I love that Harmons is social (on Facebook and Twitter) and the cooking classes, etc. However, they can be a bit pricey sometimes (the salad bar, ouch), but it’s usually worth it because the quality is high.

There’s been a lot of activity at Smith’s. They upgraded the produce section, the floral dept. and more. It looks nicer and they added a bulk foods and natural foods aisle. They’re also copying Harmons down the gelato and sushi (I like Smith’s sushi best, haven’t tried Smith’s gelato. Just try getting someone to help you – it’s a long wait). They have a ways to go with customer service though.

I noticed Bowmans has been cleaning up the store and upgrading the product dept. I’m so thankful because I can walk through the door and it doesn’t smell bad like it did (my pregnancy nose is extra sensitive). Bowmans will always be endearing because they have both senior citizen and expecting mother in addition to handicap parking. I try to take advantage of the expectant mother parking every chance I get. Plus they are very community friendly. It’s probably the store my grandparents shopped at.

Notice I don’t mention Fresh Market (link goes to an article by Leslie Mitchell of the Salt Lake Tribune about how the grocery store isn’t doing so well). Not even in the running and right across the street from Bowmans with the same parent company. Dumb marketing move.

At the end of this post are pictures from our tour – be sure to watch the slideshow.

Enter to win a $25 gift card to any Harmons grocery store in Utah! To enter just make a comment on this post telling me why you love Harmons. I’ll randomly choose a winner using random.org on Wednesday, June 1st, 2011. Note: Contest has ended.

Philosophically Harmons is unique. They are not trying to compete on price. They believe in SUSTAINABILITY, ENVIRONMENTALLY RESPONSIBLE, HIGH QUALITY, FRESH, LOCAL, NATURAL products.

Bob Harmons motto: It’s only fresh once!

34 reasons you’ll love Harmons Grocery Store

1. They carry the world famous Creminelli brand salami in every flavor. Made in Utah by a 5th generation Italian salami maker who came to Utah for the Olympics and to ski and stayed. He notes that the climate here is so similar to Italy that you cannot tell the difference between salami made here vs. in Italy.
2. Harmons employees and founders are educated around the world. They go to Vermont to tour a creamery to see how cheese is made and all around the world and locally to source their products.
3. They make their own fresh artisan potato chips with no additives or preservatives (by the incredible sandwich bar made with their no no additive deli meats, bread from their bakery, and gourmet cheeses).
4. The Farmington store is one of only 2 Harmons that has a gelato bar with 18 flavors, made fresh each day.
5. The coffee shop carries Logan-based Cafe Ibis blends (fair trade).
6. The wok bar is made fresh twice a day from 11-2pm it’s fully stocked, then from 4-7 or up to 9pm they have a partial selection of Chinese food (no MSG, made fresh on site).
7. Everything in the deli is made from scratch, not from a can, box or carton.
8. Harmons meats are all natural with no steroids or filler. You can also find local lamb and bison.
9. Employees who handle food are restaurant certified and they meticulously monitor the salad bar and other food to be sure it meets food safety standards.
10. The produce is not brought in green to ripen on the shelf. It’s table-ready.
11. Their tomatoes are grown in Castledale, Utah in a greenhouse heated with thermal energy.
12. During growing season they bring in oranges from an orchard in California – farmer Ron delivers them to all the Harmons stores. Look for them in the mesh bags (only available for about anohter week, until Fall).
13. They carry fresh ground, organic nut butters.
14. You can get single portions from their deli – delicious lasagna, quiche and other heat and eat foods – great for lunches.
15. Isle #1 is kid-friendly meaning they have healthy snacks and foods (not candy) to tempt your kids.
16. The bread from the bakery is made each day with organic wheat flour. The wheat is grown in Utah then ground at Lehi roller mills. The dark color around the loaves may look like its burnt but its not. The crust is carmelized. It takes 3 days to make a piece of bread.
17. The white chocolate pecan bread is to die for and ideal for french toast. The garlic bread is divine with pieces of roast garlic baked in. On Fridays and Saturdays get Challah, a buttery bread baked in their stone oven.
18. The cookies and desserts are made with real butter (no shortening). The key lime tart has real key limes, not fake flavorings.
19. If you have any questions about how to prepare the seafood, just ask Rusty, she’ll help you. She told me the best way to prepare salmon is to put honey butter on it and bake in the oven! The honey caramelizes and the butter makes it so moist.
20. The fish is caught using long-line sustainable methods, then flown in the next morning!
21. They carry Sockeye, Cohe, King and farm-raised salmon (raised in the Atlantic). The King has a whopping 17 grams of omega 3!
22. If you buy shrimp from the seafood counter it is fresh with no additives and they will steam it for you so it will be ready to eat. Plus they make their own cocktail sauce that is so good (no preservatives).
23. Harmons has a line of seasonings and marinades from a local business called Cy’s. They have no artificial flavorings, no MSG, no preservatives or artificial color.
24. If you want a product Harmons doesn’t carry, you can request it (I already requested my favorite Belgium waffle mix).
25. The meat department carries sausage that is made fresh by hand each day and the meat counter has a built-in mister to keep the meat moist.
26. Chicken is a very serious subject at Harmons, left to the experts. They don’t bring it in frozen, it’s fresh. No additives or plumpers (nitrates, sodium, etc). They trim and wash the chicken so you don’t have to.
27. They have a bike concierge service! Bring your bike inside, they will park it and you can pick it up when you’re done shopping. Since it’s so close to trails you’ll see that many people bike to Harmons (some with kids in the bike trailer). No need to park it in the rain or sun or even lock your bike. They also have bike racks outside.
28. Their pineapple was once sent by boat and it took 28 days. Now it’s picked when ripe and flown in by jet. As I write this it’s on sale for a great price of 78 cents a pound!
29. They compost all of their vegetable scrap and a local business packages and sells it to gardeners.
30. They recycle (upstairs).
31. They have a dietitian on staff. Jessica will walk you through the store and help you meet your dietary goals whether you’re lactose intolerant, diabetic or just trying to lose weight. Reach her at JessicaLaroche@harmonsgrocery.com
32. Upstairs they have cooking classes including a kid’s class (a baby food class coming soon) and a 2+hour date night dinner.
33. Businesses and others can host cooking classes or meals upstairs and everything is made fresh by chef J. His email is Chefj@Harmonsgrocery.com
34. Harmons carries over 300 products from local businesses!

Now for the pictures!

Check out the other Utah bloggers who were there
PheMOMenon
Frieda Loves Bread
Songberries
Beachbakeaholic
OneSheTwoShe
OhSweetBasil

The giveaway has ended – JoDell is the winner – who I will contact by email and send the gift card. If I don’t get a response I will randomly choose another winner.

Great comments and thank you for entering!

Update: here’s the story on KSL with video: http://www.ksl.com/?nid=309&sid=14851848

I talked to the Gerbers and heard that things are going well after the news cast. The president of Richmond homes has shown a quick willingness to do whatever possible to correct the problems. Amazing how some media attention helps.

I would’ve have moved in, hired an attorney and made them fix the issues. Hindsight is so easy though. Stephen watched them build our home and made them redo anything that wasn’t right. We’ve been very happy with our Richmond home so far. I’m not sure why this home was so badly built but most homeowners are happy with their homes (from what I’ve heard). So I can imagine the bad publicity was a huge motivator to Richmond to address these issues with the Gerbers.

It looks like the Gerbers will probably move and get their money back. They think Richmond will try to sell the home. I hope they do not resell this home. It was built with so many issues structurally that I think they need to start over. The neighbors know the story and would probably warn anyone thinking of buying this home.

Let me say that Carol deserves to win this title based on her workouts alone. I went with her once or twice and I thought it might kill me. It was very hard. 25 mins. of very hard work. She did this several times a week and got in great shape. I went to my gym but didn’t work as hard and got in OK shape. I won’t forget running by each other encouraging each other not to stop when we were exhausted. You had to push through. Plus Carol is a star in business and that requires a lot of pushing yourself too.

My favorite part of a beauty pageant (well, I’ve just been to one) is the platform.I’m not sure mine would win but we all have one. If you want to participate, leave yours in the comments.

Congratulations to a beautiful person! She will make our state and neighborhood proud. I really think we have more potential beauty queens out there, so get ready for next year. I’m sure Carol will give tips. In the meantime, let’s support her in her reign.

You can watch the crowning in this video here or on YouTube:

Tyler England was not only recently part of the David Letterman show (in the audience but influencing the show), he was in New York to accept an award. He was on the team that won The ARF David Ogilvy Award for Excellence in Advertising Research. It celebrates the extraordinary and creative use of research in advertising development. This is big. Like the Olympics for marketers.

I’m a huge fan of David Oglivy’s brilliance and his classic book, Oglivy on Advertising. He started the world famous agency that bears his name.

Here’s the product in the consumer electronics category, they won a silver award:

Introducing the world’s first Web-connected home printer – HP Photosmart
ADVERTISER: Hewlett-Packard
AGENCY: Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, BBDO, Tracy Locke
MEDIA: Omnicom Media Group
RESEARCH: Millward Brown, Flamingo International

I hear Tyler came up with the idea of the Tide pen. So if you need brilliant ideas, he’s the guy. Congratulations Tyler! If we had an award to give out, you’d get the neighbor of the week award (oh, and we need a picture of you to put where the HP logo is).

Image via Wikipedia

If you watched David Letterman last night then you might have seen one of our neighbors – Tyler and Nicole England. David Letterman choose Tyler England to feature on the show. He and Nicole were in the audience and the cameras were on them a few times.

“How did you get Jay Leno to do that Tostito’s commercial?”
Evidently the Englands were on the front row of the audience. Dave came out before the show to greet people and ask if anyone had any questions. Tyler innocently asked, how’d you get Jay Leno to be on that Tostito’s commercial?? David just laughed and laughed. He didn’t answer the question…at least not then.

After the monologue Dave told the story and the cameras turn to Tyler. He changed the show based on that question. He said they spent all this money on a commercial during a Superbowl to advertise Late Night with David Letterman and people thought it was a Tostito’s commercial! Then he tosses Tyler a bag of Tostito’s (this is also funny) and Tyler starts munching on them. It was a running joke throughout the show.

Read about it on Dave’s site: http://www.cbs.com/late_night/late_show/the_wahoo_gazette/

Here’s a clip from the show:

I was tipped off last night – thanks Cherise. Too bad we didn’t have enough warning to all go buy a bag of Tostito’s and some dip and head to the Englands to watch it with them.

The Murphys also welcomed new babies — twins Cade and Cole.I’ll post a photo soon.

No one can argue that we don’t have the most adorable children. It reminds me of Garrison Keillor‘s comment about Lake Wobegon, where “”all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average.” Except with a twist “all the women are good looking, all the men are strong, and all the children are exceptionally cute.”

Congratulations to both families! And if you have something to announce, please send it to me (grocerybike at gmail.com).

There are two dogs in the area who have bit children. Also, as we drove away at the early morning hours of Saturday morning we noticed someone had snapped the tree in the city strip. It looks like another tree down the street was also left in a similar situation.

There has been a string of car burglaries in the area. Purses have been stolen and other items left in cars. Be sure to lock your car doors and keep your garage doors closed. Keep an eye out for suspicious behavior.

As an ending to a rather bad news post – it looks like the Gordons moved from the neighborhood this past week. We wish them the best wherever they are. Oh, and please forgive my title – I wanted it to ryhme. I’m not sure what a tree snipe is.