Penzeys Spices is a retailer of

spice A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of plants used for flavoring or as a garnish. Spices a ...

s in the United States. It operates retail outlets as well as

mail order Mail order is the buying of goods or services by mail delivery. The buyer places an order for the desired products with the merchant through some remote methods such as: * Sending an order form in the mail * Placing a telephone call * Placing a ...

and

online shopping Online shopping is a form of electronic commerce which allows consumers to directly buy goods or services from a seller over the Internet using a web browser or a mobile app. Consumers find a product of interest by visiting the website of the r ...

. The company is headquartered in

Wauwatosa, Wisconsin Wauwatosa (; known informally as Tosa; originally Wau-wau-too-sa or Hart's Mill) is a city in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 48,387 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Wauwatos ...

, and had 600,000 catalog customers in 2007.

History

In 1957, William Penzey Sr. and Ruth Ann Penzey opened a

coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulant, stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. S ...

and spice business in

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

, which came to be called The Spice House. Their son, William Penzey Jr. (Bill), began working in the business as a youth. Over time The Spice House focused on selling spices. In 1986, at the age of 22, Bill launched a catalog business of his own. The business grew steadily, and in 1994 Penzeys opened its first retail store. By 2013, 69 Penzeys stores were open throughout North America.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. In March 2020, Penzeys announced closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic. By June 2021, the number of locations had contracted to 53.

Newsletter controversy

On January 14, 2022, CEO Bill Penzey sent out a newsletter announcing the he would be renaming the extended

Martin Luther King Jr. Day Martin Luther King Jr. Day (officially Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., and sometimes referred to as MLK Day) is a federal holiday in the United States marking the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. It is observed on the third Mond ...

sale weekend to " Republicans are racist weekend", with the reasons given including alleged voter suppression in

red states Starting with the 2000 United States presidential election, the terms "red state" and "blue state" have referred to U.S. states whose voters vote predominantly for one party — the Republican Party in red states and the Democratic Party Dem ...

and their response to the

George Floyd Protests The George Floyd protests were a series of protests and civil unrest against police brutality and racism that began in Minneapolis on May 26, 2020, and largely took place during 2020. The civil unrest and protests began as part of internati ...

. Penzey was widely criticized for this email, with 40,000 people unsubscribing from their newsletter, however, Penzy stated that 30,000 new people has signed up to their newsletter. Penzey made a similar statement in an email sent out on the first anniversary of the January 6th Capitol riot, calling Republicans the "#1 threat to this country".

References

Bibliography

*Penzey, Bill; Penzeys One Staff (2008). How We Became One. Kitchen Table Communications, 2008.

External links

* {{Authority control Food retailers of the United States Spices American companies established in 1957 Companies based in Wisconsin