The Boulevard Market Verified listing

A shop with a creamery, a salumeria and a chocolate maker behind it.

The Boulevard Market has been on E Chicago Blvd since 2004, and John and Erika Aylward run three production businesses out of it. Four Corners Creamery, started in 2006, uses milk from local farms to make fresh goat cheese, fresh mozzarella and pimento cheese, which sit in the counter next to European classics, seasonal releases and other Michigan cheeses. Ask what came off the bench that week.

Black Pig Salame Co. cures salami in the same building, and is the first licensed fermented dry-cured salame producer in Michigan. Fresh Michigan pork, ground, spiced and stuffed into casing by hand. The range has run to a coarse saucisson with black pepper and garlic, a Tuscan finocchiona with fennel, and a Spanish chorizo built on smoked paprika.

Peppalo Chocolate, going since 2011, is the third: bars stone-ground from Dominican cacao. Three things a town this size has no business having, all behind one counter.

The Boulevard Market sits at the corner of E Chicago Blvd, right in the thick of downtown Tecumseh. It's the kind of stop where you walk in for one thing and end up wandering longer than you planned. The shelves carry organic foods, gifts, chocolates, beers, wines, and a cheese counter that regulars consistently rave about.

Expect a wide range of blue cheeses, some unusual goat cheeses, and a staff that will let you sample before you commit. Beyond cheese, the gourmet selection runs deep: oils, jams, meats, and wines worth asking about. The staff genuinely know what's on the shelves and are happy to walk you through it.

Open six days from 10am to 6pm, with shorter Sunday hours. Curbside pickup is an option if you'd rather grab and go. The whole point of shopping somewhere that actually lives in town. More Tecumseh shopping at mitecumseh.com.