About The Delaware Market House — Kim and Edgar Alvarez are the owners and chefs of the Delaware Market House, an award-winning establishment that proudly caters to the most discerning of customers on the posh Main Line just outside of Philadelphia. Having spent years working in some of the best gourmet markets and restaurants in Philadelphia, Kim and Edgar know the difference between premium quality and mediocrity, and insist on providing their customers with the freshest produce, meats, deli specialties, and gourmet prepared foods.
How Inkandescent PR Helped — Our first step was to overhaul the company’s old website. Based on Michael Gibbs’ design and Hope Gibbs’ concept and writing, Max Kukoy programmed the site and gave a fresh, clean look to the Market House. “We wanted to stay true to the traditional look of the building, which is more than 100 years old,” says Michael. “But we also needed to incorporate a contemporary feel, because Kim and Edgar are amazing chefs who are very hip and savvy.” See the final product.
Success Story — Kim and Edgar were thrilled with the new site, and hired the Inkandescent team to create additional promotional materials — everything from business cards and event promotions to press releases and holiday and catering menus. The Philadelphia Business Journal got wind of the company and on September 19 published a front page business story about the young entrepreneurs. Main Line Today magazine also took note, and in November awarded Kim and Edgar with their 13th award: Best Gourmet Meals To Go 2008.
Design by Michael Gibbs
Client: Chef Kim Katz Alvarez, owner, Delaware Market House, Gladwyne, PA
Assignment: Create a business card that was classic, yet original, to reflect the tradition of the Delaware Market House, which was founded in the early 1900s. Chef Kim and her husband and business partner Chef Edgar Alvarez bought the market in 2002.
PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, MARCH 20, 2009 — We are incredibly sad to report that one of our favorite clients, The Delaware Market House in Gladwyne PA, is going out of business tomorrow.
“People are watching their finances, and when they’re looking to make cuts, gourmet food is the first to go,” owner and chef Kim Alvarez told Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Kathy Boccella. “They think, Do I really need that rotisserie chicken for $7.99 or can I pick one up at Costco?”
Read the entire article on Philly.com, or click inside to read more. Recipes are available on Chefs Kim & Edgar’s website: www.delawaremarkethouse.com.
GLADWYNE PA, March 17, 2009 — The downturn in the economy has taken its toll on The Delaware Market House, say owners Kim and Edgar Alvarez, who will be closing their Gladwyne gourmet store on Saturday, March 21. “With the increase of food costs and the decline in revenue, the market has been unable to keep up with the drastic changes in this tumultuous economic time,” says Chef Kim. “We will officially close our doors at 5pm.” The couple admits closing the store is like losing a dear friend. “We thank all of our customers for the support they have showered on us since we bought the store in 2004,” Kim says. “We’ve had a wonderful time cooking for you, talking with you, and having you as a part of our Delaware Market House family. Please stay in touch.”
BACON IS MEAT CANDY BLOG, February 9, 2009 — A blogger whose motto is, “Bacon in meat candy,” recently found the recipe by Chefs Kim and Edgar Alvarez, owners of the Delaware Market House, for Filet Mignon with Red Wine Reduction — and was blown away. He wrote: Recently I was contacted by the Delaware Market House website which is a funky 100+ year old establishment that is in the heart of historic Gladwyne, PA and is owned by Chefs Kim and Edgar Alvarez — a nice Jewish gal and wonderful Guatemalan man who jokingly call themselves Kosher Salsa. All joking aside they have a fabulous menu and have won dozens of awards from pubs ranging from Philadelphia magazine to Main Line Today. I asked if Chef Alvarez would be willing to share with us how he might prepare a Filet Mignon Steak.
Design by Michael Gibbs
Concept and Writing by Hope Gibbs
Image: Shutterstock.com
Goal / Solution: What does your family serve for the holidays? Although some may say turkey or ham, a juicy filet is a favorite of clients at the Delaware Market House. So for the Holiday 2008 menu, designer Michael Gibbs decided to focus on what is most popular on the Main Line.
Results: “When I saw this image it made my mouth water,” says Chef Edgar Alvarez, owner of the Delaware Market House. “And it just goes to show the power of suggestion, because this holiday our orders for filet doubled after we started circulating the menus. Steak, anyone?”
Design by Michael Gibbs
Concept and Writing by Hope Gibbs
Image: Shutterstock.com
Goal: With pocketbooks tightening due to the financial crisis, Chefs Kim and Edgar Alvarez were hoping customers would still turn to them to cater their Thanksgiving dinners. The goal of this menu was to make their clients know that not only would a meal catered by the Delaware Market House be delicious — it would be affordable, too.
Results: “We really pushed our Thanksgiving menu this year, thanks to the beautiful design by Michael Gibbs of Inkandescent Public Relations,” says Chef. “We put 8000 into the local newspaper to be distributed three weeks before the holiday, and then with the remaining 2000 we had printed proceeded to circulate them to every store in the area. We also gave them out to every customer who shopped with us. With the holiday still a few weeks away we’re not sure how it’ll go, but from the response we’ve gotten so far things are looking great!”
We’ll keep you posted.
Design by Michael Gibbs
Concept and Writing by Hope Gibbs
Image: Shutterstock.com
Goal: Catering is the focus at the Delaware Market House, so our goal was to provide a quality menu that was enticing and looked as high-end and sophisticated as the dishes Chefs Kim and Edgar Alvarez prepare.
Solution: Following the same branding, quality, and approach of previous menus, Michael Gibbs designed a 4-panel catering menu that on the inside features Party Platters (breakfast and brunch, lunch and dinner, business meetings and office parties), hot and cold Hors D’oervres, dinner entrees and side dishes, and bakery items. The back panel (shown here) features other catering / market items such as appetizers, salads, super-sized sandwiches and sides.
“Our customers were blown away by this new catering menu,” says Chef Edgar. “We used to run off black and white copies of our menu, which worked but didn’t really inspire their imaginations. This new menu is gorgeous and really impresses the high-end customers that we want to serve.”
Design by Michael Gibbs
Concept and Writing by Hope Gibbs
Image from Shutterstock.com
Goal: With a successful, affordable, and more elegant holiday menu already in circulation weeks before for the Rosh Hashana holiday, chefs Kim and Edgar hired Inkandescent to create another menu for Yom Kippur.
Solution: Following the same branding, quality, and approach of the Rosh Hashana menu, Michael Gibbs designed an equally beautiful Yom Kippur catering menu — this time with a bit more color. The response was amazing.
“We did the same thing as before, distributing 8000 in the local newspaper and mailing out the remaining menus to our clients,” says Chef Kim. “I couldn’t believe how many calls we got. I think we definitely found the right marketing strategy by working with Inkandescent PR.”
Design by Michael Gibbs
Concept and Writing by Hope Gibbs
Image from Shutterstock.com
Goal: Delaware Market House owners Kim and Edgar Alvarez had been going to Kinkos to have the holiday menus printed, but in 2008 decided to upgrade their brand and hired Inkandescent PR to create elegant, high-end menus for upcoming holidays.
Solution: Starting with the Rosh Hashana catering menu in September, 8000 menus were inserted into the local newspaper and an additional 2000 were mailed to current customers. The cost to print and distribute the upscale menus was exactly the same as it had been when simple black-and-white menus were previously used.
Click inside to see what was cooking.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Gladwyne PA, April 15, 2008 — Delaware Market House was chosen from a list of a dozen Main Line catering companies to prepare a feast for the Hillary Clinton fundraiser held April 11 in Penn Valley.
Chef Kim Alvarez got the call a few weeks ago from Marjie Katz, co-chairman of the fundraiser.
“We picked the Delaware Market House to cater this important event because of its excellent reputation for serving delicious food, and also for being an incredibly easy and enjoyable company to work with,” says Katz, who worked with Chefs Kim and Edgar Alvarez to choose the menu.
Click image for larger viewIllustration and design by Michael Gibbs
Website coding / database by Max Kukoy
Writing / Concept by Hope Katz Gibbs
About the Delaware Market House
Originally built in the early 1900s, the Delaware Market House long been a go-to-spot in Gladwyne, PA. Hungry residents came looking for a good meal, a hot cup of coffee, and some warm conversation.
Award-winning Philadelphia Chefs Kim and Edgar Alvarez bought the Market in 2004 and continue the tradition by catering luncheons, parties and holiday meals, and serving up gourmet meals, fresh produce, baked goods, the finest cuts of meat, and providing customers with all the supermarket necessities of lifefrom cartons of fresh milk and bread to laundry detergent and diapers.
Kim and Edgar launched the Delaware Market House website in the summer of 2008, and credit it with attracting more customers to the shop — and their catering business. Featured on the site are Recipes of the Month, Holiday Catering Menus, and their year-round catering menu, which features hot and cold appetizers, mouth-watering entrees and side dishes, sandwiches and salads, and rich chocolate desserts. The company closed in May 2009.
In December 2010, Chefs Kim and Edgar opened Avenida Restaurant, which was another website Inkandescent PR designed for the restauranteurs.
MAIN LINE TIMES, November 1, 2008 — Main Line Today magazine named the Delaware Market House “Best Gourmet Meals To Go 2008” today, the 13th award for the Gladwyne, PA gourmet grocery store owned by chefs Kim and Edgar Alvarez. “We are really excited to have won this award,” says Chef Kim, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, who has been a chef at such 4-star restaurants as the Striped Bass. “We won it for the first time in 2006, and are so happy to have this beautiful plaque grace our counters again.”
PHILADELPHIA BUSINESS JOURNAL, September 19, 2008 — Kim and Edgar Alvarez are featured on the front page of the business section of today’s Philly Business Journal. “As business plans go, it’s perhaps not the most sophisticated, but it sure is straightforward,” Stone writes. “Kim and Edgar Alvarez have a catering business to run, they’ve got a retail shop to manage, and they have ambitions for growth. Their strategy: Make the best food they can.”
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