Longtime Madison Park resident Gretchen Mathers is celebrating the 10- year anniversary of the first box lunch ever delivered by Gretchen's Shoebox Express, of which she is operating partner.
Mathers was in the catering business for 17 years prior to buying the box-lunch business from Nordstrom and was looking for a change.
"It was physically demanding work [catering]; I had to get two hips replaced!" she said.
She had always sold custom box lunches at her previous cafés; she owned four cafeteria-style restaurants in the Seattle area called Gretchen's of Course.
With the business model already in place from Nordstrom, and Mathers familiar with what works in the food and business world, she helped grow the company 1,200 percent over the last 10 years to become the biggest box-lunch delivery company in Seattle, employing 135 people.
"We have quietly grown the business by focusing on serving the best-quality products and taking care of the customer," Mathers said.
The elder stateswoman
Mathers has had a less-demanding workload as the business has grown, which she attributes to her staff: "You are only as good as the people that work for you. I have some great managers. Now, I have become more of an elder stateswoman."
Her work as a small-business owner gave her the opportunity to be a delegate at the Conferences on Small Business at the White House in 1986 and 1995. "They were both interesting experiences. I felt - and still do - that our government does not understand what it takes to open and succeed in a small business. All of the rules and regulations make it very hard to be successful," she said.
"I was hoping that we could bring that fact to their attention. But both of the events were very political.... There was lots of grandstanding, and I have to say that not much came out of either meeting," she added.
The next Betty Crocker
Mathers graduated from Washington State University with a Foods and Nutrition degree, with the hope of being the next Betty Crocker.
She began her career at Stouffer's Restaurant Group and moved to New York City, where she worked for the Top of the Sixes restaurant and bar, owned by Stouffer's Restaurants.
Then, she worked in the test kitchens at General Foods in White Plains, N.Y.
She moved to the Madison Park neighborhood in 1966 and joined what is now Westin in its food and beverage division. She said she was the first female executive in that division for the company.
"It was a very interesting time for women in the hotel business. Women in management were generally working in human resources, public relations and housekeeping," Mathers said.
"I was absolutely floored when they offered me the director-of-restaurants position at the Washington Plaza Hotel (now Westin) in 1972," she said. "I was actually very frightened to take the job. I had been showing and telling people how to do their jobs and now I had to prove to them and myself that I could do it....
"It was a major learning experience for me and something that helped me enormously when I finally took the plunge and opened my own business in 1979," she said.
Mathers returned to New York and continued her work for General Foods - this time in product development. While working in the Maxwell House division, she encouraged them to invest in a better coffee.
"The original Starbucks had opened in the Pike Place Market in the early 1970s, and I kept telling the Maxwell House guys that there was going to be a big market for whole-bean coffees," Mathers said. "They just couldn't believe that the consumer would pay more money for a better, fresher coffee. They stayed with their Maxwell House and Yuban tins, and we all know what happened with Starbucks!"
Growing the business
She returned to her Madison Park home in 1979 and opened cafés around Seattle, each offering takeout and catering.
She partnered with Schwartz Brothers in 1987, when the building where her cafés' food preparation took place was torn down. Together, they sold the remaining cafés and opened a deli and bakery in Rainier Square, but they were struggling with kitchen space.
When Nordstrom put its box-lunch business up for sale, Mathers and Schwartz Brothers bought it and a facility on Airport Way a week later, and they have been growing the company ever since. They now deliver about 6,000 box lunches a week, along with gourmet platters and floral arrangements.
Bradley Dickinson, executive chef for Schwartz Brothers Restaurants and also a Madison Park resident, said Mathers has a dynamic personality and is very knowledgeable: "She brings a lot to the table. She has a tremendous history in the business, and I have a lot of respect for her."
Catering to the customer
One Gretchen's Shoebox Express customer shares how Gretchen's helped make their meeting a success.
"It was a hot day, and we didn't have enough water. So after they delivered our food, they came back with a ton of water, at a great deal," said Scott Ferrell, a focus-group coordinator. Though he now works elsewhere, Farrell contin-ues to use Gretchen's.
Often, customer Carrie Bosch's job gets hectic as the executive assistant at a growing downtown company. "The thing I like about Gretchen's is that they can always accommodate for dietary restrictions. They are also flexible with delivery-time changes."
Mathers said of her career, "The biggest challenge has also been the biggest opportunity. You may have the best business plan, but if it is not working, you can't stick your head in the sand; you need to make changes. If an opportunity comes your way, you need to grab it.
"I never would have dreamed that I would end up in partnership with the Schwartz Brothers with two wholesale bakeries and a box-lunch business," she said. "I'm a very lucky person, and it's been an amazing ride."
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