The Main Gourmet
A FOOD LOVER’S MARKETPLACE
Our Story
About The Main Gourmet
The Main Gourmet is a retail specialty food store, kind of like a gift shop where all the gifts are fun and flavorful foods! We carefully curate our shop, and we hope you will appreciate the values and characteristics we seek in our suppliers and products. Most of our suppliers are small businesses that are family owned, female-, veteran-, or minority-led, who give strong support to their communities. We feature many producers who are located here in Virginia and in nearby Pennsylvania and the Carolinas. On most of our ingredients labels you’ll see clean, all-natural, high-quality, non-GMO ingredients lists with no preservatives, and many are naturally plant-based, gluten free, vegan, low carb, and no added sugars. Of course, in Timmy Jimmy’s Sweet Treats area, you’ll surely find plenty of added sugar, but our focus in that section is to provide a memorable indulgence for you and your family. At The Main Gourmet, we have taken great care to select companies and products that we are proud to offer, and we hope that we’ve created a unique and enjoyable food shopping experience for you!
About Us
Tim and Karen Collier are the owners of The Main Gourmet. We have been married nearly three decades, and have lived and traveled all over the world together. Our favorite food experience took place very early in our marriage, very late at night, after driving for hours through the Vosges Mountains on the boundary between the Alsace and Lorraine regions of France. We arrived at a chalet on the peak of the Route des Crêtes, so tired and so hungry. The innkeeper chuckled at my poor attempt to speak French (“Nous avoir besoin d’une chambre pour le soir”) and told us that he in fact was from Denver and would be happy to give us a room for the night. It being such a late hour though, the kitchen was long-since closed. Nonetheless, he told us to have a seat and he’d go see what he could do. Moments later, our cheerful compatriot presented us with a bottle of Alsatian Pinot Noir and a fare of hard and soft cheeses, crackers and baguettes, and olive oil seasoned with local herbs for dipping. We heartily indulged, and with that our love of all things charcuterie was born. The Main Gourmet pays homage to that memory, and to the food-related memories that we all have, whether we experienced them in our family kitchens or far from home.
About Smithfield and the
Hamtown Mercantile
Smithfield is routinely featured on travel websites’ lists of Best Small Towns in Virginia. It is quaint, historic, charming, friendly, and a wonderful place to visit, whether you’re planning a girls’ weekend, a romantic getaway, or a family vacation. Because Smithfield is also world headquarters for Smithfield Foods – a Fortune 500 company and the world’s largest purveyor of pork products – you’ll be sure to enjoy the locals’ fanciful love of all things pig-shaped and bacon-flavored!
The Hamtown Mercantile, aka The Merc, is located right in the heart of Smithfield’s beautiful Historic Downtown. The Main Gourmet is the anchor store at The Merc, and we are fortunate to share this large indoor shopping space with about three dozen mini boutiques, all of which are family-owned small businesses who together offer visitors a truly unique small-town shopping experience. Where else can you shop for beautifully restored furniture, fun and trendy clothing, hand-crafted knives, vintage vinyl, holistic items for body and home, exquisite infant and children’s clothing, and gourmet food all in one gorgeous space? While you’re visiting, be sure to have an espresso or latte at the coffee shop, and if you need some pampering, the full-service salon offers walk-in cuts, colors, and even mani-pedis. We’ll see you at The Merc!
