Goose and Gander grocery gives shoppers a chance to buy chefs’ favorite foods

DeWayne Schaaf and his wife April own Celebrations Restaurant and Ebb and Flow Fermentations in downtown Cape Girardeau. They are not, however, the couple that greets shoppers at their new Goose and Gander grocery store, which opened Thursday, June 13 at 437 Broadway.

Instead, customers are welcomed into the store by Felipe and Janet. Several Felipes and Janets, in fact: dressed like the subjects of “American Gothic”, posing in homage to James Bond, enjoying a cup of tea or tucked into a paper airplane.

Felipe and Janet are drawings of geese. These mascots represent the eclectic diversity of the products available at the store.

“Our oldest daughter (Amethyst Bruenderman), she’s an artist, and she’s had this scene right here drawn up at the (Celebrations) restaurant as a little doodle,” DeWayne Schaaf said. “The characters … have been part of the family for the last seven, eight years. One day, I was like, ‘We need to use Felipe and Janet and somehow integrate that into it.’ So there are geese here and we want people to gander as they are in the shop.”

They got their chance to use the geese around Christmastime in 2023, when Bruenderman had the Schaaf’s first grandchild and the restaurant closed for 10 days so they could spend time with family. That’s when Schaaf came up with the concept of a grocery store selling the kinds of ingredients and snacks the family eats at home.

“I’ve had people over 26 years … in the restaurant industry, asking about dishes and how to do it at home, and so this was our projecting of what we love,” he said. “… We wanted something that was quirky and accessible, but elevated at the same time. There are a lot of really fine foods, really high-quality ingredients and products in here.”

With their son Josh Green managing their store, the Schaafs stocked it with goods from around the world that they have tried and enjoyed: tea from China, sauces from India, spices from Lebanon and cookies from Estonia, to name a few. Other food includes pasta, pickles, wafers, gummies - “Not the THC version, just the candy”, Schaaf said - tinned fish, baking mixes and charcuterie boards. Several kinds of non-alcoholic beverages are also for sale, either from the shelf or via a dry bar.

“Everything in the casing on the shelf lends to flavor and consumption without having to drink alcohol … we wanted to really push into that because I think there’s a growing amount of people that really look towards, if not abstaining completely, then at least cutting back some,” Schaaf explained.

Much of the food can be eaten on picnics, or while walking around downtown. There is enough seating for 10 people to dine in, though Goose and Gander is not itself a restaurant.

“This is going to be that Broadway storefront that, to me, can be a community space,” Schaaf said. “… This will be the central hub of everything.”

The Schaafs aim to host classes, events and drink tastings at Goose and Gander starting in the late summer and fall. After decades operating restaurants, Schaaf said running a retail business would be quite the change.

“I want to take chances. If I’m doing a business, what I want in a business is to bring something different to town. I want to challenge myself and my team, which in this case my family is my team, and I want to challenge the region,” he said.

They originally had another location for the store in mind, but wanted to have a location locals and tourists alike could traverse to, so they decided on the 437 Broadway spot across from Scout Hall and near the Courtyard Cape Girardeau Downtown hotel.

“Our family is known for being quirky so we wanted a quirky little shop that catered to a wide, broad audience that had a little bit of everything,” Schaaf said.

Goose and Gander is open Thursday to Saturday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., though they will stay open later for community events such as Tunes at Twilight. Green said the store will most likely be open on Wednesday starting in mid-July and possibly Tuesday as well.

Do you want more business news? Check out B Magazine, and the B Magazine email newsletter. Go to www.semissourian.com/newsletters to find out more.