"Some things are more, some are less, " she says. "But they are really friendly. They seem to want people's business."

One-Stop Shopping

Another unique aspect of the market is that it is the only grocery store in the area to house several independent companies under the same roof.

"We're all able to concentrate on what we do best," says Ring, whose family has also owned a grocery store on Cape Cod on since 1925.

"It's been a real trip. None of us had ever heard of a project like this before," he says, "but we got together over a few drinks and realized we could pull this off."

The store's computer checkout system, which keeps track of the purchases customers make in each department, allows patrons to make one single payment for all their purchases when they finish shopping, Bougas says.

The profits are then divided at the end of the day, he adds.

"The checkout system was designed to facilitate one-stop shopping by eliminating the hassle of paying five separate companies for the purchases people make in each area," he says.

Keeping the Broadway Market in perfect working condition has been an exhausting, time-consuming endeavor, Ring says, but the owners have been rewarded.

"We put in about 16 hours a day here, but that's what you need to get going," he says. "I mean, you Harvard kids probably study 16 hours a day."

Well, maybe not quite that much, says John J. Appelbaum '97.

"Not on weekends, " Appelbaum says. "We drink some, too."

Richard J. Pimental, general manager, says he is expecting store business to pick up once a proposed liquor store opens on the market's premises. The liquor store, which will be managed by John Lichter, should offer the finest in beer and hard liquor, Pimental says.

"That's going to help us a lot," he says. "There's been a lot of requests about the liquor store."

But Appelbaum and other minors on campus shouldn't get their hopes up too high.

"Don't worry," Ring says. "We'll be carding."