A. Caplan Company: If You Cook, Stop and Look

Contributed photos

The central storefront of what is now A. Caplan Company, a commercial and residential kitchen supply company in Waterford, was once one of a successful chain of fast food drive-in restaurants called Dog N' Suds. Caplan's has retained the signature look of the original building.

My husband and I were sitting around the dinner table with our two young kids and, somehow, the conversation turned to the modern death of the perfectly written jingle. We then commenced to blow our kids' minds with pitch-perfect renditions of commercial jingles from the '80s and '90s — recollecting the lyrics and tune to the Juicy Fruit jingle verbatim, for example, came absolutely effortlessly. There's something about a catchy jingle that worms its way into your brain and never (and I mean never) leaves and we pondered why this isn't a tactic more businesses use today.

We then set ourselves the challenge of remembering some local commercial jingles and the first one that popped into my head was, "If you cook, stop and look. Come on out to Caplan's!" You just sang it while reading it, didn't you?

This jingle was first decided upon when the second-generation owner of a kitchen and restaurant supply business, Aaron Caplan, was trying to work out a slogan for his then budding company back in 1981. According to Aaron's son, Luke Caplan, "Dad was sitting around with some chums one night and needed an advertising slogan, and the rest is history. It's such a catchy and good slogan, some people actually think it's the name of the business."

That business, A. Caplan Company, a commercial and retail kitchen equipment supplier, has been a part of the Waterford community for over 40 years, and the building that they occupy has been a part of that same community for a good while longer. One can tell, even just in passing, that the Caplan storefront is unique: it has a mid-century butterfly roofline capping off a large awning covering the parking lot. The original building in the center of the A. Caplan Company footprint was originally built to be a Dog N' Suds franchise in 1967, and was run as such up through the late 1970s.

Dog N' Suds was a national franchise restaurant that got in on the ground floor of the fast food phenomenon that would inevitably sweep the nation. Begun in 1953, the first Dog N' Suds was built in Champaign, Illinois by Don Hamacher and Jim Griggs, who were music professors by trade but wanted to go into business for themselves and opened Dog N' Suds, a hot dog and root beer stand. They had quick success, eventually giving up their day jobs, as Dog N' Suds grew to become one of the most successful fast food chains in the country, with over 650 restaurants across 38 states. Seventy-one years later, there are still 15 Dog N' Suds restaurants in operation, mostly in the Midwest, still holding on to that old-school look and service model.

The Dog N' Suds in Waterford closed its doors in the late 1970s, housing a taco restaurant for a few years, while Aaron Caplan initially set up shop in the old service garage next door, carrying on his father's business of kitchen equipment sales. Aaron's parents, Isadore and Thelma Caplan, worked in the restaurant supply business in Pittsburgh throughout Aaron's childhood and beyond, from 1945 to 1992. Upon coming to Erie County to attend Edinboro University (and meeting his wife Janet there), Aaron Caplan decided to settle in Waterford and continue on Isadore's business model, just a little further north.

The Caplan family enjoys and honors the history of the building by collecting and displaying as much Dog N' Suds vintage merchandise as they can find. Luke Caplan explains, "Sometimes they would serve their food on frisbees instead of plates, and every now and then someone will bring us a Dog N' Suds frisbee. It was the whole drive-in scene — girls came out on skates with the food on trays. They were known for making original, homemade root beer." Atop a wooden root beer barrel in the center of the original building sits dozens of Dog N' Suds mugs and cups, along with a framed Dog N' Suds tray liner that Luke found while digging a fire pit in his yard with his kids. The history is connected with the family, and they are happy to be that connection.

Luke Caplan shows me around the original part of the A. Caplan Company building first, explaining the layout and how it used to be when it was a restaurant. We pass an expansive display of cast iron cookware available in virtually any shape, size, and function, as he leads me into what was the first expansion of the building, and is currently housing their used commercial kitchen equipment. It is a vast swath of stainless steel — sink banks, pizza ovens, massive dough mixers, refrigeration units, industrial sized toasters, salamander ovens (a kind of upgraded broiler), ice cream machines, etc.

The home cook will delight in the interesting and unique stock at A. Caplan Company – there is a vast array of cooking gadgets, equipment, utensils, and more available. It's like the slogan says: if you cook, you really should stop and look.  (Photos: Erin Phillips)

Luke explains that these items are mostly sourced from "grocery stores chains that update or no longer have a use for an item, restaurants going out of business, school cafeterias — at this point people often contact us to come salvage the equipment." He explains why having a large inventory of these items in stock is important, "This industry, especially now with the internet, has become so competitive that having this stuff in stock is so critical. If something goes down, even the internet can't get it to you the same day. But we're able to stay competitive because of that curbside, same-day service."

But the commercial supply part of the business is truly just one side of the coin. The home cook looking for hard-to-find gadgets, quality pots and pans, or someone who is looking for advice on which piece of equipment is best for their needs makes up the other half. Luke explains, "Very literally half of the clientele we get are household people coming in and shopping. We've really worked hard to get past the stereotype that we just sell to restaurants. From the road, you have no idea the place is this big, until you get in here."

And boy, is it big. After Aaron Caplan built on the north addition, they quickly expanded to build on the southern addition which is where they house their home cooking supplies. If you're coming in to shop around, this is where you'll want to start. And if you like to cook or bake, you will feel like a kid in a candy store. There are so many interesting gadgets, many that you likely didn't even know existed, to help make your home-cooking experience more fun, more efficient, and more productive. Everything from pots and pans, to cake molds in any conceivable shape, a whole wall of cookie cutters, cake decorating equipment, bread baking equipment, home preservation and canning equipment, meat processing tools, knives and cutlery, coffee making equipment and carafes, mixers, pickling crocks, glasswares, dinnerware sets (many of which are vintage and look to have been around since the very beginning), cookie jars, cutting boards, utensils, recipe boxes ... if you can think of it and it's related to cooking, A. Caplan Company has it. The Caplan family has worked hard to make shopping a fun and inviting experience. "We want to make it a personal experience and always fun. Fun to be here and fun to shop. We want to make sure that people enjoy being here. We always tell our staff, it's like inviting someone into your home. We want to be good hosts," Luke says.

In addition to kitchen supplies, both commercial and residential, A. Caplan Company is one of the only local resources for knife sharpening in Erie. The first Saturday of every month, Caplan's partners with local knife guru Trevor Vaughan to offer knife sharpening services from 9 a.m. to noon, on site. According to Luke, "Folks can either bring their knives to get sharpened as they shop or drop them off prior and pick them up at their convenience. We have to warn you though, things get quite busy on these Saturday mornings so all knives are not always finished by noon. However, every customer receives a call once their order is complete."

Providing one of the only opportunities for professional knife sharpening locally, A. Caplan Company partners with local knife aficionado, Trevor Vaughan to offer the service once a month. Vaughan sharpens not only knives, but also cleavers, shears, and some garden tools. (Contributed photo)

Prices range from $4 to $6 per knife, depending on blade length and type. "Trevor sharpens more than just knives. He'll do cleavers, some tools like hedge trimmers, household shears, as well as repairing nicks or damage to knives. Trevor is quite the enthusiast and enjoys sharing his knowledge, sharpening process, and knife-collecting hobby with customers on site as he sharpens. Customers also have the opportunity to watch him while he works."

During our tour, we run into Luke's brother James Caplan, who joins our conversation. James used to work in plastics engineering, but decided to come join in to help with the family business a few years back. Their mother, Janet, who retired from years spent as a school teacher, has been working exclusively in the store for nearly 10 years now. "It all just happened kind of naturally. We've got about 16 people on staff. We're very blessed with our staff. They're very dedicated, they all get along, they're very fun to work with. We like to think we treat them well and it's very mutual. They've got our back a lot," Luke reflects.

I ask about the future of the business. Luke and James have six children between them, but, just as their parents never pushed, pressured, or expected them to take over the business, Luke and James are taking the same approach. Luke mentions, "I have one of the verses from the Tao Te Ching hanging on my office wall, and I'll paraphrase, but it says, 'the wise succeed when they don't force an outcome' and that's kind of innately our approach."

As our tour winds down, Luke invites me to take my time and look around. And I do. I stay for at least another hour, browsing all of the interesting curiosities available, listening to the knowledgeable staff answering people's questions, and end up leaving with a few items I didn't expect to find that day. It's really just like that jingle says: if you cook, just stop in and look. You're sure to find something interesting that you didn't know you needed.

A. Caplan Company is located at 12607 Route 19 in Waterford. They can be found at caplancookware.com or by phone at (814) 796-3629

Erin Phillips, when not reciting vintage jingles for her family, can be found at erin@eriereader.com