This article appeared in the June 4th Issue of TV Times
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By David Maull
TV Times

When Richard and Rebecca Mais began looking for business opportunities in 1986, their initial goal was to pinpoint the types of merchants missing from the beach area.

What they discovered helped pave the way for a store that would be common in the big city but unusual for Southern Delaware.

Their venture, McCabe's Gourmet Market in the York Beach Mall in South Bethany, was a hit with both locals and tourists and this summer enters its 13th season in the resort.

"We started thinking about what business was missing," Rebecca said of their original plans. "This area we thought needed something like that." "We just thought about a business we were interested in," Richard added.

The couple first met at the University of South Carolina, where Richard was a staff member and Rebecca a graduate student. They were married in 1983 and three years later relocated to Fenwick Island, where Rebecca spent summers as a child.

The couple already owned a number of rental properties in the area and Rebecca's grandfather owned the York Beach Mall. "It just became a matter of where we wanted to live and what kind of life we wanted to have," she said.

Richard and Rebecca were regular visitors to a gourmet market in Columbia, S.C. When they decided to open one of their own, the proprietor of that store placed them in touch with suppliers and assisted them in stockpiling inventory .

McCabe's opened in the York Beach Mall in 1986 and has grown steadily ever since. Three years ago, the business moved to a new location within the mall and expanded by about 1,000 square feet. The store's shelves are stocked with a large selection of gourmet salsa, pasta, rice, salad dressing, cooking oil and whole-bean coffee.

"We do look for the unique and we only buy the top quality," Rebecca said. "We try to have a nice mix of ethnic foods." Added Richard: "That was the idea. We look for the best that we can find. One of our points is to offer new things that are unusual and different."

McCabe's also offers deli meats, imported cheeses and a line of baked goods that includes bagels, muffins, cookies, croissants and cinnamon buns. The sandwich and salad menu is popular with the lunch crowd. Each morning, in addition to fresh bagels, McCabe's serves coffee, espresso, cappuccino, caffe latte and caffe mocha.

Party trays and gourmet gift baskets are another of the store's specialties.

In 1996, McCabe's expanded when the entire mall got a new look. A major renovation was planned for the aging shopping center when space previously occupied by an appliance store became available. "It was too good of an opportunity not to take advantage of it," Richard said.

The store moved into the new space, expanded its grocery lines and added both indoor and patio seating. It also became more visible in the remodeled shopping center, which is now owned by Richard and Rebecca.

The popularity of the store is what they hoped for when its doors first opened 13 years ago. "We had hoped for that, we really did," Rebecca said. "You have to have a positive attitude." For Richard, the barometer of success is the number of repeat customers. "We've seen the same people now for 13 years," he said.