Bios of Key People « Zingerman's Community of Businesses

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Bios of Key People

Ari Weinzweigtop

Zingerman’s Co-Owner & Founding Partner

Ari moved to Ann Arbor from his hometown of Chicago to attend the University of Michigan. After graduating with a degree in Russian history, he went to work washing dishes in a local restaurant and soon discovered that he loved the food business. Along with his partner Paul Saginaw, Ari started Zingerman’s Delicatessen in 1982 with a $20,000 bank loan, a staff of two, a small selection of great-tasting specialty foods and a relatively short sandwich menu. Today, Zingerman’s is an Ann Arbor institution—the source of great food and great experiences for over 500,000 visitors every year. Each day the Deli serves up thousands of made-to-order sandwiches with ingredients like corned beef and pastrami, homemade chopped liver and chicken salad. The Deli stocks an array of farmhouse cheeses, smoked fish, salamis, estate-bottled olive oils, vintage vinegars, whole bean coffees, loose leaf teas and much more. Ari and Paul have built Zingerman’s into an organization with a 500+ staff and annual sales approaching $40,000,000 a year.

Ari is involved in many educational activities. He has served as a board member and president of The American Cheese Society and as a board member of the Retail Division of the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade. He is a frequent guest speaker in business classes at the University of Michigan and Eastern Michigan University, as well as at various food and business conferences in this country and abroad including the American Institute of Wine and Food, Oldways Preservation and Exchange Trust, the Gathering of Games, and the NASFT Fancy Food Show.

In 1988 Zingerman’s was instrumental in the founding of Food Gatherers, a perishable food rescue program, and continues to be a major supporter of the organization. Every year Food Gatherers delivers over a million pounds of food to people in need. Ari has also served on the board of The Ark, the longest continuously-operating folk music venue in America. In April of 1995, Ari and Paul received the Jewish Federation of Washtenaw County’s first Humanitarian Award for their community contributions. Ari was recognized as one of the “Who’s Who of Food & Beverage in America” by the 2006 James Beard Foundation. In 2007, Ari and Paul were presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award from Bon Appetit magazine for their work in the food industry.

Ari has written over 211 issues of Zingerman’s newsletter, “Zingerman’s News,” and has contributed to such magazines as Fine Cooking, Specialty Foods, Gourmet Retailer, and Food and Wine. He has received praise for his books: Zingerman’s Guide to Better Bacon, Zingerman’s Guide to Good Olive Oil, Zingerman’s Guide to Good Vinegar, Zingerman’s Guide to Good Parmigiano Reggiano, Zingerman’s Guide to Giving Great Service and his newest book, Zingerman’s Guide to Good Leading, Part 1: A Lapsed Anarchists Approach to Building a Great Business, published October 1, 2010. Part 2 in this series, A Lapsed Anarchists Approach to Being a Better Leader, will be published in March 2012.

Paul Saginawtop

Zingerman’s Co-Owner & Founding Partner

Paul Saginaw and Ari Weinzweig joined forces, to found Zingerman’s Delicatessen, and opened the doors on March 15, 1982. All they wanted at that time was a great corned beef sandwich and an organization with soul.

Zingerman’s started as 1300 square feet of combined restaurant and specialty food retail space, run solely by Paul, Ari and two employees. The Zingerman’s Community of Businesses now has 17 partners, employs over 500 people and generates over $40 million in annual sales from eight separate businesses: Zingerman’s Delicatessen (including Zingerman’s Catering), Zingerman’s Mail Order, Zingerman’s Bakehouse, Zingerman’s Training Inc., Zingerman’s Coffee Company, Zingerman’s Roadhouse, Zingerman’s Creamery and Zingerman’s Candy Manufactory.

Paul believes that he has been successful in spite of the fact that he has limited natural talent and abilities because he has always believed that the only real limits are those of vision. Paul also believes that if in fact he has any talent at all it would be the ability to pick great partners.

Community Activities:

Founder/ Food Gatherers (1988), current board VP
Past Board President – Washtenaw Housing Alliance (2000-2007)
Past Board President – NEW Center (2001-2008)
Board Member – Business Alliance for Local Living Economies
Michigan Environmental Council, President’s Advisory Board

Alex Youngtop

Managing Partner, Zingerman’s Roadhouse

Chef Alex Young was born in London, England and moved at a young age with his family to San Francisco, CA. At the age of 17 and with no professional culinary training, Young moved to New York City and got his first job cooking for The Central Falls Roadshow, which catered to feature films and music videos such as Wall Street with Michael Douglas and all of Madonna’s east coast videos. In his career, Young helped open New York’s China Grill with Mako Tenaka, worked with Chef Reed Heron (of Mark Miller’s Coyote Cafe) at San Francisco’s Corona Bar and Grill, and moved to London, England, to work at the Portabella Road restaurant The First Floor as Executive Chef. Additionally, his work has taken him to Traverse City, MI, Long Beach, CA and Pittsburgh, PA where he worked as the Corporate Chef of Hilton’s Restaurant Group.

In 1997, a mutual friend introduced Young to Zingerman’s co-founders Ari Weinzweig and Paul Saginaw, and in 2001 they decided to open a restaurant together. Zingerman’s Roadhouse opened September 15, 2003, and is dedicated to bringing food-loving folks really good American food. In 2010, Alex was featured on Alton Brown’s Food Network show Best of and his macaroni and cheese was declared the Best Comfort Food in America. In 2011, Alex was named the Best Chef in the Great Lakes Region by the James Beard Foundation.

Chef Alex Young and company focus on using the very best available ingredients such as heirloom corn and rice from Anson Mills in South Carolina, chiles from Los Chileros, New Mexico, specialty aged country hams from Col. Nancy Newsom in Kentucky, really wild rice, hand harvested in Minnesota and selected artisan cheeses from Wisconsin and Vermont, to name a few. The menu includes an extensive seafood selection with a wide variety of oysters from the East, West and Gulf coasts. The Roadhouse also features produce grown at Cornman Farms by Alex and his crew near Alex’s family home in Dexter and meat from animals raised at Cornman Farms and from neighboring farms in Washtenaw County. Saginaw, Weinzweig and Young are constantly traveling looking for lost but happily re-found culinary traditions.

“The quality of the ingredients affects the quality of the food,” said Young, “and we are really interested in sustainable food production that preserves the environment while producing superior flavor.”

John T. Edge, author and Director of the Southern Foodways Alliance, has said “I live in Mississippi and spend so much time thinking about these foods, and here they are brought to life in Ann Arbor, Michigan.” Edge, whose relationship with the Roadhouse dates back to the early days of its inception, has also raved, “I see the Roadhouse as a showcase for vernacular American cookery, a kind of living history museum that just happens to pour a fine cocktail, too.”

Amy Emberlingtop

Managing Partner, Zingerman’s Bakehouse

Amy has been an avid food lover and baker since her childhood in Nova Scotia, Canada where she often treated friends to after-school concoctions. She grew up in a family business and always hoped to have her own business one day.

Amy received her bachelor’s degree in Social Studies from Harvard College and learned to cook and bake at L’École de Gastronomie Française at the Ritz Hotel in Paris, France as well as in Michigan restaurants. She received her MBA from Columbia University in 1999. Amy has lived with her husband Geoff and children Jake and Ruby in France and Denmark and has traveled extensively.

Amy came to Zingerman’s Bakehouse when it opened in 1992 as one of the original bakers on the staff of eight. She was the first manager of the bread department, then the manager of the pastry department, and in 2000 she became a partner. Amy has been working in the food world for over 20 years now and is passionate about baking, teaching and providing a work environment that fosters growth and development. A few of the Bakehouse treats she has personally developed are the Old School Apple Pie, Buenos Aires Brownies, and Gingerbread Coffeecake.

In addition to her work at the Bakehouse, Amy also works for other parts of the Zingerman’s Community of Businesses. She teaches for ZingTrain in two seminars: Leading with Zing and Bottom Line Training. She is also one of the partners of Zingerman’s Candy Manufactory, which was developed in the bakery.

Frank Carollotop

Managing Partner, Zingerman’s Bakehouse

After graduating from the University of Michigan in 1976 with a bioengineering degree, Frank Carollo went to work as the kitchen manager in a local restaurant, where he met Ari Weinzweig and Paul Saginaw. Frank stayed at the restaurant after Ari and Paul left to start Zingerman’s, moving up to become General Manager. Frank later joined Paul as a partner in Monahan’s Seafood Market.

In 1992, Frank was ready for a new challenge, and Zingerman’s was looking to develop an in-house source for the Delicatessen’s bread. After many long discussions, a great deal of research, and in-depth training from master baker Michael London, Zingerman’s Bakehouse was opened in the fall of 1992, with Frank in charge of the day-to-day operations.

Today, Zingerman’s Bakehouse employs a staff of 80 and supplies over 100 wholesale customers with artisanal bread and pastries. Every loaf is formed by hand, proofed for optimal flavor development and baked in one of two stone hearth ovens. Zingerman’s Bakehouse also offers a spectacular selection of pastries, made with real butter, Madagascar vanilla and farm fresh eggs. In the fall of 2001, Zingerman’s Bakehouse introduced delicious, crusty bagels to their morning line-up, thrilling traditionalists who had despaired of ever again getting a bagel with crunch.

The Bakehouse is located in an industrial park on Ann Arbor’s south side that was never intended as a retail destination. However, soon after the Bakehouse opened, people saw the trucks parked outside and come in to buy a loaf of ìreally freshî bread. Now the retail space that began as a folding table in the corner next to the bread oven is a store in its own right, Zingerman’s Bakeshop, with revenues approaching a million dollars a year.

As Managing Partner of the Bakehouse, Frank sees his role as ìdoing whatever it takes – lots of baking, lots of talking, lots of teaching, lots of selling and always a focus on customer service. In March of 1997, Frank was named one of five ìnoteworthy bakers in Americaî by Metropolitan Home magazine. Frank teaches a variety of internal classes on customer service and management and is a frequently requested presenter for outside organizations.

Maggie Baylesstop

Managing Partner, ZingTrain

Zingerman’s Delicatessen has become an Ann Arbor institution, and Maggie Bayless has been associated with it since the doors opened in 1982. Back then, as a student in the University of Michigan’s MBA program, she left at 4:00 AM every Saturday to drive to the Detroit suburbs and collect the bread needed to make the Deli’s world-famous sandwiches. According to Maggie, “After a week of dealing with business theory, it was great to get behind the wheel of the bread truck. I’d spend my day loading and unloading bread, selling cheese, and helping make a brand new business successful. I’d collapse into bed on Saturday night – physically exhausted but ready to face school again on Monday morning.”

Maggie moved to Ann Arbor in 1979, after graduating from Oberlin College with a degree in German Literature and spending two years working in a Chicago bank. Her first job in Ann Arbor was as a server in a restaurant, where she met Ari Weinzweig and Paul Saginaw, founders of Zingerman’s. In 1982, she enrolled in the University of Michigan’s MBA program. After graduation, Maggie worked for General Motors before joining American Natural Beverage (maker of Soho Natural Soda), as Midwest Regional Sales Manager. In 1988, she helped Zingerman’s computerize their inventory and product costing systems, while working full-time as project manager and instructional designer for Arbor Systems Group. At Arbor Systems, and later on a freelance basis, Maggie managed the development of training courses for corporate clients that included IBM, NCR, and the Ford Motor Company.

In 1994, Maggie decided to partner up with her old pals from Zingerman’s, and Zingerman’s Training, Inc. (a.k.a. ZingTrain) was born. ZingTrain acts as “keeper of the corporate knowledge” within the Zingerman’s Community of Businesses, helping Zingerman’s managers improve their departmental training. In addition, ZingTrain shares Zingerman’s expertise with outside clients through seminars, consulting services and customized training. ZingTrain’s clients include specialty food retailers, as well as organizations from many other industries, including banking, real estate, health care, manufacturing and non-profits.

Maggie regularly leads Zingerman’s staff Train-the-Trainer classes, facilitates ZingTrain seminars and presents to outside clients. Her “Staff Training” column is a regular feature in Gourmet Retailer magazine.

Stas’ Kazmierskitop

Managing Partner, ZingTrain

Stas’ Kazmierski has been involved with Zingerman’s since the Delicatessen opened in March of 1982: first as a loyal customer, then as a consultant and now as a Managing Partner of Zingerman’s training and consulting business, ZingTrain.

Stas’ was trained as an educator and has taught at all levels except elementary. He was teaching education courses at Eastern Michigan University when he left for a career as a trainer and internal consultant at Ford Motor Company. While at Ford, Stas’ facilitated the development and implementation of cross-functional, co-located vehicle development teams and worked on a number of system-wide change initiatives. After leaving Ford in 1991 Stas’ joined Dannemiller Tyson, an Ann Arbor-based consulting firm.

While at Dannemiller Tyson, Stas’ helped a variety of clients manage organizational change and develop long-range strategies. His work with Zingerman’s included facilitating the development of the mission statement, guiding principles and vision.

In the fall of 2000, Stas’ became a Managing Partner at ZingTrain, where he co-facilitates ZingTrain’s in-house seminars and frequently presents to outside clients. He has written several articles for training and HRD publications and published two books about large system change (Whole-Scale Change: Unleashing the Magic in Organizations and Whole-Scale Change Toolkit).

Mo Frechettetop

Managing Partner, Zingerman’s Mail Order

Mo founded Zingerman’s Mail Order in 1994. Zingerman’s Mail Order is the online shop for Zingerman’s, featuring an edited selection foods from Zingerman’s foodmakers and artisan producers from all over the world. It produces twelve print catalog books each year. It manages all aspects of customer service and fulfills orders for nationwide delivery from its warehouse in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Zingerman’s Mail Order has 60 employees (500 during the holiday season) and annual revenue of $10 milion.

Mo directs the online and print catalog product selection, editorial writing, marketing and all aspects of the business look and feel. He has extensive experience in applying Toyota’s lean manufacturing principles to food manufacturing and fulfillment businesses. Mo received his MBA from the Ross School of business at the University of Michigan.

Toni Morelltop

Managing Partner, Zingerman’s Mail Order

Toni grew up in Youngstown, Ohio and studied at Youngstown State University, where she received a BBA and served as President for the university chapter of the American Marketing Association. After graduation Toni managed at several retail stores before joining the Zingerman’s team in July of 1996, as Manager/Purchaser in the Retail Department of Zingerman’s Delicatessen.

At Zingerman’s Delicatessen, she took the lead on introducing specialty chocolates into the Deli’s product lineup. Holiday chocolate sales that year were 225% of plan and chocolates continue to be an area of significant growth for the Deli.

Since joining Zingerman’s, Toni sights were set on becoming a Managing Partner in a new Zingerman’s business. In the spring of 1999, she realized that goal when she and her partner, Tom Root, launched zingermans.com, the Zingerman’s on-line catalog. At zingermans.com Toni has focused on the challenge of bringing the Zingerman’s experience to customers via the internet—creating a website that combines Zingerman’s distinctive look and feel with a level of customer service that is unique in the world of e-commerce. In 2002 Zingerman’s Mail Order and Zingermans.com merged and became known simply as Zingerman’s Mail Order.

Tom Roottop

Managing Partner, Zingerman’s Mail Order

Tom Root grew up near Youngstown, OH with a passion for business and entrepreneurship. After graduating from Miami University in 1993, he became a certified business councilor for the state of Michigan, counseling entrepreneurs on business plan development and capital acquisition through the SBA’s Small Business Development Center program. Tom specialized in computer and software start-ups, and at the same time ran a consulting company to advise clients on website development.

In January of 1995 Tom became the first employee of Online Technologies Corporation, where he was Director of Development and Training. Over the next year he taught weekly classes through Walsh College and led the development of over 100 websites. During one of his teaching sessions, Tom was introduced to a team of people who had been charged with the creation of a website for a Michigan public electric utility, Detroit Edison. By February 1996 Tom was the principal web application developer for Detroit Edison. During his three years at Edison he managed a budget of over $1 million per year and organized a team of seven to create and manage Edison’s eight external web sites and its 50,000 page intranet.

In January of 1999, while attending a food conference in San Francisco with his wife (a manager at Zingerman’s Delicatessen), Tom struck upon the idea for a Zingerman’s website and began the process of becoming a Zingerman’s Managing Partner. On September 22, 1999 Zingermans.com took its first order, and Tom took on his first official role at Zingerman’s as Chief Information Officer. During the next two years he introduced Zingerman’s to email, established a wide area network, connecting all the various Zingerman’s locations and managed Zingermans.com (with lots of help from his co-Managing Partner and wife, Toni Morell!)

In 2002 Zingerman’s Mail Order and Zingermans.com merged and Tom took on the role of controller of the resulting business (known simply as Zingerman’s Mail Order). As controller, Tom has championed open book management and taken the lead on educating staff about the financial ins and outs of the business.

Tom teaches a number of internal staff classes for Zingerman’s employees and is also a frequent presenter for outside organizations. No doubt due to his technology background, Tom is the only Zingerman’s Managing Partner who routinely chooses to use PowerPoint.

Rodger Bowsertop

Managing Partner, Zingerman’s Deli

Rodger’s started his career at Zingerman’s Deli making sandwiches, 15 years later he is one of three managing partners in what has grown into a $12 million, 187 employee business that Mario Batali calls “a national treasure.” Besides spearheading the food coming out of the Deli’s kitchens as Head Chef, Rodger also leads all Purchasing and Marketing operations. Rodger has been instrumental in profitably introducing local, small-farm produce into the Deli’s daily operations and streamlining a very complex buying operation that includes at least 5 nations and 5000 products.

Before Zingerman’s Deli, Rodger trained at Chez Panisse and Ballymaloe Cookery School in
Cork, Ireland. Rodger combines his passion for food and Zingerman’s commitment to the community by serving as an active board member on several non-profit organizations that are shaping the food system in Michigan, such as the Food System Economic Partnership, Ann Arbor’s Westside Farmer’s Market, and The Agrarian Adventure.

When not working with or on food, Rodger spends time with his wife and two young children and indulges his other passion, amateur bike racing. Rodger has been racing for over a decade now and runs the Ann Arbor Velo Club’s masters team.

Steve Mangigiantop

Managing Partner, Zingerman’s Coffee

After growing up in Philadelphia, Steve spent most of his adult life in Ann Arbor. He held a number of positions in a variety of industries (from wholesale to retail), including holding a job as a Senior VP of operations for a furniture manufacturer, prior to coming to Zingerman’s. He has a range of interests and the uncanny ability to spend a ton of time on all of them at once. For example, Steve earned his MBA from Cleary University while working full time, raising his children, and also studying to become a Deacon in the Armenian Orthodox Church.

Steve wouldn’t have guessed that he would end up being a business owner in the coffee industry – when he had his first cup of coffee at age 19, he disliked it so much that he couldn’t swallow it. However, when Steve found his way to the Zingerman’s Coffee Company in 2006, filling the role as sales manager, his passion, knowledge and love for coffee grew. In this role, he quickly saw that the Coffee Company could grow by expanding its channels of distribution. During this period of building the business, Steve discovered that the culture, work environment, and values so closely aligned with his own that he decided to fulfill his dream of being an owner in 2008.

In order to build the business, Steve travels to potential wholesale customers to evaluate sales opportunities and to provide training and support to existing customers. He also participates in a number of Zingerman’s Partner’s Group committees. In addition, he can occasionally be found in the Coffee Company’s retail shop, getting to know customers or lending a hand to staff.

Steve compares the structure of our organization to a “shopping” experience, so to speak, for any number of “satisfiers/needs.” We can stroll down aisle one and pick up some personal satisfaction. Down aisle two is ample gain-share and opportunity for those that are driven. Aisle three carries healthy peer relationships, and on and on. Ultimately, when we “check out”, we have in our shopping cart all the ingredients of a satisfactory and fulfilling work experience. This applies to employees at all levels of the organization, as there is no limit to the opportunities to forge a fulfilling work experience.

So, the chance to create opportunities for staff to learn and grow was a big motivator for Steve in becoming a partner, as he strongly believes in servant leadership. The principle of which is that leaders must serve those who choose to follow, not the other way around, as is the case in many organizations. One trip to the Coffee Company, seeing Steve interact with his employees and guests, shows that he lives this.

Steve is also active in a range of activities in the community. He shares his business knowledge through his service with Nexecon Consulting, a UM business school student consulting group. He also serves on the Washtenaw Community College advisory board and participates in WCC’s School of Business and Entrepreneurial Studies program to evaluate student projects. Finally, Steve spends time as he can cooking and serving meals at the Delonis Center.