Maison M is placed on the first floor facing the entrance and

continuously bakes different kinds of bread

throughout the day in its 100% ecofriendly
Maison M, a family owned business established in
wooden oven. This activity and its strategic
1948, is one of the leading quality driven food
location stimulate the customers senses and create
markets in Lebanon. It has earned its reputation by
a need towards the bakerys offerings that may not
constantly providing a friendly environment to its
have existed before in the clients shopping list.
customers and continuously raising its standards of
The meat, poultry, fish and sushi departments
quality.
hands customers the option of preparing or
Today Maison M operates a chain of super-food
cooking the chosen cuts in the live kitchen and
markets, a catering business, a fine dining Cigar
grill behind the display. Maison M believes that by
Lounge, and a Lebanese Restaurant.
providing this opportunity, clients can assure that
highest degree of cleanliness and care is being
Food Market
applied to their order since the entire process is
Maison M runs two food markets located
done in front of their eyes. Each store also features
strategically around Beirut, Lebanons capital. The
a ready to eat section where the platter of the day
stores differ in design and concept. Naccache,
is displayed together with a variety of cold
being an area in Lebanon known for its affluent
sandwiches, salads, desserts, and more than 10 of
inhabitants, drove management to base the
Maison Ms signature dishes representing the
luxurious architecture behind the store on the local
Lebanese cuisine.
demand and lifestyle of their clients. The branch
incorporates a fine dining cigar lounge, a Lebanese
Produce Department
restaurant, a sushi station, an outdoor sitting area
Maison M practices backwards vertical integration
and a food market. The latter feeds the restaurants
when it comes to the local meat, poultry and dairy
with all their required food and beverage related
products found in its markets through Aradina, a
products. A competitive advantage found in the
company owned and managed by the same
food markets is the live cooking stations instituted
proprietors as Maison M. The company also
in its various departments. Each food market has a
outsources various meat, fish and dairy derivatives
deli division offering more than 500 kinds of local
to ensure continuous supply and variety to both its
and imported cheese and cold cuts. The live
end customers and the two restaurants it services.
station attributed to this division houses five
It obtains its outsourced products by sending
employees that make sure the cold cuts are
specialized personnel to the farmers market to
designed and packaged up to the customers
choose the produce that best represent Maison Ms
demands. The bakery together with its live station
signature quality. The ordered produce is then

Maison Ms meat department providing packaged meat on

its refrigerator stands.
delivered in the early mornings to the respective
branches and is directly put on display by Maison
M employees rather than placing them in a
warehouse to avoid inventory-carrying costs.
Meat Department
Maison Ms meat department consists of butchers
on one hand and workers in charge of the grill on
the other; consequently, customers who wish to
have their meat cuts cooked on the spot can do so.
Moreover, the live grilling station satisfies the
Lebanese restaurants demand for the barbecue
and fish sections of its menu. This decreases the
number of kitchen employees needed for the
Lebanese restaurant and thus reduces costs.
Butchers are trained on how to interact with
customers and on how to practice cross selling and
upselling. By carefully documenting the clients
buying habits, the butcher is advised to offer them
other types of meat derivatives that belong to their
taste and preference category. In addition to
customized meat services, it offers previously
packaged and vacuumed meat products in its
refrigerator stands. This reduced waiting time at
the station and decreased the stations number of
employees by 40%.
Ordering
Maison M has one main warehouse located at the
headquarters in Dora. This warehouse aims at
satisfying the demand of both food markets.
Forecasting demand is a major activity done by the
operations department in managing the supply
chain. Forecasting demand for each of the
branches makes sure that waste and shortages are
kept to a minimum. Moreover, the amount of
goods transferred from the main warehouse to the
other branch depends on daily forecasts of demand
for the respective goods. While calculating the
daily amounts to be ordered from suppliers, factors
such as past trends, seasonality of demand, prices
of products, and local circumstances (weather
conditions, holidays and local festivals) play a
major role. After forecasts are computed, orders
are filed and suppliers deliver the packaged goods
to the main warehouse. In turn, company trucks
deliver the packaged goods from the main
warehouse to the other food market. Having one
warehouse reduces costs by saving storage space
in the Naccache branch and by saving labor costs
attributed to the handling and storing of goods.
Deliveries from the main kitchen to the pastry and
ready to eat departments occur twice a day once in
the morning and once in the afternoon. Their
forecasts are treated separately and are more
flexible depending on the daily activity facing the
branch.
Inventory Management
Maison M uses a perpetual inventory system
where it exercises a yearly actual physical count
on its 10,000 types of packaged goods. The
physical count applies to the main warehouse and
to the goods found on display in all branches. This
is done to make sure that the inventory level
reflected in the companys information system is
the same as the products on hand. This process
aims at accounting for theft and spoilage that
occurred throughout the year. Having one main
warehouse increases control in the handling of
inventory by decreasing opportunities for theft.
However, an actual physical count of non-durable
goods such as those of the bakery, pastry, and
ready to eat station is made on a daily basis in
each of the branches due to their low display life,
which leads to greater attentiveness towards
spoilage, waste and replacements.
Employees
Being part of the service industry, Maison M
recognizes the great influence its 400 employees
have on the success of the business. Thus, the HR
department exercises a process of personality and
skill driven examinations. Only those who show
attributes to friendliness, openness, and
willingness to work are chosen to represent the
company in front of its customers. Once
employees are hired, they undergo ten days of
training by their department manager. Maison Ms
employee turnover rate ranges between 5-8%
where the latter represents the restaurants
turnover rate (since most of the waiters represents
college students who quit once more self-fulfilling
jobs arise). In order to retain this rate at a low and
 below that of the industry average of 20%, Maison
M offers its employees substantial benefits and
compensation for their hard work.
Quality
Maison Ms mission statement states that they are
dedicated to high standards of quality in the
provision of long run and successful service to
their institutional and private clients since 1948.
In order to continuously meet the high levels of
quality the company set for itself, it applies a
quality management process from the moment the
customer enters the store and is greeted by the
floor manager, to the ISO certified products
offered by Maison M, to the paying at the
checkout lanes, and finally till the buyers
groceries are carried to his/her vehicle. In case of
any complaint by the customer, the management
follows the customer is always right rule in
solving the problem and the complaint is taken
care of immediately.
Technology
Maison M is working on online ordering segment
from the Lebanese Restaurant, Sushi Lounge and
Food Market on its website. This new era in
shopping and dining is expected to increase sales
and empower Maison Ms brand name by giving
the client an easier and more relaxing alternative
to grocery shopping and dining.
Masion Ms ready-to-eat section where a variety of desserts is
displayed.
Sustainability
All of the lights installed in Maison M are light
emitting diodes, which have the greatest lifespan,
the least cost, and the least CO2 and sulfur oxide
emissions among its alternatives resulting in a
healthier and more sustainable environment.
Questions
1. How do customers judge the quality of a food
market?
2. Indicate how and why each of these factors is
important to the successful operation of a
foods market:
a. Customer satisfaction.
b. Forecasting.
c. Capacity planning
d. Location.
e. Inventory management.
f. Layout of the store.
g. Scheduling.
3. What are some of the ways Maison M uses
technology to gain an edge over its
competition?
Sources: This case was written by Mariane
Makhlouf and Rabih Hasbini under the
supervision of Dr. Marina Apaydin, American
University of Beirut.
Maison Ms live bakery station continuously bakes
different kinds of bread throughout the day.