July Update

Architecture and Brand Design

We had major milestones in both architecture and brand design in July! It has been really nice to have both architecture and brand managed by the Michael Hsu Office of Architecture team to keep our designs moving in parallel and with cohesion.

On the architecture side we submitted construction documents for permit approval, which the entire project has been driving towards since we started in March. There is still some refinement to hand off the documents to our general contractor, but we’re now well on our way to start construction soon. We expect to start demo in mid-August and construction in September if permit approvals don't take too long. Can’t wait to start sharing build-out photos in the coming months!

Matching the progress with architecture, the visual design team shared a final draft of Radius branding. Logos, colors, illustrations, typography, and other lovely details are now ready, and we’ll start using them on the website and incorporating them into shop elements like butcher paper, shopping bags, murals, aprons, recipe cards, and so many more fun items we’re sweating the details on. The design team did an amazing job to integrate natural elements into a brand that we hope is timeless.

These photos are just a few components of the brand kit; we'll wait to share the other elements once the store is open and you can see them in person :) Expect lots of little design details that show how much we care about every element of the store — from architecture and brand design to product sourcing and quality to customer service and education. We scrutinize every detail!

Sourcing

Unlike most of America, summer is Texas's agricultural "off season". We don't have harsh winters, but we do have intense summers. There's still a lot growing during summer, but there's less variety than other seasons. July highlights peppers (lots of peppers), squash, eggplant, tomatoes, melons, and peaches. Fortunately even in the "off season", Texas has a bounty of tasty fruit and vegetables. Joe and I had a lot of fun together preparing a farm-to-table family feast using wonderful produce from Steelbow Farm and Farm-to-Table TX.

The most fun part of farm-to-table shopping and cooking, especially compared to shopping at a conventional grocery store, is access to less common product varieties. We tasted candy cane peppers, gypsy bell peppers, lesya peppers, canary melons, suyo cucumbers, and a bunch of other unique varieties. Almost always these breeds are more flavorful than what you can get at a traditional grocery store, even fancy organic ones. They aren't as mass production and transportation friendly, so grocery chains can't carry them. Fortunately for Radius and our customers, we don't need mass production food! Instead we can focus on selecting varieties that are the grown for nutrition and flavor, rather than the big grocery system that selects varieties for transportation, size, aesthetics, and growth rate.

There are hundreds of varieties of all the food we eat — peppers, carrots, tomatoes, blackberries, chickens, beef — and just like wine there are significant flavor and texture differences between varieties. We are doing a lot of research to find the most nutritious and delicious Texas-acclimated varieties for all the products we carry at Radius, and we will prominently and proudly show that information to shoppers in the store. Radius will have the abundance and variety of a farmer's market with the convenience of a daily neighborhood grocery.

Speaking of the most nutritious and delicious local providers, we had an amazing visit to Peeler Farms in Floresville, TX last month. The Peeler family raises grass-fed and finished wagyu beef, grass-fed and grain-finished wagyu beef, grass-fed and finished water buffalo, and grass-fed and finished lamb.

Peeler Farms is the only fully grass-fed and finished wagyu beef we've found in Texas, and we can't wait to offer their products. The Peelers go the extra mile on every detail. From their website, "the Peeler Family owns their cattle from birth through finish and processes them at their own USDA processing facility, ensuring complete quality control. The Wagyu cattle come from the highest-quality lineages, benefit from ethical breeding and humane treatment, and are never fed hormones or antibiotics." The Peeler family has raised cattle for over 100 years in South Texas, and Jason is a self-described "grass farmer". Pastures are planted with seasonal grasses, livestock rotationally graze the grass, and the soil regenerates to support the harmony of grass, animal, and soil.

We believe grass-fed and finished Texas wagyu is the peak combination of animal welfare, human nutrition, and eating experience. A wagyu steak from Peeler can have 25%+ intramuscular fat from just eating grass. For other cattle breeds those intramuscular fat percentages are usually only possible with grain-fed finishing, but because of wagyu genetics it's possible with a fully grass-fed, pasture-raised animal. This is the best diet and lifestyle for the animal, and a truly delicious eating experience with grassy, beefy, buttery flavor notes and a gentle texture.

Team

We are very excited to welcome Jamison Miller to the Radius team as our Floor Manager! Jamison has over two decades of grocery experience and has worked at all of the iconic Austin groceries — Central Market, Wheatsville, and Whole Foods. As Floor Manager, Jamison will be responsible for making sure our shelves are stocked and beautiful, and customer service on the floor is warm and approachable. Beyond his ideal grocery experience, Jamison exudes the hospitality personality we look for in all employees. He's a food lover, kind, and eager to teach and learn. He is also a musician and guitar preservationist luthier! We couldn't be more thrilled to have him join the team!

If you or anyone you know is interested in joining the team, we have job openings for a category and data director, butchers, and associates.