Don't tell me you've never been to Jenny Lou's.
The 11-year-old supermarket chain, stocked with more than 30 kinds of foreign cheeses, fresh basil, imported wines and every brand of cereal you could imagine, has been a shopping paradise for expats in Beijing who are nostalgic for the taste of home.
But the ambitious owner of this copyrighted brand is not a Westerner, neither is she an overseas returnee.
Jenny Lou's is owned by a Chinese couple, who hail from the countryside of Henan Province. They can hardly speak a word of English and their first overseas trip was in 2000.
You hardly notice Wang Jianping, the wife, as she parks her Flying Pigeon bicycle and steps into the store.
She has no leather briefcase, no glittering earrings or necklace. There is only a bike lock key and a mobile phone in her dry and coarse hands.
Wang and her husband, Lu Xudong, are among the millions of rural residents who rushed for gold in large cities. As others drip with sweat on construction sites, set up stalls or wash cars, Wang and Lu made a dream come true.
They now run a thriving business after finding their own niche - catering to the foreign community with familiar foods and good service. Their six outlets are all located in foreign communities throughout the capital. Jenny Lou's has now become a convenient choice for those who don't want to struggle through Beijing's traffic-clogged streets on shopping expeditions to Carrefour or Wal-Mart.
"I like the atmosphere here, people know you," said regular customer Lisa Browne.
"I wouldn't know what to do without Jenny Lou's," confessed Browne, who drops by the shop several times a week.
Over the past couple of years Wang has become proud of the wide wine selection at the shop, which can rival the big stores on price and variety.
But now she is even prouder having added a special selection from Spain. The wine is priced from 45 yuan (US$6) to 65 yuan (US$8) and is labeled with the shop's trademark.
"I hope my customers will love it just as they love our shop," said Wang, pouring some wine into little plastic cups and inviting customers to try.
But for more stock, more space is needed so last year, Wang and her husband doubled the size of two of their outlets.
"We have been looking for new locations, but it is not easy to find a good one," she revealed.
"We specifically target expatriates and white-collar overseas returnees, but many communities are still not mature enough even though the buildings are all quite fancy," said the astute Wang
Unlike other nouveau riche who buy new cars, Wang's husband still drives the Jetta he bought some years ago.
"Every penny is hard earned," Wang explained.
The hardworking couple started the business back in 1987 with Wang's younger sister, Wang Jianying.
They first set up a fruit and vegetable stall at Sanlitun, one of Beijing's diplomatic compounds. They soon figured out how to attract foreign customers.
"Honesty is the most important factor, we never try to cheat anyone," Wang said.
As other hawkers tried to cheat foreigners through weighing or overcharging, Wang and her husband treated everyone the same. The fruit and vegetables they sold were also neatly displayed.
Over time they developed a steady clientele, most of who were foreigners, who increasingly began to ask for specialty items.
"They asked if we could stock bread, milk and other foods," Wang said. "It was then that my husband got the idea to open up a shop that catered specifically to these customers and sell more than just fruit and vegetables."
They opened their first shop in 1994 at Sanlitun and named it Jenny Lou's. Jenny is the English name of Wang's sister, given by a customer from the Philippines. Lou is her husband's surname, Lu.
In the beginning Wang's biggest headache was that she had no idea what foreigners liked to eat and what she should sell.
Wang Jianping holds a bottle of wine of their own brand.
"I didn't even know the difference between butter and cream," Wang recalled.
Fortunately, their regular customers told them what they needed to stock.
At first there were only basic items for Western cooking, such as butter, olive oil, bread and pasta, but that soon changed.
In 2000 Wang's husband ventured overseas for the first time to an international food exhibition in Chicago. He took hundreds of pictures of the exhibits. When he returned, Lu showed foreign customers the pictures and asked them what products they wanted. The shelves were soon restocked after this basic research project.
To this day, the store is still very much guided by customer requests and suggestions, to the point that these days probably no other Chinese supermarket owners know better than Lu and Wang about the eating habits of Westerners.
"Frozen vegetables and fruit sell very well," Wang says.
"Chinese people think frozen vegetables are not fresh, but in fact some foreigners feel more at ease when eating such food in order to avoid fresh produce that they think may be tainted."
In 2001, Wang encountered a serious problem common to many family businesses - internal friction. Wang and her younger sister split the ownership of the 11 outlets and went their separate ways.
"Our management styles are different," Wang confessed, without revealing further details of the split.
Today, Wang and her husband own the six outlets in downtown Beijing, while her sister owns the other five shops and has renamed them "Jenny's Shop."
As for the heirs to the supermarket kingdom, life should be little easier than it was for their parents.
Wang's three children have all become permanent residents of Beijing. She is thinking of sending her eldest daughter abroad to college this summer. The other two are studying at key middle schools in Beijing.
"I know how hard life can be for a person without a good education. I want my children to have the best start possible," the diminutive Wang said proudly.
Where is Jenny:
West Gate of Chaoyang Park 65016249 65075207
6 Beixiaojie, San Li Tun 6 64616928; Fangcaodi 85630626
Riviera Garden 84701557
SOHO New Town SOHO 85898299
Jianwai SOHO SOHO 58692253
(China Daily February 20, 2006)
