David.

They are a great resource for those sitting in an office with little time, deep pockets and little care. They are then a perfect way to get a big bang (though certainly the bang dissipates after being opened) for your buck. Also, for all those lovers of boxes and packaging materials, Harry & David gifts are a great way of getting lots and lots of supply for your own holiday boxing and packaging. The one good thing about this whole affair. But remember, their packaging is loud.. and you must accept their taste as yours.

There are lots of options out there, perhaps not all as famous, but most much better. It may be even cheaper just to buy your own goodies, get them packaged by your local Mail Box Etc.. to rid yourself the headache of packing, and still, you will save some money and share far better product. But I am being honest... It is easy to do.

[hollywood]

So, what is the mail order alternative to H & D for good fruit?

[Fat Guy]

Florida oranges, baby!

http://www.alexsflamingogroves.com/

These guys have awesome oranges and grapefruits. You simply can't match their quality in supermarkets or even high-end fruit stores in big cities. And they do some tasteful gift boxes that bundle fruit with jams and such.

[NewYorkTexan]

This is the same discussion we had last year. I have used H&D for holidays mailings to business associates and clients for years. It has never been about the fruit. Their fabulous customer service and packaging is what sets them apart.

It is similar to going to Union Square Café for a business meal. Could you have a more exciting meal at Craft, most likely, but USC is more appropriate for a business meal. The menu is more appealing to a wider audience, the food is simpler and great service is a given. This is why steakhouses are so popular for business meals.

If I want a great meal, I will enjoy it with friends where the food and wine can take center stage. For a business meal, the menu should be approachable for non-foodies with the food taking a secondary priority.

The same concept applies to H&D. When you send a H&D package, you know it will be delivered on time, look nice and there will be no surprises. One of the packages I sent was left at the recipient’s front door, only to be consumed by their dog, even the enclosed card. He called H&D to find out who sent him the package and they immediately sent him a new gift basket. It is that strong customer service orientation that makes them a great vendor for business gifts.

I guess I could send out airline tickets to NYC with a gift certificate to Fairway, but it would be too hard to wrap.