Attributed in varying accounts to either Dutch chemist Coenraad Johannes van Houten or his father, Casparus, the cocoa press squeezed the fatty butter from roasted cacao beans, leaving behind a dry cake that could be pulverized into a fine powder that could be mixed with liquids and other ingredients, poured into molds and solidified into edible, easily digestible chocolate. Olmecs: Americas First Civilization.Ancient Peoples and Places, Thames and Hudson, 2004, https://ehrafarchaeology.yale.edu/document?id=nu95-043. They say they make diverse sorts of it, some hot, some cold, and some temperate, and put therein much of that "chili"; yea, they make paste thereof, the which they say is good for the stomach and against the catarrh. : Made with only the best ingredients, like semi-sweet chocolate chips and flavorful nuts, these homemade-tasting cookies gained fame just by word of mouth.Today, Famous Amos cookies continue to delight true cookie lovers everywhere! Famous Amos Cookies, Bite Size Chocolate Chip & Pecans, 12.4 oz Box, Bite-size cookies with the big flavor of real semi-sweet chocolate chips and crunchy pecans in every irresistible bite, Crispy, crumbly chocolate chip and pecan cookies with a delightful buttery taste; Enjoy 'em by the handful, Baked with care and made with delicious ingredients; Made with semi-sweet chocolate and pecans; Kosher Dairy, A travel-ready food; Makes a tasty snack at work, afternoon pick-me-up at school or late-night treat; Stow in lunchboxes, totes, and backpacks, Includes 1, 12.4-ounce box of ready-to-eat Famous Amos Bite Size Chocolate Chip & Pecan Cookies; Packaged for convenience, freshness, and great taste, FREE Shipping on orders over $25 shipped by Amazon, Product Dimensions [3][18] In 1879, the texture and taste of chocolate was further improved when Rodolphe Lindt invented the conching machine.[36]. After that, the legend grew and grew, and soon the crunchy crave-able cookies were popping up all over the country. Sold @walmart @walgreens @jewel/osco $2.99 and up. Famous Amos Chocolate Chip Cookies - Allrecipes Through their interactions with the shaman, the archaeologists became familiar with the pre-Columbian language of the indigenous Popoluca. Their delicious homemade signature helped them gain fame just by word of mouth. It was said that it gave one power over women, but this I never saw. Sam's Club also sells them online. WATCH: Full episodes ofThe Food That Built Americaonline now. This southeast zone is called the Soconusco and was famous in ancient times as a source of cotton and cacao. Chocolate drinks were an elite beverage. Are you wanting to buy a bag or two? [27] The proposed development x- to ch- is also unexplained. Add in flour, salt, cream of tartar, and baking soda. Oldest Chocolate in the New World, Antiquity, Vol 81, Issue 314, 2007. https://www.antiquity.ac.uk/projgall/powis314/, Smith, Michael Ernest. New Famous Amos Cookie Recipes. All rights reserved. [2] In 1815, Dutch chemist Coenraad van Houten introduced alkaline salts to chocolate, which reduced its bitterness. The root word kakawa was retained by the Spanish colonizers of Mesoamerica to describe the tree and its products. Beat on the lowest speed until just combined. However, since this powder was only found in bowls of higher quality, it led archaeologists to believe that only wealthier people could afford such bowls, and therefore the cacao. Hieroglyphics on Maya murals and ceramics depict this ritualistic pouring of chocolate for rulers and gods. My family and I love these cookies, and we cant get enough. Famous Amos. Came here looking for answers because the new "enhanced" ingredient Belgian cookies are NOT good. Originally prepared only as a drink, chocolate was served as a bitter liquid, mixed with spices or . [16] Some Aztec sacrifice victims who did not wish to join in ritual dancing before their death were usually given a gourd of chocolate to cheer them up. Top subscription boxes right to your door, 1996-2023, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates, Amazon Brand - Happy Belly Premium Chocolate Chip Cookies, 13 Ounce, Learn more how customers reviews work on Amazon. Amos Square was the site of the first Amos Square store. The content on this site is for entertainment and educational purposes only. Chocolate was in general use among the pre-Columbian Aztec and Maya as both a drink and as currency. Cacao trees bear fruit that resemble footballs, with each pod weighing about a pound and containing around 40 seeds, aka cacao beans, enveloped in sweet white pulp. Famous Amos Belgian Chocolate Chip Cookies give our classic chocolate chip cookie recipe a decadent upgrade. Mayans traded cacao to the Aztecs, who in turn introduced cacao to Spaniards. When you visit the site, Dotdash Meredith and its partners may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. For additional information about a product, please contact the manufacturer. They occupied the Pacific Coast during the Barra ceramic phase (1900-1700 BCE), a period when pottery was introduced. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Several critics have stated that the company failed to inform customers about food allergies and did not ensure that cookies are safe for those with food allergies. The form of the marriage is: the bride gives the bridegroom a small stool painted in colors, and also gives him five grains of cacao, and says to him These I give thee as a sign that I accept thee as my husband. And he also gives her some new skirts and another five grains of cacao, saying the same thing.[11], Maya's preparation of cacao started with cutting open cacao pods to expose the beans and the fleshy pulp. Nat Ecol Evol2,18791888 (2018). The sweet, lush fruit was so majestic we had to make it a morning ritual. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or silpat baking mats. The three new Famous Amos cookies are Belgian Chocolate Chips, Philippine Coconut and White Chocolate Chips, and Mediterranean Hazelnut and Chocolate Chips. Iconic musicians and other Hollywood celebrities began singing the praises of the delicious tiny cookies from the small bakery on Sunset. There was an error retrieving your Wish Lists. 2016. Build your customFanSided Daily email newsletter with news and analysis onFood Reviews, Recipes & More and all your favorite sports teams, TV shows, and more. Wally designed The Cookie Kahuna cookies and delectable treats cooked in the spirit of "Aloha." Cookie Kahuna cookies come in various flavors, including the chocolate chip (with or without pecans) and butterscotch macadamia. The cookies come in plastic packaging. McDonald's Cookies: Do You Remember the Cookies in a Box? - Wide Open Eats What do you think of these new Famous Amos cookies? So we set out to find the best ingredients in the world and bring the bite-size cookie back to once again being Famous. The Mediterraneans unique climate and terrain boast theperfect environment for growing the most flavorful and aromatic hazelnuts in the world. Olmec architecture included pyramids and earth-and-clay mounds that formed the basis for massive ceremonial centers. Touchdown! While that classic taste brings back memories, sometimes a few tweaks can highlight those favorite flavors even more. Due to improvements in machines, chocolate underwent a transformation from a primarily a drink to food, and different types of chocolate began to emerge. Although these aren't gluten-free, they do have pretty simple ingredients: unbleached flour, butter, cane sugar, brown cane sugar, eggs, baking soda, salt, and vanilla extract. Father-and-son duo Frank C. Mars and Forrest Mars Sr. collaborated on the idea for the Milky Way bar, which hit the market in 1923 with the chocolate for its coating supplied by Hersheys. Jos de Acosta, a Spanish Jesuit missionary who lived in Peru and then Mexico in the later 16th century, described its use more generally: Loathsome to such as are not acquainted with it, having a scum or froth that is very unpleasant taste. Amos cookies were once a national favorite, but their popularity has ebbed. :-( I wish they had these on auto-delivery (haha). 2023 A&E Television Networks, LLC. The upscale modern chocolate product Valrhona Guanaja takes its names from this island. University of California Press, 1969, https://ehrafarchaeology.yale.edu/document?id=nu95-001. He can be found online at www.christopherklein.com or on Twitter @historyauthor. Chemist W. Jeffrey Hurst of the Hershey Foods Technical Center who has been described as Hersheys chocolate geek used liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry to show that cacao can be detected in samples taken from the inside of archaeological ceramics. But with the Industrial Revolution around the corner, things were about to change. Baked with care and made with delicious ingredients like real semi-sweet chocolate and pecans, these diminutive cookies are ideal for sweet dessert snacking any time of the day. Indulge in our British Salted Caramel and Chocolate Cookies and imagine hopping on a bus in bustling the UK, as the aroma of sweet and salty toffee fills the air. ago. Mr. Amos, before he was famous, has one of the most interesting and inspiring entrepreneurial stories ever seen on the Shark Tank Show. Famous Amos was out of business by 1985 due to a $300,000 loss on sales of $10 million. In the 1870s, Swiss chocolatier Daniel Peter utilized powdered milk developed several years earlier by his neighbor Henri Nestl to produce the first milk chocolate bar, and the pair eventually formed the Nestl Company. This innovation, known as "Dutch cocoa", introduced the modern era of chocolate[18] and was instrumental in the transformation of chocolate to its solid form. Linguists have attempted to decode Olmec script by tracing back to the ancestral form of the Mixe-Zoquean family of languages, which are still spoken by modern-day indigenous people such as the Popoluca, who live in the same regions once inhabited by the ancient Olmec: While archaeologists were delving into Olmec sites, art historians and anthropologists turned their attention to Olmec art and iconography Michael D. Coe and his students, especially Peter D. Joralemon and Karl Taube, have led the way in deciphering Olmec religion as reflected in the art, as major figures in what has been called the Yale School of Olmec Iconography (Diehl 2004:18). Back in 1974, the burger chain introduced McDonaldland Cookies, a package . His work has appeared in numerous publications, including The Boston Globe, The New York Times, and National Geographic Traveler. Sometimes people forget how important the chocolate chips are to . It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness. While the beans themselves are bitter due to the alkaloids within them, the sweet pulp may have been the first element consumed by humans. It was not long before we fell in love and had no choice but to make this the chocolate chips of the new Famous Amos Wonders From The World. Amos cookies became known as celebrities in the entertainment industry as soon as they were invented. The man who created the Famous Amos cookie empire three decades ago and eventually lost ownership of the. , UPC A Cultural History of the Medicinal and Ritual Use of Chocolate", "Diccionario de la lengua espaola, Real Academia Espaola", "The history of the word for Cacao in ancient Mesoamerica", "Desert Island Doc: A charter for chocolate | Bristol Museums, Galleries & Archives", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=History_of_chocolate&oldid=1142343016. [1], Nature Ecology and Evolution reported what is believed to be the earliest cacao use from approximately 5,300 years ago recovered from the Santa Ana (La Florida) site in southeast Ecuador. 2023 National Geographic Partners, LLC. It might be nice to see some South American or even African flavors added to the mix. After being introduced to Spain, chocolate spread across the nations of Europe England, France, Belgium, and of course, Switzerland. Linguistic evidence points to the fact that cacao, originally pronounced kakawa, is a loan word of Mixe-Zoquean origin which dates back to at least 1000 BCE, the height of Olmec civilization at San Lorenzo. Famous Amos Wonders From the World. [6] Milk had sometimes been used as an addition to chocolate beverages since the mid-17th century, but in 1875 Daniel Peter invented milk chocolate by mixing a powdered milk developed by Henri Nestl with the liquor. A Famous Cookie And a Face to Match; How Wally Amos Got His Hand And [8], Pueblo people, who lived in an area now the U.S. Southwest, imported cacao from Mesoamerican cultures in southern Mexico between 900 and 1400. Amos cookies used to be simple to bake with a few simple ingredients, but they now contain ingredients from all over the world. Most people used cacao as currency (Smith 1953: 124). The history of chocolate began in Mesoamerica.Fermented beverages made from chocolate date back to at least 1900 BC to 1500 BC. Beat in salt and baking soda. The new Famous Amos Wonders from the World became a delightful evolution of our classic bite-sized favorites baked with the finest ingredients in the world like rich Belgian chocolate, sweet Philippine coconut, delicious Mediterranean hazelnut,and savory British salted caramel. In Belgium, we walked along the canals sampling the richest, purest chocolates from the finest chocolatiers in the country. "[18] But while Columbus took cacao beans with him back to Spain,[18] it made no impact until Spanish friars introduced chocolate to the Spanish court.[3]. Cream butter, shortening, and sugars together in an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Even more astonishing than the beauty of its ceramic art is the fact that they already knew how to process chocolate, one fragment from a Barra neckless jar having recently proved positive for the telltale theobromine (1996: 36). Linden's is a classic hard chocolate chip cookie, and it reminded many of our tasters of their childhood. The cookies were majorly sold in Hawaii in small 6-ounce packs. Add in flour, salt, cream of tartar, and baking soda. The classic chocolate chip cookie is a favorite on the McDonald's menu, but you might remember other McDonald's cookies. FAX: 203-764-9404 The chocolate drink was rich in nutrients and provided ancient Mesoamericans with sustenance for a full day. Although the brand wants to shake things up, it never loses sight of what made it special. Contact your health-care provider immediately if you suspect that you have a medical problem. The Aztecs had not cultivated cacao themselves, so were forced to import it. More recently Dakin and Wichman derive it from an original Eastern Nahuatl form chicolatl, which they relate to the term for a beater or frothing stick, chicoli, hence "beaten drink". While the Famous Amos Wonders From the World launched with three flavors, it begs the question could this line expand in the future. Stir in chocolate chips with a spatula. These new recipes and premium ingredients prove that even a classic can get a special makeover. As a result of this change in recipe, the cookies popularity may have declined. Therefore, chocolate could be purchased by the middle class. This page was last edited on 1 March 2023, at 21:57. The wonderful combination of toffee and caramel bits, popular in European bakeries, gives the sweet and salty inspiration for our newest cookie. Today Belizes cacao farmers, mostly in the countrys southern Toledo District, cultivate the native Criollo plant, which is considered to be the highest quality cacao bean native to Central America. The man who created the Famous Amos cookie empire and eventually lost ownership of it as well as the rights to use the catchy name is now running a small cookie shop in Hawaii. Powered by the ESHA Research Database 2018, ESHA Research, Inc. All Rights Reserved. With an irresistible homemade taste and a fun bite-size shape, Famous Amos Bite Size Chocolate Chip Cookies are made to enjoy by the handful. It was believed to be an aphrodisiac and to give the drinker strength. Barra pottery included fancy gourd vessels used for competitive social display and possibly linked to feasting. Try them with a glass of ice-cold milk, crumble them over an ice cream sundae, or satisfy your sweet cravings straight from the box. He eventually lost his home. Our elevated recipes useBelgian Chocolate, Philippine Coconut,Mediterranean Hazelnutand British Salted Caramelto create the perfect bite-size escape. [2] Originally prepared only as a drink, chocolate was served as a bitter liquid, mixed with spices or corn puree. : Although the Spanish sweetened the bitter drink with cane sugar and cinnamon, one thing remained unchanged: Chocolate reigned as a delectable symbol of luxury, wealth and poweran expensive import sipped by royal lips, and affordable only to Spanish elites. Udi's Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies. It's our vision that with each crunchy bite,you'll feel transported to the wonderful placeswhere we gather our fine ingredients. The chemical composition of cacao and laboratory analysis of Olmec artifacts have provided strong support for the idea that the Olmecs first domesticated the cacao plant, and that they may have discovered the chocolate-making process. Reviewed in the United States on September 25, 2021, Reviewed in the United States on August 21, 2021, Good, fresh and tasted as expected for item, Reviewed in the United States on April 10, 2021. Stow in your desk at work, lunchbox . Cadbury was manufacturing boxed chocolates in England by 1868. Gallery. Both cacao itself and vessels and instruments used for the preparation and serving of cacao were used for important gifts and tributes. The new Famous Amos cookies take that All-American chocolate chip cookie and head around the globe to elevate that bite-sized treat. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, call 1-800-GAMBLER. Famous Amos will introduce new flavors Toffee Chocolate Chip and Oatmeal Chocolate Chip, as well as regular Amos varieties Walnuts. The cacao teammates are believed to have been a centerpiece to social gatherings between people of high social status.[10]. There are few pecans and too much chocolate. Bake in the preheated oven for 8 to 12 minutes. Learn all About Us | Famous Amos An article for Antiquity titled Oldest chocolate in the New World, co-authored by Coe and Hurst, describes evidence of cacao use by the earliest Mesoamerican groups in Mexico such as the Olmec of the Gulf Coast and the Mokaya of the Pacific Coast: The Mokaya archaeological site of Paso de la Amada on the Pacific Coast of Chiapas, Mexico, and the Olmec archaeological site of El Manat on the Gulf Coast of Veracruz, Mexico have each yielded one ceramic vessel that contain residues from the preparation of cacao beverages during the Early Formative (1900-900 BC) period. There wasn't much in the way of chocolate flavor, though, and it was a little bit too hard and brittle. Amos cookies are well-known for their crisp and nutty flavors, and they provide a satisfying bite that most chocolate chip cookies do not. #14 Pepperidge Farm Montauk Milk Chocolate Dan Myers Chocolate remained an aristocratic nectar until the 1828 invention of the cocoa press revolutionized its production. Our cookies are made with the ingredients from themost renowned places in the worldand baked into theclassic crunchy cookiesyou crave. The beans then had their husks removed and ground into a paste. While we learned all about the fascinating fruit on our journey into the jungle, nothing was sweeter than savoring its delectable flakes. Today, almost all grocery stores carry a well-known international brand of Amos bread. Although this cookie could be a little sweet, the coconut flavor will be the highlight. Experience Mediterranean Hazelnut and Chocolate Chip while picturing walking through a maze of hazelnut trees off the Mediterranean coast. Amos Cookies are small chunks of chocolate and pecans in a 12.4-ounce can. In 1828, the invention of the chocolate press revolutionized chocolate . H.B. Amos Cookies, a company that sells cookies, came under fire recently after it was discovered that it had a food allergy section on its website that was inappropriate for children and adults who have food allergies. The vessels also tended to be decorated in intricate designs and patterns, which tended to only be accessible by the rich. Amos was one of the first African American agents at the agency and helped to change the way black people were represented in the entertainment industry. The first European encounter with cacao took place in 1502 on the fourth voyage of Christopher Columbus at Guanaja, a bay island in the Caribbean off the coast of present-day Honduras, where a Maya trading canoe included cacao beans among its cargo. A Popoluca shaman was a frequent guest at the Saturday night parties held by the archaeologists working at San Lorenzo. Why the Candy Bar Market Exploded After WWI, How Hershey's Chocolate Helped Power Allied Troops in WWII, When the Irish Invaded Canada: The Incredible True Story of the Civil War Veterans Who Fought for Irelands Freedom, Strong Boy: The Life and Times of John L. Sullivan. In the more distant reaches of the empire, in the tropical lowlands, cotton and cacao (chocolate) were cultivated along with most of the food crops already mentioned. Cradle Catholic, mom, wife, writer, blogger, lifetime dieter, lover of freshly baked bread, Krispy Kreme donuts, a great cup of coffee, fried chicken and all that is comfort food. Even the scientific name for the cacao tree honors this ancient fervor for all things chocolate: Theobroma cacao means, roughly, food of the gods. Worth beans: Esteemed as the ancient worlds most advanced horticulturalists, the Maya cultivated cacao trees and traded the valuable seeds (often called beans) as currency throughout Mesoamerica. Cream together white sugar, brown sugar, butter, oil, egg, milk, and vanilla until thoroughly combined. In the wild, trees sometimes tower 60 feet or taller, but cultivated trees max out around 20 feet in order to ease the harvesting process. President Baking Company was purchased by Keebler in 1998. At the time this book goes to press, six colossal heads have been found at San Lorenzo. The skin can also vary greatly - some are sculpted with craters or warts, while others are completely smooth. History of chocolate - Wikipedia Rival chocolatier Cadburys, credited with pioneering the Valentines Day chocolate box and chocolate Easter egg, followed suit soon after and in 1854 earned a royal warrant as purveyors of chocolate to Queen Victoria. That brings us to today, and we hope you enjoy our new Famous Amos Wonders from the World. Flavorings added to chocolate included chili, vanilla, and cinnamon. The vessel used to serve this chocolate liquid was stubbier by nature to help make the liquid frothier. READ MORE: Why the Candy Bar Market Exploded After WWI. Whatever the case may be, fans of the cookies are sure to be disappointed by their sudden disappearance. They played a significant role in rituals and feasts, as evidenced by the variety of beautifully designed containers that were created for serving and storage. The grass-fed Holsteins on the surrounding dairy farms supplied the companys milk, and a company town in Cuba supplied its sugar. Appropriately, for the food of the gods, cacao also took a prominent place in Mesoamerican mythology. Only three to four percent of "cocoa futures" contracts traded in the cocoa markets ever end up in the physical delivery of cocoa. Wally Amos entrepreneur, motivational speaker, and author founded the Famous Amos Chocolate Chip Cookie Company in 1975 selling bite-sized homemade chocolate chip cookies. Reviewed in the United States on August 28, 2021, Reviewed in the United States on July 25, 2020. Off the sea of the Mediterranean, we inhaled the most aromatic hazelnuts one could imagine. Cookies are light in color when done. The word cacao derives from kakawa, likely from the Olmec languagean ancient Mesoamerican precursor to Maya. Jessica Pearce Rotondi Mar 29, 2022. As the creation myth goes, after people were created from maize, they received precious foods including cacao that the gods discovered at Sustenance Mountain. Corporate sponsor: In the 1980s, the Hershey Corporation partnered with Belizes Ministry of Agriculture to boost the countrys cacao production, setting up a large cacao farm along the Toledo Districts Hummingbird Highway in southern Belize. In addition to DQ, the following chocolate brands (and many others, I'm sure) -- for all practical purposes -- no longer exist in America: Oreo Cookies; Famous Amos Chocolate Chip Cookies; Chips Ahoy Cookies; Kit Kat Bar; Hershey Bar; Milky Way; Hershey Kisses; M & M's; Reese's Cup (both the chocolate & the peanut butter are barely detectable . We discovered some of the most beautiful places and exquisite tastes the world had to offer. The San Lorenzo excavations are described in a document titled Olmec World (1969) in eHRAF Archaeology: In the dry season (January to June) of 1966 and 1967, Dr. Michael Coe of Yale University conducted large-scale excavations at San Lorenzo Coe (1967B) has found over two dozen new stone sculptures to add to the two dozen found earlier by Stirling. Produced from the seeds of tropical cacao trees native to the rainforests of Central and South America, chocolate was long considered the food of the gods, and later, a delicacy for the elite. Churchman probably used water-powered edge runners for preparing cacao beans by crushing on a far larger scale than previously. Inspired by a delectable family recipe, founder Wally Amos perfected the ultimate chocolate chip cookie. Full content visible, double tap to read brief content. A rabbit, for example, was worth ten cacao beans, (called almonds by the early sixteenth-century chronicler Francisco Oviedo y Valds), a slave about a hundred, and the services of a prostitute, eight to ten according to how they agree. This new study shows us that people in the upper reaches of the Amazon basin, extending up into the foothills of the Andes in southeastern Ecuador, where harvesting and consuming cacao that appears to be a close relative of the type of cacao later used in Mexicoand they were doing this 1,500 years earlier, said Michael Blake, study co-author and professor in the University of British Columbia department of anthropology. The Maya seasoned their chocolate by mixing the roasted cacao seed paste into a drink with water, chile peppers, and cornmeal, transferring the mixture repeatedly between pots until the top was covered with a thick foam, or "head", similar to that found on beer.[3]. Famous Amos Style Mini Chocolate Chip Cookies - Jaja Bakes Information and statements regarding dietary supplements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease or health condition. In 1729, the first mechanical cocoa grinder was invented in Bristol, England. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we dont use a simple average. Powis, Terry G. et al. Amos combined his sales and baking skills in order to achieve that goal in 1973. It makes a nice large batch! Chocolate lovers abound, and many self-described chocaholics elevate the experience of eating chocolate to something heavenly, divine, or other worldly. They meet a snack craving but I miss the original taste. Instructions. One of these vessels was beautifully decorated and covered in various Mayan glyphs. The Famous Amos story began in 1975 at a bakery on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, California. They are always fresh and crunchy and very addictive. Legal. [1] The Mexica believed that cacao seeds were the gift of Quetzalcoatl, the god of wisdom, and the seeds once had so much value that they were used as a form of currency. Originally consumed as a bitter drink, it was prized as both an aphrodisiac and an energy booster. I would suggest as a recipe, to put a few into a blender/chopper and make my own Famous Amos Ice Cream Blizzard if you will. Inspired by a family recipe,the founder Wally Amos perfected the ultimate chocolate chip cookie. The word cacao is the Hispanization of the name of the plant in indigenous Mesoamerican languages. As one of the most popular gluten-free chocolate chip cookies, Udi's crunchy treats are ubiquitous to most stores.