Penzeys Spices
{{Short description|American spice retailer}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Penzeys, Ltd.
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| type = Private
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| foundation = {{start date and age|1986|br=y|paren=y}}
| founder = William T. Penzey Jr.
| defunct =
| location_city = Wauwatosa, Wisconsin
| location_country = U.S.
| location =
| locations = 49
| area_served =
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| industry =
| products =
| services = Spice retailer
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| homepage = {{URL|www.penzeys.com}}
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}}
Image:Penzeys Spices, Arlington Heights MA.jpg]]
Penzeys Spices is a retailer of spices in the United States. It operates retail outlets as well as mail order and online shopping.{{Cite web |date=2012-05-25 |title=Penzeys Spices Retail Stores |url=http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/penzeysstores.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120514110447/http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/penzeysstores.html |archive-date=2012-05-14 |access-date=2012-05-25 |publisher=Penzeys Spices}} The company is headquartered in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, and had 600,000 catalog customers in 2007.{{Cite web |title=Penzeys to open more retail stores in 2010 |url=http://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/stories/2010/09/06/story10.html?page=all |access-date=2012-05-05 |website=BizJournals.com}}
History
In 1957, William Penzey Sr. and Ruth Ann Penzey opened a coffee and spice business in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which came to be called The Spice House.{{Cite web |title=Penzey spiced up customers' lives |url=http://www.jsonline.com/news/obituaries/103681554.html |access-date=May 5, 2012 |website=JSOnline.com}} Their son, William Penzey Jr. (Bill), began working in the business as a youth. Over time, The Spice House focused on selling spices.{{Cite web |title=Penzeys Spices, Inc. Company Profile |url=http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/history2/75/Penzeys-Spices-Inc.html |access-date=May 5, 2012 |website=ReferenceForBusiness.com}}
In 1986, at the age of 22, Bill launched a catalog business of his own.{{Cite web |title=A life of spice |url=https://www.forbes.com/forbes/97/0519/5910078a_print.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110512185626/http://www.forbes.com/forbes/97/0519/5910078a_print.html |archive-date=May 12, 2011 |access-date=May 5, 2012 |website=Forbes}} The business grew steadily, and in 1994, Penzeys opened its first retail store. By 2013, 69 Penzeys stores were open throughout North America.{{Cite book |last=Penzey |first=Bill |title=How We Became One |publisher=Kitchen Table Communications |year=2008 |isbn=978-0982054802 |language=English}}Penzey, Bill; Penzeys One Staff (2008). How We Became One. Kitchen Table Communications, 2008.
=Retail contraction=
In 2012, Penzeys had 67 retail locations in 29 states.{{Cite web |date=2012-05-25 |title=Penzeys Spices Retail Stores |url=http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/penzeysstores.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120514110447/http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/penzeysstores.html |archive-date=2012-05-14 |access-date=2012-05-25 |publisher=Penzeys Spices}} In March 2020, it announced closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic.{{Cite web |title=Penzeys Spices, Great Dane and Vintage brewing closed in response to COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic |date=17 March 2020 |url=https://madison.com/wsj/business/penzeys-spices-great-dane-and-vintage-brewing-closed-in-response-to-covid-19-coronavirus-pandemic/article_6387c537-6512-5966-b027-2e3064bbe1bc.html |access-date=2021-11-12}} By June 2021, the number of Penzeys locations had contracted to 53.{{Cite web |title=Locations |url=https://www.penzeys.com/locations/ |access-date=6 December 2020 |publisher=Penzeys Spices}}
=Political involvement=
Penzeys Spices is known for promoting a liberal perspective and has an "About Republicans" page on the company website that describes the party's politics as "nonsense."
On January 14, 2022, CEO Bill Penzey sent out an email newsletter announcing that he would be renaming the extended Martin Luther King Jr. Day sale weekend to "Republicans are racist weekend", with the reasons given including alleged voter suppression in red states and their response to the George Floyd protests.{{Cite web |last=Calvi |first=Jason |date=2022-01-15 |title=Penzeys Spices calls Republicans 'racists' in email to customers |url=https://www.fox6now.com/news/penzeys-spices-republicans-racist-email |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127030237/https://www.fox6now.com/news/penzeys-spices-republicans-racist-email |archive-date=2022-01-27 |access-date=2022-02-01 |website=Fox6 Milwaukee}} Penzey was widely criticized for the email, with 40,000 people unsubscribing from their newsletter. Penzey, however, stated that 30,000 new people had signed up to the newsletter.{{Cite web |last=Brown |first=Jon |title=Spice company that called Republicans racist begs for gift card purchases after losing customers |url=https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/spice-company-that-called-republicans-racist-begs-for-gift-card-purchases-after-losing-customers |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220131011838/https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/spice-company-that-called-republicans-racist-begs-for-gift-card-purchases-after-losing-customers |archive-date=2022-01-31 |access-date=2022-02-01 |website=Fox Business|date=30 January 2022 }}
Penzey made a similar statement in an email sent out on the first anniversary of the January 6 US Capitol attack, calling Republicans the "#1 threat to this country".{{Cite web |last=Dumas |first=Breck |date=2022-01-06 |title=Penzeys Spices CEO calls Republican voters '#1 threat to this country' in Jan 6 promotional email |url=https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/penzeys-spice-company-republicans-threat-country-jan-6 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220131045119/https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/penzeys-spice-company-republicans-threat-country-jan-6 |archive-date=2022-01-31 |access-date=2022-02-01 |website=Fox Business}}
The company has received criticism from Jewish customers and advocacy groups for its posts critical of Israel following the October 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel and a joke following the attacks about pretending to hide Jews in attics.Preiszig, Abigail. "[https://www.clevelandjewishnews.com/news/local_news/penzeys-spices-comments-about-israel-irks-customer/article_815ba53c-8b2e-11ef-bb9d-efa22c7b0a1e.html Penzeys Spices comments about Israel irks customer]", Cleveland Jewish News. October 16, 2024. Retrieved April 24, 2025."[https://stopdontshop.org/businesses/penzeys-spices/ Penzeys Spices]", StopDon'tShop. Retrieved April 24, 2025.
In 2024, presidential candidate Kamala Harris visited the Pittsburgh location, which garnered negative attention from Republicans.{{cite web |last1=Levenson |first1=Michael |title=Kamala Harris Visited a Spice Shop. Her Critics Flooded Yelp With Bad Reviews. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/10/us/politics/penzeys-spices-kamala-harris.html |access-date=7 October 2024 |website=New York Times}}
References
{{Reflist}}
Bibliography
- Penzey, Bill; Penzeys One Staff (2008). How We Became One. Kitchen Table Communications, 2008.
External links
- {{Official website}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Food retailers of the United States