Shopper Report, The: Upscaling food assortments

Upscale food is popping up everywhere, even in Atlantic City, which has long been peppered with spaghetti and pizza restaurants on every corner. Gambling Mecca of the East Coast, "down the shore" suburb of Philadelphia and Cherry Hill, Atlantic City has been an extended home of cheese steak, Tastykake, Campbell Soup, and junk food in general. Suddenly, instead of grabbing a hot dog or a Philly Cheese Steak between slot machine workouts, Atlantic City visitors can choose between enticing beach restaurants or take a walk through The Quarter, which features over a dozen trendy restaurant concepts. Many emerge from The Quarter dazzled by a takeout food market that is a combination of supermarket, heartland truck stop, specialty food shop, and 21st century convenience store.

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The Quarter's Gourmet Market sits right in the center of a gaggle of upscale eateries that are making a corner of Atlantic City look like Las Vegas. The store is dominated by hot and cold takeout bars that offer an array of fairly attractive salads, entrees, and sides under a bold price banner that posts a $4.70 / half pound price as though it were a bargain. Sales looked brisk, and I heard enough "not bad" comments to suggest that many, perhaps most, shoppers were not translating the price into $9.40 a pound, which seems like a lot to pay for takeout pasta or salad that looked less than fabulous. The dessert counters looked more artistic than the salads and entrees, and were producing lots of oohs and ahs. Cheesecake topped with a coating of dark chocolate produced a "wow" from one shopper and a "that looks wonderful" from another. A gift department featuring jewelry, watches, and movement-lamps (illuminated fish or boats swim around the lamp bases) got a lot of attention. The grocery aisles resembled those in an extra large convenience store, beefed up with a creative assortment of up-market gourmet snacks and adult party merchandise.