30th Anniversary!
April 30, 2008 on 4:58 pm | In What's Happening?2nd Quarter 2008 Curriculum- April 1st
Thank you to everyone who wrote in to share their stories about 30 years of memories with Great News, “Then to Now”. Our 30thAnniversary Year has been spectacular, and we are grateful for your support. We would like to share with you a story sent in from one of our long time customers, Gail, read on…… “I understand that you are honoring your 30th year (congratulations!) by having a contest about past experiences with Great News! Here’s a funny story that took place about 15-20 years ago. My husband and I had reservations for a Valentine’s Dinner at Lamont Street Grill. We were both working, so we planned to meet at the restaurant. I left early so I could stop by Great News! to pick up a little something for him. In those days, it was predominantly a card shop, but carried little household items that made nice gifts. I spent about ½ hr. in the store, but couldn’t find anything “just right,” so I settled for a card that seemed to convey my feelings. As I turned away from the cards, who should I bump into but my husband! He had also been looking for a little something for me. I showed him the card I had picked out, and he showed me a coffee cup that he had chosen. We laughed, put them both away, and went on to dinner. Nope, you didn’t get our business that night, but we’ve considered your store a cornerstone of PB life for its entire 30 years. We still take an occasional class with you, and consider it a sort of “date.” We still go to you for gifts and cards, but especially like the new emphasis on high quality cooking items. Thank you for providing such a terrific institution in our corner of the world.”
A big thank you to Gail! We will be sending her to two free cooking school classes. And a big thank you to all of you who have made Great News! the exciting place it is today. Remember, we always welcome your comments! Warmly, Ron and Devora
P.S. Don’t forget our bridal registry at this time of year! Call Amanda at 858-270-1582 ext. 3 for details and to see our list of must-haves for any newlyweds!
15% Discount for Families Rebuilding from the Fires
April 30, 2008 on 4:56 pm | In What's Happening?1st Quarter 2008 Curriculum- January 3rd
As 2007 draws to a close, we take time to reflect on the past year. It seems that the devastating fires that have stuck our county again this year, have almost overshadowed the blessings of 2007. We are proud of the citizens of San Diego, and how everyone helped out in any way that they could. This is the amazing spirit of San Diego, and one of the many reasons we have chosen to make our home here. We wish to remind you that we still offer a 15% discount off the lowest Great News! prices to the families that are rebuilding after the fires. We had never stopped offering this discount after the fires 4 years ago, as we know that rebuilding is a long process. To make replacing your valuable cookware easier, come into the store and shop or establish a replacement registry (available for those who were directly affected by the fires). Once your registry is established (call 858-270-1582 ext. 3 to make an appointment) the 15% discount will apply to anyone who is shopping from your registry, on your behalf. If you know someone that lost their home, give them the gift of good cookware so they can get cooking again. Sharing meals helps to remind us to remain optimistic, and brings us joy.
If you need somewhere to start, try one of our basic series. Our Getting Started in the Kitchen series runs Jan. 17th- Feb. 28th on six consecutive Tuesdays, teaching you the basics from boiling water to making the finest sauces. If you’re more of a baker, perhaps our Starting from Scratch series will get you cooking. Learn how to craft fabulous cakes, pies, soufflées and more in this series of three consecutive classes, starting March 2. Sign up for all of the classes in a series at once and receive 10% off the total price. Try out our new line of Classic Ikon Wusthof knives, an exclusive to our store, we’re the only one to carry them in southern California. Wusthof took the best features from each style of knife and made one super knife series, Ikon! Or you may need to upgrade your cookware and start cooking with the new Mauviel Stainless Steel pans. These pans are seven ply stainless steel and cook like a dream!
Remember, Great News! is the best kitchenware store in the county, it’s now official! You voted for us on Channel 10 and made us number one in San Diego. We’re happy to be bringing you the best kitchenware possible. Thanks for making us so special! We wish you all a happy holiday season, and all the best in 2008.
Have you been to Spain?
April 30, 2008 on 4:54 pm | In What's Happening?4th Quarter 2007 Curriuclum- October 1st
It is definitely the hot new spot for globetrotting “foodies” with Tapas (or small plates) and some world class fine dining. It is said that Tapas originated as snacks in bars given free to patrons so that they would have a bit of food in their belly while drinking! Going on a pub crawl for the Tapas is a national sport! We also enjoyed many regional Spanish wines, relatively undiscovered here, are still good values. You might want to try a few! In the Northern region along the French border sits the Basque region. The Basque are a fiercely independent people (neither Spanish nor French), who are proud of their heritage and their food. In the general area of San Sebastian are two restaurants, Arzak and Mugaritz , the number 7 and number 9 rated restaurants in the world on several different lists. Ron and I also dined at Akelare (not on any of the lists) and we rated it easily as being in the same league. While visiting these two restaurants we discovered that the tasting menu is the way to go, offering small plates of delectable surprises. I could not begin to describe the details of each of the many dishes we ate, but suffice to say that it was gastronomic indulgence in its highest form. These restaurants are on the cutting edge in creating culinary masterpieces. If you plan to go to “El Bulli” (the number one rated restaurant in the world, located North of Barcelona in Catalonia) you must make a reservation in October, for the following year, as they are closed for 6 months each year to research the next seasons’ menu! (We missed out!)
So my favorite dish from Spain was just a simple gazpacho (any chilled soup in Spain). We tried the gazpacho everywhere, and each tasted a bit different from the last. I loved their chilled tomato soup and have been making it with the tomatoes from my garden since we got home. Garlic and salt are ground into a paste, tossed into the food processor with orange bell pepper, cucumber, tomatoes, a piece of bread, a bit of vinegar and then a bit of olive oil. Puree the mix until creamy, and thin with a bit of ice water, if needed when serving. It is healthy, delicious, and brings back memories of our Spanish odyssey.
Needless to say, Tapas are the party food of the season! Enjoy entertaining here in San Diego during the fall, when the weather is great, and we get the city back to ourselves! Remember it’s about Great Friends, Great Food and Great times!Fondly,
Devora and Ron
FLASHBACK to summer of 1977…… Where were you? And what were you doing?
April 30, 2008 on 4:48 pm | In What's Happening?3rd Quarter 2007 Curriculum- July 5th
Ron (a former pharmacist) and his wife Carol had just moved from Cleveland, Ohio with their three kids, Deanne, Bradley and Adam to start a new life in sunny San Diego. Devora grew up in L.A., lived in Mission Beach and was a college co-ed at SDSU. Great News! was born on July 15th of that year opening as a gift and house wares store. It included a bath department and an “alternative” greeting card department. The name was selected to express that there would always be something fun and new! Ron and I wonder how many of you remember shopping here, and what specific unusual items you remember buying. Please email these memories to ron@great-news.com.
Carol was diagnosed was stage 3 breast cancer in 1989, and passed away in 1996 due to this illness (Ron and I met in traffic school shortly thereafter). It is in her honor and memory that we support the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Foundation. 30 years is a long time for an independent business to be still going strong in today’s world of big business. As the world continues to change, we feel that family, love and cooking are the cornerstones of what is solid, stable and comforting. During times of great joy and during times of great sadness we share meals and memories with those who mean the most to us.
Great News has had its up and downs, and has changed to reflect what is “hot” and “happening” in the present times. The cooking school has been the most challenging and the most rewarding of all of Ron’s ideas, and I am proud to be a part of this exciting venture. I have always loved cooking and entertaining! We invite you to share our joy in a month long anniversary celebration. Each day we will be giving away gifts with a $10.00 minimum purchase to the first 100 customers. We are grateful to our vendors who have contributed to this promotion, and mostly to you our customers who have made it possible to continue to grow. The grand finale of the month long celebration will be a cooking class with both Diane Phillips and Phyllis Carey who will twist old favorites to create fun new dishes! Proceeds will benefit the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Foundation. Come join the fun on July 15th!
Please join the fun of our 30 year Anniversary Celebration. Love,
Devora and Ron
Travels to Spain with Ron and Devora
July 6, 2007 on 5:17 pm | In What's Happening?Any how Spain Wow we saw lots and had a really nice time Started in Madrid for 5 nights…adjusting to the late night dining scene Stayed at the Ritz right behind the Prado Museum and across the Avenue from the Thyssen Museum (saw them both pretty well)
Spent a day in Toledo with a great limo driver/guide: saw one of the 2 remaining and only refurbished Jewish Synagogue ( very well done and a great experience) met a store owner selling hand made gold inlaid items who said he was Jewish ( my name is Simon said he) Had some nice dinners and a little shopping for Devora ( most things ridiculously high priced due to the low dollar value) Had some good Tapas too. A Great Flamenco show one night. Great seats for the bullfight at the arena which seats 22,000 and every seat was filled with pretty well dressed Madrianos. It was a real thrill and lots of great photos 
Then to the Basque region up North where the food is really the best we had in Spain. 5 nights here also On the way from the Bilbao airport to san Sebastian we got lucky and stopped at a roadside restaurant with loads of male workers eating and had one of those great prix fixe meals CHEAP San Sebastian a beautiful city on the bay with nice beaches great old town with tons of good Tapas (Pinchos up there) THREE marvelous tasting dinners (2 of the restaurants are rated in the top 10 in the WORLD: Mugaritz and Arzak) the third we thought was even better than the other two: Akelare. Devora tired of tasting dinners but Ron NEVER
Then to Bilbao for the Geary Guggenheim. WOW in real life. WOW Then to Barcelona to meet our friends from JBerg, Shareen and Trevor for 4 nights We always have a GREAT time together….loosey/goosey fun and easy
Saw lots of Gaudi architecture and loved it all ( The Familia Church is not his most colorful or fun stuff, by the way) Went to the Boukeria (the most amazing and clean Market very modern and well kept stalls under roof. Fish Mongers/Butchers/Poultry purveyors/fruit and vegetable stands/delicatessen and Iberia Ham vendors/ all separated by type. We then shopped with a local cooking teacher and had a cooking class making his version of Gazpacho and Paella and Crème Brulee. Just a Great Day. Then flew to Malaga on the Costa del Sol and rented a Van for All our luggage. Our friends are worse packers than Ron & Devora so we had their 2 very large Duffle bags and their 2 regular airline size carryons and our 2 large suitcases and 2 cosmetic size carryons plus Devora’s start at accumulated purchases. So instead of the 4-seater van we envisioned we got a slightly larger 7 passenger version which we jammed all the luggage over the two folded down rear seats and took off for the Cordoba where we were staying in an 8 room Hotel converted from a 400 year old home on a very narrow street in the ancient Jewish area where you are told not to wonder about as you can so easily get lost. We had a GPS but ion the interior old cities where we were staying it could not keep up with even 20 miles per hour speeds and we were always close but never right on the location. Just when we were deciding to hire a taxi to lead us to our Hotel the girls got out and walked asking directions to find the hotel. Then Trevor went off looking for them. Fortunately all three got back with directions. We missed our turn and there were 6 cars behind us for the next turn we thought would work and Devora in broken Spanish got them all to back up so we could go down this street which kept on getting more and more narrow till there was no sidewalk remaining and we had to pull in the side view mirrors. I thought we would need Euro Crane to get out when we got stuck, BUT we mad it to the end of the street where we COULD turn the corner and then with much forward and backward drivi9ng we negotiated the next turn to the street leading to our hotel with no porter to help unload. The hotel was charming and we needed a local from the restaurant down the street to help us get to the off street parking lot and back to the hotel. Whew………after this we toasted quite often to “Good Friends in Tight Places”
Here we saw the “other” remaining Jewish Synagogue which was literally one room about 900 sq ft and pretty dilapidated but they are very proud to have it and charge about 45 cents to get in. We also saw their ancient Mosque/Converted to a Church ( as most were). We saw a very good Flamenco show at night also staying up till the 10 PM starting time was worth it. The Next morning after breakfast of toasted delicious bread covered with wonderful Spanish Olive oil and their local crushed fresh tomatoes, coffee and too much Orange Juice (according to the “hostess)” who had to hand squeeze it for us) we left for Granada and another ancient smallish Hotel in the old part of the city.
Another adventure trying to locate the hotel that no one new what we were talking about even when we were finally literally around the corner from it. Finally Devora with her broken Spanish got it figured out and we drove through an “official vehicles only” street to get to the hotel which was up a flight of stairs and we had to pull up on the actual sidewalk to unload. More tight places!!!! But we could look out our window and up from the street to see the Alhambra towering above the city. RIGHT THERE! this was a 500 year old “Palicio” with about 20 rooms. Very quaint and nice. The next morning we had a private English speaking guide for a private tour of the Alhambra ( which saved us many hours in line etc) He suggested a Flamenco show in the live in caves above Granada (people buy them, for 50,000 euros and live in them as in the olden times) so we said ok and cancelled our dinner reservations for 9:30 PM and waited for the bus which never arrived. Some times travel is just that way. At least we had not paid in advance. Then off to Seville to one of the most beautiful Hotel I have ever stayed at the Hotel Alfonso XIII built in the early 1900s and with the most beautiful tile work like a Palace really. The rooms were magnificent with wood carved ceilings/fabric walls/four poster beds and marble floors with carpets etc. Wonderful sundown carriage ride through the parks etc and then a nice Tapas stop and the worst Tapas spot of the trip called Mandanitos ( we should have figured it out from the prices ($1.00 each) and the printed in English self ordering form). They were just awful; one bite and we left the rest. We renamed the place “Man Don’t Eat Those” We spent an interesting time looking for a local laundry and then were helped by a little old man testing His English who directed us to his local laundry who did our clothes that afternoon.
Then off to Marbella the resort area where all the “pretty” people go called Puerto Banoz. We had a nice room in a nice beachfront hotel with a great pool and beach. Devora and I had a nice Italian dinner outdoors overlooking the beach. Very romantic. We hung out here for the next 3 nights and then we parted with our dear friends for the trip home. Paris/J Berg for them Barcelona again for us at the Hotel Florida at the top of the highest hill overlooking Barcelona. What a spectacular view and a GREAT way to end the days in Spain Then off to Paris to wait 4 hours for a delayed plane to New York City for 3 nights. Sunday dinner at Per Se which was certainly as good as the Basque restaurants and the service and extras are better. Of course the price is higher than Spain as well. End of travelogue
No not the end I forgot convincing Trevor (who was doing all the driving, by choice) to stop at Gibraltar since we were to pass so close on the way to Marbella. Well we did and we had another car adventure. Gibraltar is, of course, a big rock with roads on and we were in a 6 speed manual van loaded with 4 adults and about 250 pounds of luggage. We discovered ½ way into the adventure that to go where we wanted was straight up and narrow and parking all over the road with busses cars and vans, so that we needed to stop and start a lot and funny thing about the clutch…it started to smoke and smell bad. We got to a point where we could actually pull into a cul-de-sac and stop the car to cool the clutch down while we scampered around the rock taking photos of Morrocco across the Straight of Gibraltar and of each other doing weird stuff and acting like tourists. It worked out ok because Trevor is an excellent driver and we were all such good nagigators (my word). We arrived safe and sound in our resort near Marbella after only getting lost one more time.. Ron
HOW DID THE NAME GREAT NEWS! COME ABOUT?
March 5, 2007 on 7:57 pm | In What's Happening?As the idea for this retail venture was coming to fruition I wanted a name I thought would convey, simply, that there would always be GREAT new products (ergo NEWS! plural of NEW) arriving. Of course, very few people ever figured out what I meant, but the name was easy to remember so it did stick through all the retail variations over the years.
In 1977 the idea was to be a functional, uncomplicated “with it“ gift- housewares store selling tabletop, drinkware, kitchenware, bath products and very contemporary, hand picked paper products within one of the first “alternative” greeting card departments.
HOW DID ALL THE VARIATIONS LEAD TO THE ORIGINAL CONCEPT?
Over the years growing to 3 stores with a warehouse and 100 employees by 1981; the concept became much more of a trendy store with more frivolous items. In 1982 the La Jolla Village Square store (which was the second store) was closed due to lack of business and very high rent. In December 1989 the Encinitas store was closed. During that “going out of business” sale I heard many request for a good “Independent” kitchenwares store. Listening to MY CUSTOMERS has always been my best quality as a retailer, so I began to change the merchandise mix at Great News! to reflect what I thought the consumer was requesting (medium quality and medium-priced kitchenware). By 1994 I realized the requests were actually for higher quality and higher price goods that the Big Chain Mall stores were retailing. At that time the concept of selling only the best kitchenwares available at the most reasonable pricing was formed and the final transition began. My wife and partner Carol was diagnosed with terminal breast cancer in 1989 and we pursued vigorously advanced chemotherapy which failed finally and she passed away May 1996. Carol was the chief architect and buyer for the entire paper products department which by 1996, the year Carol passed, was an anomaly in a true “cooks” store. And so, the concept of replacing the paper department at the rear of the store with a COOKING SCHOOL was born.
Through all this time of change and Carol’s fight for life the name simply stuck until it was expanded to describe the total concept after the cooking school opened in October 1996 to Great News! Discount Cookware & Cooking School.
More to come at a later date,
Thanks for reading.
Ron
P.S. In celebration of our THIRTIETH YEAR in business a contest is being considered.>
Send in a description (via our Contact Us page, Cooking School) of your best Great News! experience, your most “ancient” experience, your oldest item or receipt from Great News!. Prizes will be awarded somehow. YOU KNOW YOU ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT ASSET OF GREAT NEWS!, OUR WONDERFUL CUSTOMERS.
DINING AND SUNNING IN PUERTO VALLARTA
February 8, 2007 on 6:13 pm | In What's Happening?Here we are in Puerto Vallarta staying in a condo overlooking Banderas Bay and La Play des Muertes. Our very good friends Sid and Keith who have moved here pemanently and we are here also to spend time with them. The weather is sunny and hot during the day and pleasantly cooler at night. We have already had some very nice dining experiences.
Devora and I truly had a wonderful modern Mexican cuisine at a restaurant “Mestizo” located in the old town, of course, in a one hundred year old home with some of the original family still living on the second floor. Excellent servers who were competely knowledgable about every item on the menu. An amuse buche of creamy delicious Mushroom Soup followed by our ordered starters;Pumpkin Blossom soup with a mini sope stuffed with cheese flowting delicately for Devora and for Ron a very fresh salad of spinach, jicama, red cabbage and beets with a very fresh clean tasting citrus dressing served with two large croutons topped with a very nice goat cheese. Main courses were also delicious with beautiful presentation as well. The dinner was well finished with a thoroughly excellent mexican coffe prepared tableside by our Server Carlos. Irish coffee mugs whose rimss were rubbed with fresh Orange then coated with large crystals of sugar and then flamed to carmelize. Then coffee into the mug along with Vanilla Ice cream and then Carlos Flamed the Tequilla and poured flaming trails into the mugs. Then flamed the Kahlua into mug and finally flamed extra Tequilla to pour over the glasses for a final pyrotechnic extravaganza. Along with the excellent prepared to order liquid center chocolated cake (the best I have ever tasted)…..Quite a meal
More to come on travels with Devora and Ron
Ron and Devora
January 15, 2007 on 3:53 pm | In What's Happening?
We are in the planning stages of many projects in our 30th Anniversary year at Great News! Yes it is true, Great News! opened July 15, 1977 in Pacific Plaza Shopping Center. We are presently planning many events to celebrate this exciting anniversary year. There will be more news to share on this situation as it develops. We are also developing our new www.Discountcooking.com retail website to replace our prior site, now closed for reconstruction. We are planning our new site to be quite different from other kitchenware sites: lots of product information and expalanations to aid in the correct item selection. We plan to offer the entire selection of items available in the store at the same competitive pricing.
Devora and I have just returned from both the Los Angeles Gift Show and the San Francisco Fancy Food Show so new items will begin to show up in the next 4 to 6 weeks. More to come as decisions are made.
keep on cooking
Ron
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