Are you guys a chain?

Apparently our little bakery has a very theme-ish feel to it.  I don't know how many people have asked if we are a chain!  I wish.  I've started saying "Not Yet".  Wouldn't that be awesome?  But first, we need to pay our own bills and keep our inventory supplies up before we could ever consider opening another store or franchising.  Still, it would be awesome to see our logo on shops on every street corner LOL.  Right now I guess I will settle with what we do have.  Now that the ball has started rolling, we are getting more and more business.  Last Friday (October 22nd) we had our grand opening where the Chamber of Commerce came out, and the local paper and we did the whole ribbon cutting and everything. 

That was kind of cool.  Our sign did get there the day before and Jimmy put it up at 9:30 that Thursday night so it made it in time for the pictures as you can see above. 

We will add a post soon about the day to day operations and how we are faring with those challenges like running out of to-go boxes, handling time cards and payroll, sales tax, etc.

M

All signs point to...

Well it’s been a while since we posted anything.  That is mostly because we have been so busy everyday that we just fall into bed as soon as we get home and then grudgingly drag ourselves back out when the alarm goes off.  These 7 days a week up at 5 and home at midnight or later have been a real struggle for Tiffany and me.  I am hoping that things will calm down eventually and we can get into a routine that allows each of us a bit of time for ourselves and our families.  That time is not now.

We are in our second week of business.  It has been hot and cold.  We decided to have a soft opening the first week to work out the logistics of running our own business since we are complete novices and give us an opportunity to build up our inventory levels as well.  We’ve been partially successful.  Every day there is something we realize that we forgot to do, or make, etc.  I was really worried that our opening day, Tuesday, would be frantic and that we would sell out of everything and disappoint our new customers.  The last thing I wanted to do was make a bad first impression.  I needn’t have worried.  There was practically no one there.  My new worry became whether or not anyone would ever show up.  If we would make enough money to pay the employees we’d hired.  I have to confess that I have been more panicked since we started than I ever was leading up to the opening.  I guess it’s my turn.  Jimmy and Tiffany did all the pre-open panicking.

The response to those that have come in has been positive but the thing we hear from almost everyone is “I didn’t know you guys were open!”.  The problem?  NO SIGN.

We spoke with a company about our exterior lighted sign.  He assured me that it would only take 3 or 4 days to complete once we got our logo to him.  So we did that, then nothing.  Since then, we’ve had a lot of trouble getting the company on the phone or email to respond to our inquiries about the status of our sign.  So here we are in our second week of business with no sign outside.   We finally got the guy on the phone yesterday and he tells us it will be ready this afternoon.  Hmm…. it’s almost 3pm and no word yet.  Our Grand Opening is tomorrow.  I would really like it if we actually looked like we were open for business and not still under construction.

So, as I said, our Grand Opening is tomorrow starting at 10 am.  Tell your friends that ‘that place’ is actually open for business.  Come see us!


M

Hello Sheridan!

For those of you who have been keeping up with our blog, let me make it perfectly clear, we are officially OPEN! We had a trial run last Friday night to train the new employees and smooth things out a bit, see what to expect, and it went well, but now we are open to the public and ready to fill your stomachs with some wholesome food and sugar!

So, just in case you don't know, we're located on the end of the Mad Butcher shopping center (other side of McCoy-Tygart) and our cheesecakes and cookies are calling your name!  As much as we pride in our desserts, that's not all we offer.  We also sell paninis (pah-nee-nees: hot, pressed sandwiches) as well as soup for lunch and dinner, so if you're looking for something other than the "same ole, same ole", come check us out!   In a hurry? Call in your order.

Tiff

No Sleep Til...

I'm sorry for the long delay in posting again.  Things have started moving at a frantic pace the last few weeks.  It's funny, Tiffany and I have been complaining about how slow the progress has been going with construction up until this point but now it's all coming too fast.

We had the health inspection scheduled last Tuesday and had to cancel because we weren't ready just yet, so we rescheduled for this Tuesday.  We were at the 'D' then until midnight the night before trying to get everything ready and done last minute.  Then the inspection itself.  We were all really nervous about this because we have never faced an inspection before.  What if everything was wrong and we were going to be delayed again getting everything compliant? 

I asked Tiffany to be there, so she took her lunch hour at 10 in the morning.  She stayed up late studying the rules and regulations book that night and was terrified that she would not be able to answer questions correctly and cost us our certification.  :)  So, at 9:59 I got a text from Jimmy that said "SHE'S HERE!" You could hear the panic coming through the phone.  Then it was my turn to panic.  I tried to work for the next hour or so while dying to know what was happening and if it was going well back at the store.

WE PASSED!!! So relieved, all of us.  That night Tiffany and I conducted interviews until 8:30 (a bizarre experience for me, I have never been on this side of the table LOL).  We found two people that we are really pleased with and feel confident about.  That means the only thing left is training and baking the initial products pretty much.  Well, and some final, last minute construction details.

It's been late nights every day this week then but we can handle it (I hope), things will calm down eventually.  Stay tuned for our big OPEN announcement.    :)

M