Goods for Cooks Offers Fare for Foodies

By Lorrie Baumann

Sam Eibling, her brother George Huntington, and her husband, Doug Eibling, bought Goods for Cooks, in Bloomington, Indiana, last September with the thought that previous owners Andrew and Charlotte Appel had a good thing going on. They just wanted to try to honor the legacy that the previous owners had created. “We’re the fifth set of owners,” Sam Eibling says. “It started in 1973 with Charlotte [Zietlow] and Marilyn [Schultz], who passed it to Bob [Swanson], and then to Beth Hollingsworth. … Each owner had presided over the shop anywhere between eight and 12 years, and the business celebrates 45 years this year. It’s been a fixture in the community.”

Goods for Cooks, which has about 2,400 square feet of display space, is housed in a storefront built in 1929 on Bloomington’s downtown square. It’s across the street from the county courthouse and about a mile from the IU campus. Goods for Cooks is a block from the B-Line Trail, a multi-use trail through Bloomington’s downtown, and it’s about two blocks from the local farmers market. There’s a cooking school downstairs in the same building.

Goods for Cooks is divided by a glass-walled hallway that separates the area where food is sold — about a third of the space — from the kitchenware side of the business. On the kitchenware side of the store, Sam has adjusted the inventory mix a bit away from a focus on high-end goods, in an effort to attract customers who aren’t yet confident enough in the kitchen to know where they want to make a real investment in their equipment.

“We are committed to carrying high-quality products at a variety of price points with the intention of making cooking and entertaining accessible to all,” Sam says. “We are dedicated to serving the serious cooks and connoisseurs, as well as the novices, the curious and even the frustrated cook. Food is life, a means of connecting and nourishing those we love, honoring traditions and expanding worldviews — we want to foster this.”

Goods for Cooks offers Groceries, Too

On the grocery side of the store, Goods for Cooks offers a cold case with cheeses and charcuterie. “You could basically come into our store and buy everything you need to put together a charcuterie plate,” Sam said. The cheese selection includes about 10 cheeses at any given time, with the focus on Parmesan and other hard Italian cheeses as well as Vermont Creamery’s offerings. Tea and coffee are sampled every day, and the selection also includes several different kinds of pasta and polenta. A vinegar and olive oil tasting bar offers a large assortment of olive oils, and the shelves also hold jams, jellies, and compotes as well as cookies, chocolates, and candies. “It’s like a mini gourmet entertaining grocery store,” Sam says. “It’s a great place to buy a little treat for yourself or a gift for a friend.”

Food currently represents about a quarter of Goods for Cook’s revenues, and that share is growing “… as we educate through social media, our website and other marketing avenues,” Sam says.

“Everyone eats, so everyone’s our customer. That seems very broad, but that is literally the intention behind this business,” she adds. “We’re looking for people who are still exploring. We have customers who want to learn, and also customers who don’t want to learn — maybe they just want some salami and cheese to take to a party. But we also have people coming in to look for knives or a tagine or a coffee. We strive to meet each customer’s needs. We strive to cultivate a space where everyone feels comfortable, no matter their level of interest or experience regarding food.”