(By Ben Swenson, Virginia Gazette, 13 December 2021)
Some people thought Thomas Power was crazy. The idea of opening a specialty shop selling
fine wines and cheeses in Newport News, of all places, seemed like a long shot.
Even those close to him expressed doubts. But Power, a military veteran and
determined entrepreneur, had a vision and a family willing to work as hard as
he did, and The Cheese Shop of Virginia was born.
That was in 1971, and it turned out to be a good decision.
Fifty years later, The Cheese Shop and Fat Canary in Merchants Square remain
iconic Peninsula small businesses, but the Power family’s ventures represent
something more, too — an enduring effort to act as a force for good in the
community that supports them.
Yet even after five decades of service in the local
hospitality industry, the Power family isn’t immune to economic challenges, and
these disruptions continue to guide decisions about the course of their
business and what they see as their responsibility as a local employer.
The Power family, from left: Mary Ellen Power Rogers, Tom
Power, Jr., Mary Ellen Power (seated) and Cathy Power Pattisall. Against the
far wall to the right is a photo of Tom Power. Courtesy of Corey Miller (HANDOUT)
Mary Ellen Power Rogers now runs the family’s businesses
with her siblings Cathy Power Pattisall and Tom Power Jr. They’ve taken the
reins from their parents, Tom Power, who died in 2017, and matriarch Mary Ellen
“Myrt” Power, who still stops by The Cheese Shop and Fat Canary frequently, but
no longer has the active role in day-to-day operations that she once did.
Rogers said that she and her siblings have decided not make
its renowned sandwiches until further notice.
They are simply too short-staffed to continue to operate
business-as-usual, Rogers said. The Fat Canary, the cheese board, wine shop and
the retail sales will continue. Rogers
said that the family sees this sandwich-making pause as another one of many
challenges they’ve encountered running a community-focused small business —
something the family has been navigating for half a century.
The first Cheese Shop opened in Newport News’s Warwick
Shopping Center in 1971. The storefront
was small, Pattisall said, but an expansive storage area in the back, set up
with bean bag chairs and other kid-friendly accommodations among the inventory,
was where she spent countless hours during childhood. She remembers trips in
the family station wagon, which was stuffed with cheese bound for the shop.
When she was naughty, the punishment could be putting price tags on endless boxes
of Stoned Wheat Thins.
The Cheese Shop got its French bread from a facility in
Norfolk. The same day that Pattisall got her driver’s license at age 16, her
mother sent her by herself to go get the bread.
“We were young, but there was a vibe, and we understood how important
this was,” she said.
Former Newport News city councilman and vice mayor Bert
Bateman knew the Power family and said they established The Cheese Shop as a
community cornerstone early on. Bateman’s father, the late Congressman Herb
Bateman, always looked forward to conversations with the elder Power about wine
and cheese. “I tried many things I never
would have because of the Powers,” he said.
In 1973, the family opened a second Cheese Shop on Prince
George Street in Williamsburg. Locals, college students and tourists frequented
the location. A large part of the appeal, said Pattisall, was Tom Power’s
genuine interest in people. Mary Ellen
Power was responsible for the unending and thankless task of all the
behind-the-scenes work, such as payroll and accounting. She was the rock upon
which the family business rested, Pattisall said.
The children remained active in the business through college
and into adulthood. But it was the elder Tom Power who was the public, friendly
face of the operation. “Daddy thrived in
that environment,” Pattisall said. “He was meant for that.” The Cheese Shop established itself and its
products as a local institution. The Cheese Shop sandwich, with its secret
recipe Original House Dressing, became “the tail that wagged the dog,” she
said.
Nevertheless, over the years, the family business changed
and grew. In 1978, the Powers sold the Newport News Cheese Shop to George Ackerman,
who independently operated the store until his death in 2014. In 1980, Tom
Power partnered with John Curtis and Marcel Desaulniers to open The Trellis,
and the family kept a stake in the popular restaurant for 14 years.
The Cheese Shop, one of Williamsburg's most popular eating
spots, has settled into its new location on Duke of Gloucester St. in Merchants
Square. (DAVE BOWMAN / DAVE BOWMAN)
The Cheese Shop, one of Williamsburg's most popular eating
spots among tourists. It has settled into a new location on Duke of Gloucester
St. in Merchants Square. (DAVE BOWMAN / DAVE BOWMAN)
In 2003, The Cheese Shop moved from Prince George Street to
a larger space on Duke of Gloucester Street in Merchants Square, and the Power
family launched Fat Canary, with Tom Power Jr. at the helm as executive chef.
David Niebuhr, a longtime Williamsburg resident, said that
Williamsburg hasn’t always been the cultured town it has become today. The
Cheese Shop helped usher in a transformation because it was the only place one
could get better wines, cheeses and specialty foods, such as pate. “Even now that Williamsburg is so much more
sophisticated, it’s still a go-to place to get unique hors d’oeuvres, olives or
bread for a dinner party,” Niebuhr said. “And, of course, the sandwiches are
legendary.”
The product and customer experience remained a priority, but
the Power family, from the beginning, saw their role in a broader context,
aiming to be a good community partner and generous employer. Tom Power became involved in local causes and
organizations. He helped establish the Williamsburg Farmers Market and served
on the board of directors for TowneBank Williamsburg, a role later assumed by
his daughter Cathy.
The Power family forged a deep connection with the College
of William & Mary. Williamsburg city councilman Caleb Rogers, who graduated
from W&M in 2020, and who is not related to Mary Ellen Power Rogers, said
that when he arrived in town for a campus tour the year before he matriculated,
he asked for a recommendation for a lunch spot. The reply was swift and
fervent: The Cheese Shop. And be sure to get the house dressing. “It’s one of those few places in Williamsburg
that’s on the bucket list of places to go to get the full experience of the
city,” he said.
In May 2017, the president of W&M at the time, Taylor
Reveley III, presented Tom and Mary Ellen Power with the university’s Prentis
Award, which recognizes distinguished community service and a W&M
connection. In nearly half a century in
Williamsburg, the Powers employed many hundreds of people, a significant
portion of whom were W&M students. Every year on homecoming weekend,
hundreds of alumni stop by The Cheese Shop, Pattisall said. In his acceptance speech for the award, Power
talked about the importance of his employees. His words were not just idle
chatter.
For 25 years, the family businesses were closed on Sundays —
a result of Virginia’s blue laws — and employees and their families were often
invited to the Power home to enjoy a cookout. To this day, employees of The
Cheese Shop and Fat Canary are provided a meal before their shift, often eaten
together, family-style.
For Niebuhr, who has lived in Williamsburg since 1978, the
family’s philosophy and way of conducting business is a glimpse of a different
time in the city’s history. “It’s more
than their philanthropy and interest in and service to the community,” he said.
“The business still reminds me of small-town Williamsburg.”
A month after receiving the Prentis Award, Tom Power, age 81, died while vacationing in Bermuda with
Mary Ellen, whom he’d been married to for 56 years. The businesses were strong enough to
withstand the passing of the patriarch, but Mary Ellen Power Rogers said that
the pandemic has offered an unprecedented set of circumstances. Typically, the
businesses employ about 80 people. Today, there are around 50 people on the
payroll, with few or no applications for open positions.
Weijia Jiang moves through the crowded Cheese Shop in
Williamsburg with a bowl of Orzo Spinach and Feta Cheese in this undated photo.
The restaurant serves hundreds of people during the mid-day meal. Staff
file (DAVE BOWMAN / DAVE BOWMAN)
The employees are stretched too thin to keep all the
components of the operation running safely, according to Rogers. “We’re so short-staffed it’s unhealthy, and
we have an obligation to keep our staff healthy,” Rogers said. Already the Powers have reduced the number of
days the businesses operate. The Cheese Shop started closing on Mondays in June
and later narrowed the time window during which they made sandwiches.
Rogers said the family looked at this from every angle and
tried to figure out how to keep the sandwich-making going, but it’s just not
possible to continue at current staffing levels. “We really hate to disappoint
people,” she said.
According to Rogers, the family understands that unfilled
positions are a national problem, and that small, independent businesses are
feeling the pinch especially hard. She hopes that people will consider
supporting local establishments and, if they can, apply for jobs. Rogers said that the family can’t say when
The Cheese Shop sandwich will return, only that they hope it’s sooner than
later. “We will resume,” she said. “It’s
what we do.”
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