Cindy and Mike Parker from Caro, Michigan (about 50 miles east of Saginaw) came to our seminar last summer on retailing artisan cheese with a unique plan. For many years, they had been proprietors of a home-improvement center, doing upscale remodels of kitchens, bathrooms and other home projects. They saw a niche in their rural area — their customers were enthusiastic about cooking, and building beautiful kitchens, but the area had nowhere to buy high-end cheeses. The Parkers decided to add a cheese shop to their existing business, and they got it off the ground in July, 2009, barely a month after the June class was over.

Mike and Cindy have kept the focus on artisan cheeses, almost entirely American, and a few crackers. They even buy from two creameries in Michigan, Grassfields near Grand Rapids, and the famed Zingerman’s from Ann Arbor. Zingerman’s Sharon Hollows fresh cow’s milk cheese “flies off the shelves,” reports Cindy. Mike serves it at sampling get-togethers warmed, topped with a marinara sauce.

Artigiano, 3084 W. Gilford Rd., Caro MI 48723. 989-673-8490.

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