Culina, Inc. is a small business based in Lynchburg, Virginia. The corporation was founded in 2006 but did not open its doors until 2008. The reason was because of location. The owner wanted a specific location to support the "feel" of her concept so she waited until the space became vacant. Spending the last 10 years working in France and Germany exposed her to new brands and products not available or with limited availability in the United States. With the opening of Culina, she is able to share the world with her customers.

Staff: Culina is staffed with certified chefs and experienced cooks with expansive knowledge in kitchenware, herbs and spices and ingredients. Many of the staff also teach cooking classes. Staffing with experienced chefs provides the company with a key advantage "experience and knowledge" over the majority of large chain kitchen stores and most webstores on the market today. We are a store, not just a webstore someone created to make money. We have a webstore as an extension of our service to our customers and to aid in broadening our customer base but the best thing in the world is to be able to meet and talk to people.

Customer Service: Superior customer service is the core operating principle of the business. "We are nothing without our customers" can be heard from the owner and any member of the staff. They truly believe this and think nothing of going above and beyond to show their sincerity.

Product: The owner and staff work together to make decisions about product mix. Many of the products are tested in the onsite cooking school. As the owner will tell you, "if its junk, it gets junked and we'll never buy it again". She is passionate about this point. The store's bi-line "the source for serious cooks" is not just made up from nothing. To be taken seriously a kitchen store should not compete with discounters who sell lower end products of well known brands or off brands designed to keep prices down - the customer for these items is not their customer. Quality means value because one only has to buy it once.

Future: The webstore is part of the business plan and the release of it falls right on schedule with the owner's plan. “It is our desire to be THE go to kitchen store, whether in our brick and mortar location or on line, for serious and not so serious cooks”

Customer Confidence: “We stand behind our products 100%. If you are not completely satisfied, return it for full refund. If the item requires return to manufacturer and our customers need help working with them, we are there. If you are our customer, we have a relationship and we will do everything to preserve it”.