I wanna talk about something a lot of people miss in business and in life. Years ago, people bought products. Now they buy experiences. Think about it. You can buy groceries anywhere. You can buy coffee anywhere. You can buy clothes anywhere. But the brands that win the ones people drive past five other [00:01:00] options to get, they create an experience.

I was coaching a business owner a while back, successful guy, good product, solid reputation, but its growth. I stalled. He kept focusing on the product and proving it, tweaking it, pricing, adjusting, marketing. So I asked him a different question, what experience are people having when they walk through your door?

He paused because he realized something. His product was good, but the experience was average. So we got to work. We changed how his team greeted customers. We changed the follow up process. We focused on making every interaction feel intentional and personal. Within a few months, something interesting happened.

Customers started referring more people. Reviews started climbing, revenue followed. Nothing magical happened to the product. The experience changed. This applies way beyond business. The athletes I coach that perform at the highest level, they don’t just show up to compete. They create an experience through their preparation.

’cause pressure doesn’t create confidence. It exposes preparation. And preparation builds the experience you deliver to the world. So here’s the question. Squad, when people interact with you, your business, your leadership, your performance, what experience are they having? ’cause in today’s world, people don’t just remember what you sell.

They remember how you made you feel. And today I gotten [00:02:00] in studio, a homie from Michigan actually probably grew up together back there. Probably did. Yes. Redefining what a modern grocery and dining experience can look like. Mark Jonas, the co-founder of Plum Market, a fast growing brand that has taken the idea of a neighborhood market and turned it into something bigger.

Mark brings more than 30 years experience in the food, wine, and beverage industry, and since launching Plum Market in 2007. He and his team have built it into a nationally recognized brand with 35 plus locations across retail stores, airports and hospitality venues across the United States. And then here’s the exciting part for our local listeners, and especially less than a mile from my place, plum Market is opening a brand new location right here in Palm Beach Gardens, bringing its signature mix of natural.

In organic grocery chef crafted prepared foods, curated wines, and elevated hospitality to Palm Beach County. Mark is known for spotting trends, early champion local produces, and building a company culture focused on quality service and innovation in the food world. So today we’re gonna dive into entrepreneurship, scaling a premium brand nationwide, the future of food, retail, and why Palm Beach [00:03:00] Gardens is a perfect next step for the Plum market.

And Mark. Thank you so much for coming on, brother. 

Marc Jonna: It’s awesome to be here. 

Coach Fergie : This is, we know so many common people, and I don’t think we’ve ever met, we might have crossed paths somewhere, 

Marc Jonna: is that you look familiar. 

Coach Fergie : Everybody 

Marc Jonna: says that. 

Coach Fergie : Maybe at the Skyline Club in Southfield or something like, oh, remember 

Marc Jonna: that spot?

Coach Fergie : Yeah. That’s where we wanted to be seen back. Exactly right. 

Marc Jonna: Great spot. 

Coach Fergie : Mark Plum Market is known for incredible food, wine, and prepared meals. So I’ve gotta ask when you’re off the clock, right? 

Marc Jonna: Yep. 

Coach Fergie : And not at one of your stores. What’s your go-to meal or guilty pleasure food.

Marc Jonna: Oh, guilty pleasure food. Definitely. I love pasta. 

Coach Fergie : Pasta too. 

Marc Jonna: I’m a big fan of it. This 

Coach Fergie : guy looks like he can run a marathon tomorrow. How much pasta do you eat that Organic, like non fortified? 

Marc Jonna: Yeah. I eat the really good Italian pasta that has the indentations in it. So the sauce? Yes. Like the really good dente one.

My wife is Greek, so she does great sauces with it. But I’m a big fan of that type of Mediterranean food and Italian food. 

Coach Fergie : Yeah. It’s good. I went to Italy it was before the virus hit us, [00:04:00] but, I actually had a pack of those orange crackers with peanut butter on it, oh, 

Marc Jonna: yeah. Yeah. 

Coach Fergie : And I thought, they said, do you have anything to declare? And I was like, no. They said, they went through the bag and they’re like, what’s this? And they’re like, we don’t allow this crap in our country. Because you see all these Italians. Oh yeah. They eat bread and pasta every day.

Marc Jonna: Yes. 

Coach Fergie : Yet they’re lean like you. 

Marc Jonna: Yep. 

Coach Fergie : They’re all in shape and it’s just crazy. I went there, I weighed less than when I came back. 

Marc Jonna: Exactly. 

Coach Fergie : And that’s what you put out at Plum Market, don’t you? You put out healthy food that’s more organic and not that’s gonna inflame your body. I know that’s important to you.

Marc Jonna: Yeah. You know what people wanna have an area where you can have really great food, the right, and you, but you want to fill wellness, right? So how do you get the combination of both? Start with the highest quality ingredients. Love it. And in America, it’s starting to take note, the younger generation, because of.

The internet and ai now they can find out anything about any food or transparency. Take a 

picture 

Marc Jonna: of it and the calorie content. You know the ingredients and why would you buy a, anything that you can’t pronounce it on ingredients or the ingredients are like 30 [00:05:00] ingredients long.

Those two things scare the hell out of me. Me too. The less ingredients and the ingredients you notice, that recognize then you’re eating healthier food. 

Coach Fergie : Absolutely. You launched the store in 2007, the first one, right? Yes. The OG one. The one I told you I went to, or Lake and Maple there in, in 

Marc Jonna: actually the Maple last year was, but that was Oh, maple last year.

Yeah. That was our first one. 

Coach Fergie : That’s right. Okay. You open up with a vision center around natural, organic, and locally sourced foods. Yep. What did you see in the market back then that made you believe this concept would. Exploded. Because you were an og. Yes. There wasn’t we where you and I lived?

Yeah. There was no Whole Foods. Yeah. There was, I think maybe a Trader Joe’s was working its way in there, but still a lot of that stuff’s boxed. What was, what did you see? 

Marc Jonna: What I saw is this is my family business got bought in 98 by Whole Foods. 

Coach Fergie : Okay. 

Marc Jonna: It was seven stores. I was running it with my brother Matt.

Coach Fergie : Really? 

Marc Jonna: And so 

Coach Fergie : what was, wait minute, what was the name of the store? 

Marc Jonna: Merchant Ofo. 

Coach Fergie : Really? That was your family? 

Marc Jonna: Yeah, that’s my family. No way, Julia. Yeah. Oh, that’s okay. And Matt and I helped grow that business with my sister Monica. And so I worked for Whole Foods during my [00:06:00] non-compete was their national wine bar ’cause they didn’t know how to do wine.

My brother was in national operations, but we got exposed to how people should be eating more natural, organic, local. Higher quality that we were missing. And so just the light bulb went on. I was the Fruit Loops TV dinner kid back then, and all of a sudden the light switch turned on.

I got exposed and I just went cold Turkey. Nice. So it’s been over 30 years where I’m eating healthy, feeling great. My, I just got my blood test and it says I’m a lot younger than I look. Great. Yes. So that’s amazing. Wellness is becoming huge. So I think Matt and I were just ahead of the trend in the Midwest.

Sure. But in the west coast and east coast, everything started before us. And we have a lot of sophisticated people, especially here in Florida. There’s a lot of people from the east coast, everywhere. Moving to Florida. Florida’s the hotspot, right? 

Coach Fergie : It is. It is. And hopefully not too many more people come.

I’m kidding. Guy’s getting crowd. People coming into town today, they’re like, Fergie, we’re gonna do that. I’m like. Wait a minute I live where you vacation. I still gotta work. 

Marc Jonna: Exactly. Exactly. 

Coach Fergie : So now you get to come down here and work though. 

Marc Jonna: Yeah, [00:07:00] exactly. Which I love it. I love it. 

Coach Fergie : But you said the phone call at home to your wife was like, oh yeah, she’s 

Marc Jonna: freezing up there and I don’t see what I’m outside jogging.

Coach Fergie : So it’s grown to 30 plus locations, which is just phenomenal across. Grocery travel, food service. Yes. Like I’ve seen you in kiosk. I believe in Metro Airport. Seen Metro Airport. Yes. I’ve we’re getting two 

Marc Jonna: in your airport. 

Coach Fergie : Oh, in P 

Marc Jonna: terminal. P in terminal C. No 

Coach Fergie : way. 

Marc Jonna: Yeah. Really? Oh yeah. Oh yeah. 

Coach Fergie : In PBI or 

Marc Jonna: PBI.

Coach Fergie : Wow. 

Marc Jonna: Oh yeah. They love 

Coach Fergie : it. It’s amazing. Yes. So what’re excited? What was the moment when you realized that this wasn’t just a local Michigan concept? What was that like? Bro, we’re gonna, 

Marc Jonna: oh, the minute we started it, pride, you’re in Midwest, you’re from Michigan. Where I’m from. We’re a secret.

We have great clients there. People are well traveled, sophisticated, they taught us a lot. Yes. And my aunt and I traveled the world to find out what was going on. And when you can bring it back to areas that don’t have a lot of it, they support you tenfold. Wow. So it was so cool. Like you can be a big fish right.

In the Midwest and in Florida. In LA and New York. There’s so many, I think we’re a school, if not better. But because we’re not from there, [00:08:00] we always have to be. Like the underdog, but it’s like in sports, you love to have that chip in your shoulder. It makes me more, more more competitive in a good way.

Coach Fergie : It’s funny, I tell people like, go to a Detroit tailgate. 

Marc Jonna: Yeah. 

Coach Fergie : Oh yeah. It’s it’s way different. It’s an experience. Oh 

Marc Jonna: it’s 

Coach Fergie : versus because talk about passion with Brian, our producer about, having the pistons, red wing and tigers. Literally you can throw a rock at each one of their stadiums.

Oh yeah. Pretty much. It’s a great spot. It’s a beautiful area, right? Yeah. Let’s talk about Palm Beach Gardens here. You could have expanded into other markets, but why PBG? This is like when I moved here. 

Marc Jonna: Yep. 

Coach Fergie : I knew one person from Michigan, like our people are over on the west side.

Marc Jonna: Yeah. 

Coach Fergie : Naples, Fort Myers and stuff like that. 

Marc Jonna: Yeah. 

Coach Fergie : So what made you pick PBG? What made 

Marc Jonna: you pick No we wanted to have a second store. First store is in Aventura. 

Coach Fergie : That’s right. Yes. 

Marc Jonna: So North Miami Beach area. And it’s doing well. And we wanted to have a second store in Florida. We’ve been looking. You know the Gables, coconut Grove that toward that area, or we looked all the way up to Palm Beach Gardens and every time my brother would call me, he goes, this Palm Beach Gardens [00:09:00] feels like home.

It feels like Birmingham. These people are cool, they’re sophisticated, and if we bring something cool to them it’s gonna, people from West Palm, Jupiter, Stewart. Palm Beach are all gonna come to us. It’s not that far. So we just felt like it was the right spot. We got hit a home run location.

Emily loves it because you can park there. It’s easy access. And it’s 30,000 square feet. It’s gonna be an absolutely stunning story. 

Coach Fergie : Yes. And the Emily speaking with, she’s actually in studio today. She’s the best PR rep in Palm Beach County by 

Marc Jonna: 10. 10 

Coach Fergie : bar? Yeah. Bar none. And so she’s clutch and bringing me awesome 

Marc Jonna: guests like yourself.

Yeah. She’s big fan. She’s a plum promoter. And 

Coach Fergie : love it. 

Marc Jonna: I love about Emily is I think that she loves her clients, what she does, 

Coach Fergie : right? 

Marc Jonna: She takes a personal interest and it’s not just a job, it’s her passion. It’s her passion. So I don’t even have to tell her what to do. She tells me 

Coach Fergie : we have the best coffees.

Yeah, that’s right. The gardens location store is expect to create about 150 jobs. 

Marc Jonna: Oh 

Coach Fergie : yeah, absolutely. 30,000 square foot 

Marc Jonna: feet. 

Coach Fergie : Okay. 

Marc Jonna: So we’re still hiring some more key positions. 

Coach Fergie : Oh, nice. Come 

Marc Jonna: on in. 

Coach Fergie : Yeah. Okay. I’ll put that link spot in the show notes here. When you enter a new city, what are the first things you [00:10:00] focus on to become part of the fabric of the city?

Yes. Because again, like I know Birmingham and I know this and I know that it’s perfect mesh. Yeah. But what do you kinda look for as you’re moving into a city? 

Marc Jonna: We wanted to be a neighborhood market in the community. So we look for local producers right away to help ’em. And we look at local charities.

We just did place of Pope that had 700 people. We did a elevated wine table. We brought our master Salmonier. Made Andon, okay. And our wine team. And we did these highend wines when you walked in for the first hour. It was a great way to give back to the charity, which is amazing, Lisa. I hope so. And it’s a great way to get exposure, that plums coming in, right?

If you really want to be connected to community, you gotta give, 

Coach Fergie : right? 

Marc Jonna: You can’t just take. 

Coach Fergie : Love it. And with your brother, correct? 

Marc Jonna: My brother. Matt. Jon? Yeah. Matt. Matt. Matt’s like the CEO. He does all the business stuff. Okay. Development. We’ve been partners from day one. He’s the best. 

Coach Fergie : Where did you guys grow up?

Grow up, if you don’t 

Marc Jonna: mind asking. We grew up in West Bloomfield, Michigan. 

Coach Fergie : In West Bloomfield? 

Marc Jonna: Yeah. 

Coach Fergie : Okay. 

Marc Jonna: Right where you were? 

Coach Fergie : Yeah. Like right there. Actually, I went to school in Plymouth. I went to Plymouth, Canton. 

Marc Jonna: Oh [00:11:00] yeah. 

Coach Fergie : Okay. Remember there’s Canton and Salem all on Absolute the same campus, right?

Yep. But I went there and but most of my time growing up I kinda lived off of Orchard Lake. 

Marc Jonna: Yeah, 

Coach Fergie : you kinda went up. There used to be a personal trainer, Peter Nielsen’s gym. Oh 

Marc Jonna: yeah. And stuff like he’s a great guy. 

Coach Fergie : Oh yeah. Because Peter involved in any of your plum store. 

Marc Jonna: He isn’t, but he is, always sending clients princip.

Yeah. Oh yeah. He’s health before it started. 

Coach Fergie : Oh my gosh. Yeah. Oh yeah. Amazing meeting gentleman. And squad. We are going to take a real quick break though to my sponsor, Steve Austin with Rise Mortgage. And also I want to give a real quick shout out to our troops out there. My fellow veterans, they’re out there doing the deed, Godspeed and prayers to you and Steve, please take it away.

Steve Austin (SHOW SPONSOR): Thanks Scott. Happy Saturday everyone. This is Steve Austin with the Rise Mortgage Dynamic Team. With the mortgage market tip of the week. We have been seeing a noticeable pickup in the housing market and when homes move fast. Slow buyers lose preparation lets you act without panic. As things continue to heat up, don’t let a lack of preparation be the reason you miss out on your dream home.

To get prepared the [00:12:00] right way, give us a call at (561) 250-6044. That’s 5 6 1 2 5 0 6 0 4 4. That’s it for this week. This is Steve Austin, your branch manager, NMLS 7 6 2 3 2 8. With the Rise mortgage Dynamic team, NMLS. 1 6 0 4. 6 6 3. An equal housing lender, 

Joel Malkin: are you looking to finance your dream home vacation getaway, or an investment property?

The Rise Mortgage Dynamic team and company is here to help Steve Austin and his team, they’re expert loan advisors, combine local knowledge with cutting edge technology to make your financing process efficient and seamless. Whether it’s your first home or your next investment, trust Steve Austin. And the Rise Mortgage Dynamic team and company to guide you every step of the way.

Visit them today and experience the perfect blend of technology and personal touch. Steve Austin’s Rise Mortgage Dynamic team. Your local experts in residential financing. Call [00:13:00] Steve today at (561) 352-9278. That’s 5 6 1 3 5 2 9 2 7 8 5 6 1 3 5 2 9 2 7 8 and MLS number 1 6 0 4 6 6 3. 

Coach Fergie : Hey Steve, thank you so much for the awesome update.

Actually it is. It’s getting better out there with the mortgages and markets and the rates and stuff, so thank you very much, Steve. Blessed to have you as a sponsor, mark. Take me to this experience in the store. We’re walking in, what do we expect when we walk in the store? Because again, being a transplant from the Midwest down here and this is not a knock, but it’s, the friendliness is not a what I Yeah.

Was used to back home. 

Marc Jonna: Yep. 

Coach Fergie : Okay. So what do we expect when we walk into alum market? It’s 

Marc Jonna: a great question. I love doing this. So the first thing you do is you walk in, you’re gonna walk into this beautiful festival, and we have this. This stripes of the colors of the area, you’re gonna notice a really cool it is field that we fit the area and feel like Palm Beach Gardens of Palm Beach 

Coach Fergie : love that.

Marc Jonna: And we have all these [00:14:00] unique specials. It’s seasonal deals or how they things and features of new items that you get to see. So the treasure hunt starts right when you walk in the door. 

Coach Fergie : Wow. 

Marc Jonna: And then right when you walk in the door, the first thing I love is our fresh produce. It’s all selected seven days a week from our buyers.

He and stacked the highest quality organic and 

Coach Fergie : Right. 

Marc Jonna: And the produce just, 

Coach Fergie : it’s all within 300 miles from here. All the produce 

Marc Jonna: is, we have local, we have a Taste Florida that’s, that is local, but then we have. Organic that comes from California, like strawberries and all that. Yeah. You try 

Coach Fergie : to source a lot 

Marc Jonna: locally.

Try to sell, like right now we got four strawberries coming into our stores, which is awesome. That’s awesome. So you see this produce, it’s hand stacked, it’s colorful, it’s good, better, best. We only sell the best, right? So if the best grapes, the best strawberries, the best cold pressed juices, hand cut fruit that we do in our stores.

So it’s amazing when you see that, right? And it get you thinking about the season, 

Coach Fergie : right? 

Marc Jonna: And then you walk into. If you see meat and seafood, it’s all natural meat. Diamond Ranch, be Evans Air Chilled chicken. [00:15:00] Sustainable seafood. The highest quality? Yes. That you can get fresh again seven days a week and to the right, a beautiful wine department in a service center, in a wine cellar.

We have a great wine selection, right? It’s created by a master sommelier. Madeline Trant has always trained me in our teams to create a really cool, unique selection. Who did Master Somme? 

Coach Fergie : Do Steven Rocky’s restaurant back? Oh yeah. I that when I was. Fine dining. Yeah. When I was putting myself through the real estate grind, building my business in 19 98, 99 I that guy came in and did that.

Yeah, he did. He did a wine tasting for us to be able to tell, 

Marc Jonna: so we have a tasting table. We’re gonna do tastings in a store all the time. That’s awesome. You’re gonna hang out. This is an experience, like you say earlier, life is an experience, right? That’s what plum is. So then you see the sympathic area of all the supplements, body care, beautiful products, right?

Then you have a huge selection of grocery and dairy and frozen of natural, organic, local and specialty products. Love it. And then you turn the corner and it’s prepared foods like you’ve never seen in the store. It’s awesome. This is fine dining? 

Coach Fergie : Yes. 

Marc Jonna: Right there. We use [00:16:00] higher quality. Food meats and vegetables than most restaurants.

This is like insane and it’s food cooked from scratch. Inhouse. My mom, Juliette, Jonah, she had Juliette cuisine. She taught us the FM day one. We always had kitchens. Even our airports. 

Coach Fergie : Yeah. 

Marc Jonna: Our piston performance center, wherever we go offices, we have our own kitchens. Gotcha. Everything’s not out of our bag.

It’s cooked from scratch for the highest quality ingredients. Then local bakeries that you’ve never seen before, and then it’s just really killer. A floral department that you can get beautiful arrangements made in-house with gift cards, seize candy, newhouse chocolates. Wow. Then you go back to the front again.

You have this checkout area. You have a beautiful seating indoor out area, and the store is absolutely beautiful. It’s sophisticated. You have minimal, the true stars are, our team members are service. They like the four seasons of service. In hospitality. The brands. We don’t sell private labels.

Everything has transparency. Love this. The story of And a passionate producer. 

Coach Fergie : Yeah. 

Marc Jonna: That’s what we do at Plum Market. 

Coach Fergie : How about education there? Meaning the people that if someone was to go in there and someone was to ask [00:17:00] about some of the fantastic things you just mentioned. 

Marc Jonna: Yeah. 

Coach Fergie : Are the people that employees be trained.

A rock on explaining. Alright, I’m gonna tell you something you know too. Okay. Erman. 

Yeah. 

Marc Jonna: Oh yeah. 

Coach Fergie : Zingerman’s. 

Marc Jonna: Yeah. You know 

Coach Fergie : you’re having bread there? 

Marc Jonna: No. We don’t have their bread we have in Michigan. Okay. Because it was too far. 

Coach Fergie : Yeah. 

Marc Jonna: But they did our training program from day one, zing Crane.

Coach Fergie : Wow. 

Marc Jonna: Because we said they had the best training in the planet, and then when we learned it, it was like a sourdough starter. We started our own training program. And we give, we don’t have customers, we have guests because we want everybody to get that little extra 1%. Yeah. We don’t have employees. We have team members.

We empower them to make decisions. Every buyer in every department is like running its own fruit market or floral shop or a kitchen. It’s insane. It’s, so the thing is, you’re gonna walk through the store and say, are these people on happy pills? I’m getting incredible guest service. And that people say they do.

Coach Fergie : That is so what we need here, I’m telling you right now. 

Marc Jonna: Yeah. 

Coach Fergie : So that you, there’s very few places that I go for an experience. It’s like I, I wanna make people smile. Yeah. I make two years’ resolutions every year. Yeah. One to make someone smile every day. [00:18:00] I love that. And it’s hard here sometimes.

Marc Jonna: Love that. Yep. 

Coach Fergie : And the second one is, unless I hurt you, disrespect you. Oh, you’re judge. I don’t care what you think about me, it’s like one of my things. But that’s so great that you’re having the education now. Are you bringing like experienced employees from other stores into the 

Marc Jonna: store to kinda 

Coach Fergie : open 

Marc Jonna: it or, so yeah, we have experienced teams, so we have layers and it’s a gold team that comes in and trains each team.

We have directors and they come in and they help it. Okay. Absolutely. ’cause you need to start that. It’s like coaches. It really becomes contagious and the culture just is just staggering, right? So it’s just a great, we’re taking the shopping chore and making an experience.

So you wanna go there? People wanna go to the pub four or five times a week, see their friends, hang out, go to the tasting table, have a glass of wine, go get cold, fresh shoes, buy some great foods. And see all their friends. It’s like a little community. 

Coach Fergie : It’s literally walking this, I live in a community called Cien Oaks and it’s at Prosperity.

Marc Jonna: Oh yeah. 

Coach Fergie : In Burns Road where you’re literally a half mile. So yeah. PJ Boulevard and I will be there. 

Marc Jonna: Yeah. 

Coach Fergie : Like a lot. Yeah. PJ is Boulevard here, [00:19:00] so that, that’s amazing. So when. The food trends they do move fast. 

Marc Jonna: Yes. 

Coach Fergie : Organic, plant-based, functional, they change, they flip up and whatnot.

But what grocery trend do you think is coming next that like you are maybe ahead of the curve on like you kinda see coming? Okay. That maybe we can introduce if you’re allowed to talk about it. Yeah. ’cause I know it might be strategic. 

Marc Jonna: No, that’s no state secret here. ’cause we always want, innovation is a big part of our business is one of our guiding principles.

So right now people need. Fiber rich foods, they need high proteins. They need things that are good for their gut. They need things that are low sugar. They watching the calorie content and integrity of ingredients. So that’s what you get in Plum. And that trend is becoming huge. Like I just launched yesterday, our Asian miracle noodles.

Wow. In the stores, in our prepared foods outside of la there’s nobody doing this. 

Coach Fergie : Tell me about that. 

Marc Jonna: Because we were talking 

Coach Fergie : about Mike, 

Marc Jonna: so it’s awesome. It’s a, it came from Japan. And a Dr. Cart saw it. It was called a different name, but he said, God, this is a me noodle. It’s 90% water, 10% [00:20:00] fiber, no carbohydrates.

It fills you up. It tastes great, and it’s good for your gut and low sugar. So we took it and did this beautiful Asian garlic sauce on it. We’d have it in our code counter. We’re gonna do it once a week in our hot counter and we also have for grab and go. I put it in the store yesterday. We couldn’t keep it in stock.

Coach Fergie : Wow. Wow. 

Marc Jonna: Keep it in stock. And it wasn’t available for me to buy it in bulk. I figured it out with 13. So that’s what Pump does. We’ll bring the trends to you that we really believe are for a lifestyle. I always tell people I don’t believe in diets. ’cause the first three letters are 

Coach Fergie : die.

Marc Jonna: I believe in lifestyle. Exactly. So I can see you. That you live your lifestyle. That’s what makes you who you are and that’s what people today want. Wellness. They wanna live a great lifestyle and they wanna feel happy. 

Coach Fergie : Transparency 

Marc Jonna: a hundred 

Coach Fergie : percent. They wanna see that. See what is, and I love, and one thing I notice about Plum marketing, and correct me if I’m wrong, like a lot of times if I go to another major store or something, like I sh yeah, I shop the perimeter.

I don’t go to the middle aisles. I want to, don’t get me wrong, ’cause those frosted, whatever, sounds good. At Plum Market, pretty much [00:21:00] every aisle is. Good for you, for lack 

Marc Jonna: of a better oh yeah. We have every has natural, organic, local products. We have a few gourmet products so we sprinkle ’em in.

Coach Fergie : Yeah. 

Marc Jonna: But it’s awesome. And one thing we learned here in Florida, you guys are BOGO crazy, so we created a huge BOGO program. Yeah. They’re really cool. They do really well. We a membership 

Coach Fergie : program with 

Marc Jonna: plumbing. We have a great loyalty program. Okay. Thank you for asking. Our loyalty program is insane.

The people that take care of us get the most deals and offers all the time. You can sign up now, go online. If you sign up at Palm Beach Gardens store right now, you get $10 off your first purchase and 10% Okay. Your first weekend. So you should definitely go do that. Go to our website and download the app to Market App.

Okay. And then pick Palm Beach Gardens as your store and you get those offers before. 

Coach Fergie : Oh wow. That’s beautiful. I’ve gotta take you back in time then. And also, another thing, a quick shout out to Sean Mack graduated with, I can’t believe with him, David, small world. He’s like Chef Sean. Sorry buddy.

Marc Jonna: Yeah. 

Coach Fergie : The amazing human being. Love that kid like a brother, man. Yeah. Then you know him, right? So he runs, I wanted to hear this. I wanna send it to him. Let him hear it. 

Marc Jonna: The Detroit Pistons [00:22:00] came to us. Yeah. Because they said they wanted to be the athletes higher quality. And we started their program.

And we haven’t stopped. And we, first chef we brought in was Sean. Matt. Yeah. And he’s been running the piston performance center. So we feed the players every day at the performance center and at the stadium now. ’cause they like the food so much. And the owner suites. 

Coach Fergie : Wow. 

Marc Jonna: So Sean is. Amazing. Amazing. And Pistons are in first place.

So yes, it’s fueled by Plum and Sean. 

Coach Fergie : No, I absolutely love Sean Mack. He was the, he never seen him without a smile. 

Marc Jonna: Oh my God. 

Coach Fergie : Yeah. Ever. So Sean, it’s good to see you, man. Get your butt down here. So let’s go back to have you’ve seen the movie Back to the Future? 

Marc Jonna: Absolutely. 

Coach Fergie : Let’s go back to the double deuce.

Let’s get Delore, Marty McFly. Go back to 22-year-old. What knowledge nuggets with what you know now. Would you tell yourself not to change anything? ’cause your guys, your trajectory has been pretty awesome, 

Marc Jonna: right? 

Coach Fergie : But what might you do to shorten a learning curve? A little bit. 

Marc Jonna: I think travel. Travel like crazy.

Coach Fergie : Thank you. 

Marc Jonna: Yes. Is unbelievable. When you travel anywhere in the world, 

Coach Fergie : yes. 

Marc Jonna: You’ll learn things so fast. 

Coach Fergie : Yes. 

Marc Jonna: You can read any, you can read a [00:23:00] lot. But when you go there and experience it firsthand, experience 

Coach Fergie : it, 

Marc Jonna: it’s insane. I, every memory I’ve had to learn about something. The best memories are from travel 

Coach Fergie : traveling.

Absolutely. 

Marc Jonna: Yeah. 

Coach Fergie : Yeah. That’s one thing. In, in the military I was blessed to hit 36 countries during that time. Wow. And I’ve went back and hit seven since I’ve been a civilian. Yeah. But that absolutely, I a hundred percent agree with that. Get culture to get traveled. So how do you want your dash remembered a little line in between your incarnation date and your expiration date?

Yeah, 

Marc Jonna: that’s a great question. My dad’s dash, I would say would be legacy ’cause he’s third, we’re third generation grocers. Okay. And he’s awesome. I think he’s left a legacy ’cause his sons have carried it on. And it’d be great if the next generation of donors did that too for us. I just wanna be known as authentic.

Because everything I do, whether it’s my family or with the people I work with, or vendors I work with, I want people to say, you know what, he was real. He actually walked the talk. 

Coach Fergie : Yes. 

Marc Jonna: And he did what he said. He made a difference the right way. So I think there’s so many people that you say, are really authentic or not.

They sound like they’re a salesman, right? I don’t wanna be known for that. I want [00:24:00] people to really know the passion and kind of the love that I have for this. I love 

Coach Fergie : talking to you ’cause you do things for the intention and not the attention. 

Marc Jonna: Exactly. 

Coach Fergie : So I really love to see this, like what you’re doing.

You’re not like, oh, look at us. We got Lambos parked outside of our, store, which is great if you do. 

Marc Jonna: Yeah. 

Coach Fergie : But you’re not like, you’re like, listen, this is the product we have. It’s gonna make you feel great. 

Marc Jonna: Yeah. 

Coach Fergie : You’re not a, you even said you’re not a customer, you’re a guest. 

Marc Jonna: Exactly. 

Coach Fergie : When you go in the store, which is absolutely huge here.

So how can we find you? 

Marc Jonna: So we’re right on PJ Boulevard in prosperity. We’re right next to TJ Maxx, which is a big one here, or the old Bed. Bath and Beyond. 

Coach Fergie : Yes. Location, old Bed, bath and 

Marc Jonna: Beyond. That’s what everybody says it when they say, oh, I know where you are. It’s right there. That whole area 

Coach Fergie : is lovely up, man, because Waterway Cafe was junk.

Marc Jonna: It’s right behind 

us. 

Coach Fergie : Yes. Now it’s amazing. Oh yeah. Like they’ve changed everything. It’s where I hold any event when people come to town. View too. 

Marc Jonna: It’s a great view. Yeah. It’s 

Coach Fergie : on the water. 

Marc Jonna: Yeah. The new Ritz too, you can see it across. 

Coach Fergie : Yes. Yes. So is there a phone number to the Garden store yet or is it better just to go online download, go online, download the app, 

Marc Jonna: [00:25:00] do that.

Yep. And you get all the information. That’s the best way to 

Coach Fergie : do 

Marc Jonna: it. Okay. 

Coach Fergie : Absolutely. Excellent. Excellent. I’m going to put the, all that information in the show notes squad. And that way they can find you. So you’re heading back to the Mitten now, right? Yeah, 

Marc Jonna: I am. Yeah, 

Coach Fergie : I am. Okay. And is it cold up there?

Marc Jonna: Oh, it’s cold. Yeah, 

Coach Fergie : it’s 

Marc Jonna: cold. I gotta say it. It’s still winter. It’s still winter right 

Coach Fergie : now. I love it. Now, thank you so much for coming in, brother. 

Marc Jonna: Yeah. I love what you do, coach. Thanks. It’s great. You get me fired up to do even better job today. 

Coach Fergie : Appreciate you. No, I appreciate you. Thank you Emily, for again, coming in Clutch.

I say it to you all the time, probably sick of that word for me. My producer Brian Mutt, and again, another shout out to my fellow veterans. That are out there doing the deed, just please be safe out there. Okay guys, and to our local people here in Palm Beach County, absolutely love your gut to get after it.

Be great.