Doud’s Market on Mackinac Island, Michigan, holds the excellence of being America’s oldest family-owned grocery retailer. Situated on an island just below 4 sq. miles with a year-round inhabitants of roughly 598, Mackinac has been car-free since July 6, 1898. (That summer season, involved residents petitioned native officers to ban what they known as “harmful horseless carriages,” which had been scary the horses — and the ban has remained in place ever since, shaping the island’s distinct character and way of life.

The market’s story begins in 1884, when brothers James and Patrick Doud opened their enterprise below the identify Doud Bros. Right this moment, the shop is thought merely as Doud’s Market and is run by Andrew Doud, the fourth-generation proprietor. Now situated on Fundamental Road, Doud’s is the one grocery retailer in Mackinac Island’s downtown, serving as a beloved hub for locals and vacationers.

Rising up, Andrew lived within the Detroit space through the low season along with his mom, and later attended Michigan State College. However summers had been at all times on Mackinac along with his father, Stephen, who ran Doud’s Market and lived on the island year-round. 

“I bear in mind when my dad was the butcher, and he would present me minimize meat. After all, I didn’t listen, however I at all times thought it was a lot enjoyable to work with my dad within the meat division,” he tells Meals & Wine. “Clearly, it’s the place my dad’s workplace was, and so it was at all times part of my life.”

Though he grew up across the household retailer, Andrew’s pursuits initially leaned towards the island’s restaurant scene. He waited tables, bartended, and labored as the overall supervisor at two eating places on Mackinac: French Outpost and Gate Home. 

Rebuilding an establishment

When Stephen handed away in 2002, Andrew’s brother took over the enterprise, whereas Andrew pursued alternatives elsewhere. Nonetheless, simply 4 years later, the shop fell out of business and was offered to an outdoor investor. Sensing each a private and group calling, Andrew stepped again in.

In 2006, he was again to run the Gate Home restaurant on the Grand Resort, however a yr later, he discovered himself immersed in carrying on the household legacy.

He made what he describes as a dangerous transfer, saying he “took an opportunity leasing it in 2007 and paid full worth for it in 2008.” It wasn’t straightforward successful again the belief of locals after the shop’s decline. “The folks had been very pissed off with the earlier 5 years and didn’t know what to anticipate below my possession,” Andrew says. However he rapidly started making adjustments. “Individuals had been cautiously optimistic.”

Doud’s has an extended historical past of resilience. The unique constructing, situated on the prime of the Starline Dock, was destroyed in a fireplace in 1943. The shop then moved to its present location, the place it has remained ever since.

When Andrew took possession in 2007, certainly one of his first steps was to shut the marketplace for your complete winter season to permit for renovations. Through the years, he had observed that the shop had regularly shifted right into a extra convenience-oriented institution. He was decided to reverse that pattern.

The necessity for good, recent meals was there, however for a number of years, Doud’s wasn’t a full-service grocery retailer. Andrew needed to get again to fundamentals and focus solely on promoting meals.“We principally didn’t promote produce or fresh-cut meat. And, so, after I took it over, my aim was to actually prioritize being a grocery retailer, not a comfort retailer,” he stated. So Andrew introduced again “recent meat, produce, and a grab-and-go deli part — in addition to bakery gadgets.”

Balancing modernization with custom

All through its 140-year historical past, Doud’s Market has regularly tailored to new client expectations whereas holding tightly to its old-school roots. Below Andrew’s management, the shop embraced technological updates to reinforce comfort with out compromising its historic really feel.

“As we proceeded, we tied in issues like self-checkouts, that are clearly a really trendy twist to it,” Andrew says. The shop even presents a supply service for summer season migrants by way of a web based supply kind — a logistical feat on an island the place vehicles are banned. The groceries get delivered by way of horse-drawn transportation. Andrew’s spouse, Nicole Doud, tells Meals & Wine, “You possibly can place your order forward of time, Doud’s Market will put your order collectively, after which [Mackinac Island Service Company] can have the order picked up by horse-drawn carriages and ship to [your] vacation spot.” 

But modernization by no means got here on the expense of character. Contained in the constructing, inbuilt 1885, Doud’s Market maintains its nostalgic environment, full with Nineteenth-century household photographs adorning the partitions. You possibly can even discover archival photographs hanging over the recent produce part within the 4,500-square-foot retailer, permitting consumers to admire the historical past whereas choosing vegetables and fruit.

“The outdated look is essential to us,” Andrew says. “It was crucial for me to have household aptitude to it, and tales of not simply my household, however the story of Mackinac, and making an attempt so as to add that to it.”

A contemporary pantry for a singular island

Right this moment, Doud’s is each bit the trendy grocery retailer, although with a mom-and-pop really feel, providing a variety of meals and family necessities. Customers will discover recent produce, fresh-cut meats, and ready gadgets like whitefish dip, rooster pot pie, subs, and salads. Nicole says, “The cherry rooster salad and cherry rooster salad wrap are signatures we at all times have,” calling them “buyer favorites.” The shop additionally options a wide range of baked items, together with a complete choice of wine, beer, and spirits.

The height season for Mackinac Island — and consequently Doud’s — is July 1 by way of the third weekend in August. However the retailer stays open on holidays and through winter as properly. “[The] winter season is way quieter, however busy within the sense of engaged on repairs and tasks, and organizing earlier than the upcoming busy season,” Nicole says. 

Regardless of the trendy choices, Andrew says working a grocery retailer on a small island presents distinctive monetary challenges. “Our buying energy and worth factors aren’t what you’d see at an enormous field retailer. It’s simply not apples to apples,” he explains. 

One in all Doud’s hottest gadgets is its freshly made pizza, which comes with toppings starting from Italian sausage and mushrooms to banana peppers. “We’ve sort of made pizza right here even earlier than my possession,” Andrew says. “However we’ve tried to fine-tune it. And there are different locations that promote it. However our area of interest is grab-and-go, and pizza matches in very properly with that — you’re not going to take a seat down and wait 20 minutes.”

That grab-and-go mannequin displays a key a part of Doud’s mission: to function a dependable, fast, and economical possibility for the area people and guests alike.

“If you wish to seize some issues at our grocery retailer and go for a motorcycle journey across the island and benefit from the exterior parts of Mackinac, we’re a terrific possibility for that.”