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Sonnenberg's Market & Deli Inc. is a mouth-watering heaven for meat lovers.
From one end of its 75-foot meat counter to the other, the selection at this small East Spokane store seems endless. Whether it's a thick T-bone steak, a juicy turkey or ham, links of smoked sausage, freshly sliced bacon, or even ostrich meat, there's something for just about every carnivorous taste bud.
It's been that way at this intimate meat market and grocery for more than a century, despite a series of ownership and name changes over the years, say Clyde and Lucy Sonnenberg, who bought the store 14 years ago when it was on a downhill slide.
The market, they say, has faced its greatest challenge in recent decades, as big supermarket chains have fought here for market share, and in the process gobbled up some of the customers of mom-and-pop stores such as Sonnenberg's.
The success of Sonnenberg's, which occupies a 10,000-square-foot building at 1528 E. Sprague, proves that small stores can compete with the chains if they're willing to focus on and stick with a niche, Clyde Sonnenberg says.
Knowing that they couldn't provide the grocery selection of a chain--in fact their entire grocery inventory would...