Small Business Saturday: Sgt. Peppers owner getting better with a little help from my friends

By Joshua Maloni

GM/Managing Editor

It wasn’t the bright bottles on the wall, the specialty pickles or the premium peanut butter that drew this writer to Sgt. Peppers Hot Sauces, Etc., 10 months ago. In a specialty food store filled with color, what stood out was a giant sheet of white paper spread across a front counter.

It read, “You got this Neil!!!!”

“I was on life support,” owner Neil Garfinkel said Friday. “I had septic shock after a surgery, and they didn't think I was going to make it. So, that's what the card was all about. I was about five weeks in the hospital.”

As Neil battled his way back to health, his wife, former Town of Lewiston Clerk Donna Garfinkel, rallied well-wishers together to sign the “card” and buoy her husband’s spirits.

Recalling this act of love, he called it, “Unbelievable.”

Donna Garfinkel had the Lewiston community sign a card for her husband, Neil, when he was in the hospital earlier this year.

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“It probably healed me, all the well wishes, because I wasn't supposed to make it,” Garfinkel said. “Two of the local businesses actually got together and paid my rent. I couldn't believe that – and I didn't ask anybody to do anything.”

Oh, and when, “my wife took the store over … it looked way better when I got back.”

As Garfinkel reflected on what was done to cheer him on, he said, “It's always the people” that make a place special. “I mean, ‘It takes a village?’ Well, we have a village – and we do seem to stick together around here and support our locals. I don't go up the hill (out of Lewiston) unless I really have to. I try to support all the local businesses. And the other business owners seem to do the same thing and reciprocate.”

He added, “It's just a nice, small town; and I feel very safe here. I really never had much of a problem with anybody shoplifting or anything like that. You can't say that in a lot of places.”

Having returned to his role as condiment coach, grillmaster and chief conversationalist, Garfinkel’s focus is again on offering customers something special.

“Ten years ago, we opened up, and I just had hot sauce; mostly hot sauce and some salsas and things like that. I thought I could make a living with that. And I realized people were coming in for other things. So, it became Sgt. Peppers Hot Sauces, Etc. – which, etcetera was already in the name when I opened, but the ‘Etc.’ was very important,” Garfinkel said.

“We sell, now, peanut butters and maple syrups and a big, huge assortment of jams. We have more jams than the Grateful Dead. Pickles. We're big with pickles; and cheese. It's things that you can't get at a normal grocery store. We have grocery stores here that are good. I have different things than they do, so you probably need to go to both to find everything. I think that's important.

“We fill a little gap. And we do get people from Buffalo and a lot from Grand Island and Rochester, because it's hard to find a store like this. We have over 300 hot sauces; and I think 50 or 60 different mustards; and probably 80 or 90 different jams; and a lot of peanut butter – all made in New York state; different flavors, very healthy stuff.

“We try to also keep away from the unhealthy. Like, in some barbecue sauces, the main ingredient – I don't want to name any brands – but one very popular one, the main ingredient is high-fructose corn syrup. And if it's the first ingredient here, it's not going to be in my store. We don't want that. It's got to be a little healthier.”

While ingredients play a part in the product curation process, “No. 1, it would be my customers, when they ask for things,” Garfinkel said of assembling his sauces, etc. “If I get enough people asking for something, I know it's probably going to be good. I follow through. I look it up when they're in here, and I look up things, and I will order according to customers. I found that really helps.

“We got big into the barbecue scene, so we have a lot of rubs. And I don't think anybody in Western New York has as many barbecue rubs as we do – and you can smell them here. We have samples of all of them. That's important, because if you're looking online, you have no idea what it's going to taste like. But if you come in here, you can smell it. Some people pour a little in their hand. That's OK, too.”

He added, “A lot of the time, I'm going by what another customer, or many customers, have said about a product. And if I haven't tried it, I have to use that. But I try to take everything home and test it and try it myself, so I can explain exactly what they're getting and how it tastes.

“But, when they ask me what's the best, I cannot tell them that, because everybody has different tastes. I try to emphasize that – and that's why we have so many samples. We want them to also be the expert and dig into it a little bit.

“I encourage them, if they're looking at one product, to look at five or six that are similar, too, and test them out and make sure you're making the right decision. Even though it's only $10, $14, it's a decision, and it's a big bottle, and you'll have it for a year, or months, and you want to like it. I want to make sure you like it, or you won't come back. I try to guide you in the right direction from what I'm getting from your questions.”

Visit Sgt. Peppers on Small Business Saturday.

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While Garfinkel will let customers come to their own conclusions, in his kitchen one would find “stone-ground mustard from Raye’s. M&M Pickles are always at my house. I have pickles from Poland. … Bacon jam – I can't get enough bacon jam.

“I have to stay away from the peanut butter, because I'll eat a whole jar! And it's not healthy (laughs). It's not good for your gut. It's healthy, but a whole jar (in one sitting) is not a good idea – and I’ve done that.

“The River Rat Cheese, and the Wisconsin cheese curds – we always seem to have some of that in our refrigerator. … That's why I'll never be a thin guy.

“I usually have 10 or 15 bottles of hot sauce open, because every different food that you have requires a different sauce – in my eyes.”

On Small Business Saturday, Garfinkel said patrons will enter to win a $50 gift certificate with each purchase. Plus, “We always have some tastings here. I have a lot of hot sauce down here that people could taste in different heat ranges.”

Upward Niagara Chamber of Commerce Board Chairman Matt Villnave, who owns and operates Lewiston Digital and Trait Carré, said, “Small Business Saturday is always one of my favorite Chamber initiatives of the year, as we get to put our stamp on a nationwide effort to boost small businesses and keep dollars local. From experience with a retail shop, I can say that this is one of several key days on the calendar that can really make a significant impact for us, but we're also excited to participate because we want to be part of the holiday shopping experience for our customers.”

Sgt. Peppers Hot Sauces, Etc., is located at 444 Center St., Lewiston; and online at https://sgtpeppershotsaucesetc.com/.