Valentine's Week!! - Jean Blacklock

It is Valentine’s Week and in the cupcake business that means the busiest week of the year. So it is a perfect time to talk about the issue of “mistakes” 🙂

2012 was our first Valentine’s Week and I think the big mistake we made out of the gates was (1) not believing those in the industry [very nice cupcake store owner in Winnipeg] who had said words to the effect of “You will be crazy busy on Valentine’s Day!”; and (2) not getting ahead of the storm with the proper preparation such as making additional icings (which unlike the cupcakes can be made a day or two ahead) and of course making lots and lots of boxes.

I also think that it is important to think about the specifics of what your customers will want- in the case of Valentine’s Day 2012, when the 15th person in line asked for “Red Velvet” the penny dropped for me that maybe on “Valentine’s Day” something called “Red Velvet” would be especially popular. Call me dense.

So taking advice, planning ahead, and thinking through the specifics of a particular day or event – all important!

What we have learned since that first Valentine’s is also the great advantage to be gained by communicating to and with the whole team and involving everyone in the planning process. Last week we had a big meeting of the operations team (catering; delivery); the bakers; and the customer service manager…and it is always amazing what issues come up and how everyone thinking about them together can result in great solutions.

Thanks soooo much for the comments so far on the blog..I would love to hear from anyone on anything and will do my very best to reply to anyone who writes inbetween my Monday and Wednesday posts.

And of course- HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!!

At PGB, we added a small amount of cream cheese to the plain vanilla icing. Some customers liked that, some didn’t. At Sticky, the vanilla icing is a little different – fluffier, all butter – most really like it but not everyone. Similarly, in the early months of Sticky, we had some feedback from customers about getting a bun that was soggy – maybe underbaked? – and then that same day, one of our...

Since opening Sticky this spring, we’ve considered two opportunities for additional space, one downtown and one near our store on St Clair. Andrew and I talked both opportunities through, and for a number of reasons, we didn’t move ahead with them. Although we are open to expanding our physical space in the future, for now we decided that the best approach is to increase revenue through marketing...

A few weeks back, I listened to a podcast that the host kicked off by saying that her guest was one of her favorite people, “I always love it when I see your name!”. This made me think about all the people whose name makes me feel good, when I see or hear it. I thought of my friend, Megan, whose fictional Google review of her experience at a hospital made me laugh so hard I almost spit out my tea...

The catering desk recently heard from a customer who was upset with the lard in the icing. The problem is, we don’t use lard, we’ve never used lard, and I’m not even sure if our supplier carries lard. But none of that matters because the customer and all her guests believed that what covered her cake was not a swiss meringue buttercream made of egg whites cooked with sugar then whipped with...

Valentine’s Week!!

About the author

Jean Blacklock

Subscribe

Categories

Hello, You!

I’m so glad you are here.

Sign up to receive my posts and you will never miss one. (and by the way - absolutely no other marketing-type emails will be sent your way!)

- Jean