By Lauren Otis, Staff Writer
Specialty foods store Bon Appetit, a fixture of the Princeton Shopping Center for over 40 years, has been acquired by a former executive at New York City-based gourmet food retailer Dean & Deluca.
William Lettier, former vice president of operations for Dean & Deluca, formally took over ownership of Bon Appetit in July. Michel Lemmerling, who has owned the store since 1989 with his brother, will be staying on.
He and his brother had been looking for the right buyer for a while, Mr. Lemmerling said, in between helping customers at the cheese counter on a recent morning at the store.
”We thought about it for five years. You have to find the right person, and Bill is the right person,” Mr. Lemmerling said.
Mr. Lettier said he came upon the store and the opportunity to purchase it serendipitously. “I was actually just walking past the store. I hadn’t been in Princeton for a number of years,” Mr. Lettier said.
The shopping center was in the midst of renovations and Mr. Lettier said he noticed Bon Appetit. “I started to poke around and I walked in the door,” he said, adding, “I didn’t have an intention to purchase it, I started talking to the owners.”
After seven months of talks, the sale closed on July 18, according to Mr. Lettier. “It has been a blast ever since,” he said. “I love the name, I love the logo,” he said.
Mr. Lettier has moved from Manhattan to West Windsor, and says he moved on from Dean & Deluca with owner Leslie Rudd’s blessing. “He actually came to Princeton to see the store,” Mr. Lettier said.
Mr. Lettier said he hasn’t changed Bon Appetit’s range of gourmet food offerings, but has only changed the layout and presentation at the store, and has increased staff, so customers can get their food and check out more easily. He has also expanded the hours of operation to 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. “The history and culture of the store hasn’t changed,” he said.
Mr. Lettier said he was pleased that Mr. Lemmerling would be staying on. “He and I really harmonize well,” he said.
”I’m not ready to quit yet,” Mr. Lemmerling said. “I’ll keep doing what I’ve been doing.”
Bon Appetit was founded in 1967 by Carl Anderson and his wife, Mr. Lemmerling said. A native of Belgium, Mr. Lemmerling said he sold the family’s food store in Leuven, Belgium and followed his brother to the United States, taking over Bon Appetit in 1989. A resident of Princeton for 10 years, Mr. Lemmerling now lives in Sergeantsville.
Mr. Lettier said he will continue to look at ways to enable Bon Appetit to better serve customers, including upgrading its Web site to allow for online purchases.
”I’m just enjoying the store, I’m enjoying the guests that come in, I’m just enjoying,” he said.
