Grocery stores, a low-margin business, nevertheless give nice returns to their investors by rapidly turning their stock. Sure you might make only 1 percent on the sale of a particular item, but if you sell it 15 times a year, that's a good return on investment. Preparing food at home also is the cheapest way to live. Yet in Houston, a little more than half of all food dollars are spent outside the home. That doesn't mean we eat out half the time.
Restaurants cost more per calorie.
Williams-Sonoma, the national kitchenware chain, has done very well satisfying that want. Its three stores in the Houston area are aimed at the cook who wants the best. Now, Houston has another player in the copper pots and pans, national chain, game. It's Seattle-based Sur La Table. If you didn't get your invitation, I'm sure it was lost in the mail.