Behind the Counter: Shop Local with Dawson's Market
The mission of Dawson’s Market is to be the heart and soul of the community through great food, drink, and programing. Dawson’s provides healthy, local, and organic food and supports over seventy-five local vendors within one hundred miles of the stores in Rockville and Dupont Circle. The products Dawson’s offers are all hand selected to meet their strict ingredient standard, provide a best of category, meet a community request, or have a compelling story or connection. Each of the departments offers unique products not found in other local markets. The man behind the market is Bart Yablonsky. Bart has many years of experience in food and a passion for the environment, community, and a healthy lifestyle. In 2012 Bart opened Dawson’s Market as the General Manager. In October of 2018, Dawson's Market closed under previous ownership. Just seven short weeks later, on December 15th 2018, Bart reopened Dawson's, bringing all the things Rockville loved back to life. Dawson’s has seen consistent growth since its reopening and most recently, Bart opened a second Dawson’s in Dupont Circle.
TheListAre YouOnIt.com has had the good fortune of knowing Bart for quite a while. We can say that his passion for providing space for local artisans and their products and his being an advocate for the independent grocery store is infectious. We had questions …. Independent Markets are few and far between:
What is it about Dawson's that makes it so special?
Independent markets make more personal connections with customers, we are more nimble and able to accommodate special requests, find alternative options, and make adjustments quicker than large national or regional chains. Having ownership in the store creates an opportunity to
capture trends faster and respond to shifting customer demands before larger chains even hear about them.
Sourcing locally is a tenet of your markets. Why?
There are many benefits to local vs national brands. Local products tend to be fresher, they are mostly small companies that take more care in ingredient sourcing and quality. There is an environmental impact when buying locally -- less packaging is typically needed when you are not
shipping across the country, and there is less fuel used in getting the product to the market. Buying local keeps the money in our communities plus local vendors typically source ingredients locally as well, which compounds the positive effect on our local economy. At Dawson's we also
connect the actual producers with our customers so you can meet the people that make and grow the food you eat.
How do you source locally for all the different departments in the market?
We have a set of standards that apply to all departments. We are fortunate to be known in the community as a local focused business so lots of companies source us out. We also visit farmers markets, other area stores, and keep our eyes and ears open within our industry to find the newest and best local products.
What are some of the products you carry that you are most excited about & why?
We are very happy to be the launch site for many products that have now become regional or national brands. We try to pick unique items that fit customers needs. We really like the stories behind our brands. To name a few - Nomad Dumplings, Elderpine Brewing, A Friendly Bread Frozen
Grilled Cheese, Eat Pizza, Moorenkos ice cream, Z&Z Manoushe, Good Molly's Cookies, Eat The Change Vegan Jerky, Meat Crafters Sausages, and many more favorites.
You have an incredible wine & beer program. Why is that important to the
market and how do you curate the brands?
We are the only grocery store in Montgomery County that sells and serves beer & wine. We have an even larger bar setup at our DC store. We focus at both stores on local, craft, and specialty beer and wine. We work with a few select distributors on our wine sections and focus on organic, funky,
and small batch producers. There are so many great local options for beer that over 80% of our selection is from the DMV area. We are always changing varieties and adding new breweries to our list of suppliers.
Dawson's does so much programming. What can we look forward to in the fall?
As we are all getting back to the new "normal", we will see the return of our most popular events including regular FREE beer and wine tastings and our Meet the Locals. You can expect the return of our craft fair and a fall/Oktoberfest event at each store. We look forward to the Winter Holidays for more fun tastings and events.
Back to School, back to post-summer fun is here. What do you suggest to pack in those lunchboxes?
The best thing we can do for our kids is to start them off with healthy options, no artificial junk. You can shop with confidence at Dawson's. Put in fresh or dried fruits for snacks, water or low sugar juice boxes, and sandwiches or salads made with all natural and hormone free meats and
cheese. We also offer many good frozen items that can make a great lunch or after school snack with a few seconds in the microwave.
TheListAre YouOnIt.com has had the good fortune of knowing Bart for quite a while. We can say that his passion for providing space for local artisans and their products and his being an advocate for the independent grocery store is infectious. We had questions …. Independent Markets are few and far between:
What is it about Dawson's that makes it so special?
Independent markets make more personal connections with customers, we are more nimble and able to accommodate special requests, find alternative options, and make adjustments quicker than large national or regional chains. Having ownership in the store creates an opportunity to
capture trends faster and respond to shifting customer demands before larger chains even hear about them.
Sourcing locally is a tenet of your markets. Why?
There are many benefits to local vs national brands. Local products tend to be fresher, they are mostly small companies that take more care in ingredient sourcing and quality. There is an environmental impact when buying locally -- less packaging is typically needed when you are not
shipping across the country, and there is less fuel used in getting the product to the market. Buying local keeps the money in our communities plus local vendors typically source ingredients locally as well, which compounds the positive effect on our local economy. At Dawson's we also
connect the actual producers with our customers so you can meet the people that make and grow the food you eat.
How do you source locally for all the different departments in the market?
We have a set of standards that apply to all departments. We are fortunate to be known in the community as a local focused business so lots of companies source us out. We also visit farmers markets, other area stores, and keep our eyes and ears open within our industry to find the newest and best local products.
What are some of the products you carry that you are most excited about & why?
We are very happy to be the launch site for many products that have now become regional or national brands. We try to pick unique items that fit customers needs. We really like the stories behind our brands. To name a few - Nomad Dumplings, Elderpine Brewing, A Friendly Bread Frozen
Grilled Cheese, Eat Pizza, Moorenkos ice cream, Z&Z Manoushe, Good Molly's Cookies, Eat The Change Vegan Jerky, Meat Crafters Sausages, and many more favorites.
You have an incredible wine & beer program. Why is that important to the
market and how do you curate the brands?
We are the only grocery store in Montgomery County that sells and serves beer & wine. We have an even larger bar setup at our DC store. We focus at both stores on local, craft, and specialty beer and wine. We work with a few select distributors on our wine sections and focus on organic, funky,
and small batch producers. There are so many great local options for beer that over 80% of our selection is from the DMV area. We are always changing varieties and adding new breweries to our list of suppliers.
Dawson's does so much programming. What can we look forward to in the fall?
As we are all getting back to the new "normal", we will see the return of our most popular events including regular FREE beer and wine tastings and our Meet the Locals. You can expect the return of our craft fair and a fall/Oktoberfest event at each store. We look forward to the Winter Holidays for more fun tastings and events.
Back to School, back to post-summer fun is here. What do you suggest to pack in those lunchboxes?
The best thing we can do for our kids is to start them off with healthy options, no artificial junk. You can shop with confidence at Dawson's. Put in fresh or dried fruits for snacks, water or low sugar juice boxes, and sandwiches or salads made with all natural and hormone free meats and
cheese. We also offer many good frozen items that can make a great lunch or after school snack with a few seconds in the microwave.
