Andelman

Wow Don...you couldn't be more off base.

These people run businesses. They're under no obligation to fawn over you or over other chefs...they're out there to make money by selling food.

If people like their food and eat at their restaurants, they'll be successful. If people don't, they won't.

Are you mad because they haven't paid their dues, like some of the music insiders that rant against the success of American Idol contestants? Are you mad because they haven't licked YOUR boots?

Sorry you don't like them or what they represent..but it's not like they've been screwing people over like Donna. They're just doing everything they can to make their businesses a success. Good for them.

I have to agree. These people are running businesses to make money and a living. I have to believe that Spike can probably cook quite well, but instead decided to focus on a form of cuisine that can actually pay the bills. Should we degrade him because he rode the PR wave of Top Chef and decided to use it to his best advantage? I think most people here would have done the same thing. He is under no obligation to "lick the boots" of other DC chefs. He's just a guy trying to make a living and got lucky in doing so. So what? Also, to agree with RW Boone, I find it extremely ironic and hypocritical that Don wants this website to succeed financially, yet has a problem with chefs doing the same exact thing. How is it any different?

Thanks. Yes, we plan on having all of those things on our website. Especially the music. I was thinking "Candy Shop" by 50 Cent at high volume.

I wasn't quite sure where to post this, so please feel free to move it if necessary. Do any of you good folks out there, either in the food business or not, know of a good design firm in the area? We are looking to update our website, packaging, and printed/marketing material for Artisan Confections. In the past, I have used various freelancers, friends, etc to do all of your stuff, but now i prefer to go to a 'one-stop shop' type of firm to keep everything homogenized. Anyway, if anyone has any referrals/recommendations please send them my way. A firm with food service (and possible e-commerce) experience is preferred. Many, many thanks in advance.

My thoughts (take them with a grain of salt):

I think it is hard to blame Groupon/Living Social/etc.. for anything. The businesses make the choice to participate. In the case of the cupcake place in England, well, that was just poor planning and a very poor business decision. Solely the fault of the business owner (IMHO).

As for my experience as a business owner, we have done (2) deals. We did a deal with Groupon a year ago and a Living Social that just expired a couple weeks ago. I don't see the need to ever do one again, but I wouldn't necessarily say it was a bad experience. I think it effects every type of business in a different manner, so I can just speak for myself. What we found is that it was about 45% previous customers (which doesn't do us much good, as we are basically giving product away to people that already know about us). Also, it seems like a lot of the people that buy the deals are indeed "deal shoppers" and just hop from one deal to the next with no brand loyalty whatsoever. I am sure we gained some new customers from the deal it is just hard to gauge what percentage. We had about 20% of the deals go unredeemed (at least for the full value, customers can still come in and use their voucher for the amount they paid for it). Also, from a financial standpoint, about 50-60% of the customers spent slightly more than the amount of the voucher, which is obviously good for us. I don't think we took a loss, but we certainly didn't make anything, except hopefully a bunch of new customers.

The inherent problem with deals like these, and this is the exact same problem with restaurant week., is that we are reaching out to a lot of people that are not our core demographic. We got lots of comments on our LS feedback that we are "super-expensive", "way over-priced", "tastes the same as Milky Way or Twix", etc, etc... Are these going to be repeat customers? No. Same goes with Restaurant Week, as I think many Restaurant Week patrons will go for deal at "enter fancy restaurant here" and never plan on returning. Obviously, most folks on this board don't think that way, but you all are (unfortunately) the very small minority.

We don't see the need to ever do a deal like this again, as I think it has served its purpose for us. I recently spoke with a chef-owner friend who said he is anxious to do another deal, as it worked out well for him. I guess it really depends on each individual.

I have to agree. I think these coupon deals will go the way of the dinosaur in the not so distant future. We have done 2 such deals. We did a Groupon last year and Living Social deal this fall. I said after the Groupon that I would never do another, yet decided to do a Living Social mainly to help raise money for a charity event I did in September. The deal we have going on now is a $10 for $20 worth of chocolates. Of that $10 the customer pays, I received $5.50. Of that $5.50, I donated $1 to charity (yes, I know, that was my choice so it doesn't really count, but still). So for every deal sold, I sell $20 worth of merchandise and get $5.50. What we have found is most people are just after the 'deal" and come in the shop looking to just spend EXACTLY $20. Not great for us. Also, it is difficult to quantify how many of these customers become repeat customers. Hard to say. We also found that a lot of our regular customers were use the LS deal, thus sort of defeating the purpose of the whole thing. Yes, I guess it could be good to get some initial exposure for a new business, but I think once a business has done one of the deals, there is really no reason to do another. Just my $.02.

Also, for some strange reason people like to wait right before the thing is about to expire to come in and redeem it. We have been busy as shit all week, but 80% of the customers are LS deals. (our deal expires next week).

So...any reason to come by tomorrow morning, or did the DR faithful ransack the shop today?

Don't really know about the DR.com faithful, but the Artisan Confections faithful were out in full-force today. Feel free to stop by tomorrow, but we really don't have a whole lot left. I imagine we will be sold out of pretty much everything by the end of the day. My plan worked.

BIG,BIG CHOCOLATE SALE THIS FRIDAY AND SATURDAY (7/30-7/31)!

As some of you might know, for the last 8 months I have been heavily training for a climb of Mt Rainer (that glaciated peak out near Seattle, not the MD suburb). Well, after hundreds and hundreds of hours at the gym, miles and miles of training hikes, and 2 practice climbs (Mt Washington in the winter and Mt Whitney in June), the big day is finally upon me. I head out to Seattle this Monday for the the big daddy (with an extended stay in the Pacific NW after the climb).

What does this have to do with chocolate? Well, we are going to be closing the shop for 1 week (from 8/1-8/9) and would like to empty out all of our remaining inventory. So, on Friday and Saturday everything(well almost everything) in the shop will be discounted 30%. Of course, supplies will be limited and when we are out, well, we're out. The discount is not valid for bulk chocolate, classes, or gift certificates. Also, it can not be combined with any other offer (Groupon, etc...). Please stop by if you are in the hood to get some great deals on our products. We are open from 11-7 both days. Directions and other info can be found on our website at www.artisanconfections.com.

Best,

Jason

PS: please feel free to move this to another forum if necessary

BIG,BIG CHOCOLATE SALE THIS FRIDAY AND SATURDAY (7/30-7/31)!

As some of you might know, for the last 8 months I have been heavily training for a climb of Mt Rainer (that glaciated peak out near Seattle, not the MD suburb). Well, after hundreds and hundreds of hours at the gym, miles and miles of training hikes, and 2 practice climbs (Mt Washington in the winter and Mt Whitney in June), the big day is finally upon me. I head out to Seattle this Monday for the the big daddy (with an extended stay in the Pacific NW after the climb).

What does this have to do with chocolate? Well, we are going to be closing the shop for 1 week (from 8/1-8/9) and would like to empty out all of our remaining inventory. So, on Friday and Saturday everything(well almost everything) in the shop will be discounted 30%. Of course, supplies will be limited and when we are out, well, we're out. The discount is not valid for bulk chocolate, classes, or gift certificates. Also, it can not be combined with any other offer (Groupon, etc...). Please stop by if you are in the hood to get some great deals on our products. We are open from 11-7 both days. Directions and other info can be found on our website at www.artisanconfections.com.

Best,

Jason

PS: please feel free to move this to another forum if necessary

With the amount of hype regarding the mere opening of this joint, this pizza better be pretty f*cking good.

I found a potential solution for the Valrhona inclined. I went to my local wine shop that also carries chocolate, and the owner was able to order the 3 kilo bags of Valrhona from the same supplier that brings in her regular chocolates that she keeps in stock. I get my chocolate and a local shopkeeper and friend gets the cash. Win-win. So check with your local purveyor - it turns out that just because they don't carry it in stock, it doesn't mean they won't special order it.

We sell Valrhona chocolate at our shop for $12/lb which is a VERY minimal markup. We have milk (Jivara), white, and 6 different darks (ranging from 55% to 72%). I can pretty much guarantee it is the best prices you will find on Valrhona in the area. And maybe you will buy some of our chocolates when you are here as well...

"Hooker and an 8- ball"

They are usually near the Whole Foods in Clarendon on Fridays. I've been like 3 times now. Always very pleased. Good stuff.

SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH - don't tell anyone about that weird parking lot. Its a SECRET.

I am really not sure why that parking lot is considered 'weird"? It is an underground parking lot in our building that is available for retail customers to use. It is free and there about 30 or so spaces down there.

Freaky!!!

Hey all-

We still have a few openings in our chocolate tasting on Wednesday 4/14 at 7:30 PM (here at the shop). We will be talking about how chocolates is made from bean-to-bar, how we make our bon-bons here at the shop, and we will be tasting a fair amount of chocolate. You will also leave with a 4-piece box to take home with you. All of this, for the low, low price of $30. The tasting should be over around 8:30-9 PM, depending on how things roll along. If you are interested, please call us at 703-524-0007 to reserve your spot. I think there are like 6-8 spaces left. Please email me if you have any questions, jason@artisanconfections.com

Cheers,

Jason

Stopped in this morning for a coffee and mufffin. I really like the look and feel of the renovated space. Very bright and airy. I used to go to Murky everyday before work and I am very pleased I get to continue that trend at NSS. Congrats on the new digs.

My link

Seems as though Yelp has begun to alter its policies on reviews. One wonders if the deluge of lawsuits had anything to do with the changes.

Still kind of lame. They now let you look at the 'filtered' reviews, but you really need to search to find the link on the businesses page (BTW, it is at the very bottom of the page). Why not have the filtered reviews at the top of the page, or not filter reviews at all? I also like that I have 7 filtered reviews for my shop, all of which are 5-star, that nobody will see unless they are really searching for them. I still don't get it.

Thanks everyone for your words and advice.

As for other shaped caramels, I would need to see what kind of molds we can get that are seasonal (and not super cheesy).

I will take the 'Is it good?" questions from now on with a pleasant smile......

-j

I think Miami Danny was referring to me in his last post...

Anyway, I actually enjoy the back and forth, Miami Danny. Everyone is entitled to their opinion here, and I certainly appreciate hearing yours. But basically what you are saying is, it is okay for the general public to complain about their experiences, yet it is not okay for "entitled" business owners to complain about their experiences. First of all, you weren't there, so your knowledge of the situation and exchange with the bunny lady is pretty much nil. As for the Yelp review, I never lashed out at the person here. When her totally off the mark review was posted on Yelp, I immediately contacted her to discuss the situation. Once I explained things to her, she then changed the review. That is the problem with Yelp reviews. This woman was passing judgement on me based on one 5 minute visit to my store. She went as far as to write "mamas beware!" in her post as she thought I had a problem with her kids (I most certainly didn't). Do you know how offensive that is to me as a parent and a person in general? Call me thin-skinned if you want, but when someone personally attacks you online, for everyone to see, well, let's see how you like it. So for me to complain about an annoying customer, in an anonymous way, really isn't a problem in my eyes. I was merely trying to share an experience I had and whether or not the 'customer limit' was a good idea.

Also, for what it is worth, I think this is the first time I have ever complained about a customer in an online forum. I wish the same thing could be said about all the Yelp a-holes that trash businesses on a daily basis.

Given that a good amount of people who post here or read here either work in, around the fringes or used to work in the restaurant business, I find it perfectly acceptable for Jason to vent a little. Most of us could relate thousands of like stories from the super entitled customers we meet on a daily basis. I'm all for starting a site to review people who review restaurants. I would love to go to the offices of some of the know nothing asses that post on yelp or urban spoon or even here and critique what it is they do for a living. But I won't....know why, cause I know nothing about office work and wouldn't presume to know more about what it is they do just because I watched a show on lawyers or read a book about performing brain surgery.

The best post I have read in some time. My assistant and I were just talking about the same thing yesterday.

Business owners complaining about their customers to each other is a fine and long-standing practice. Doing it in public may draw "criticism". Complaining about a lady who wanted an extra bunny just seemed ungenerous to me. [signed] ass

So what you are saying is, it is okay for me to complain about a customer behind their back, but doing it in a public forum is wrong? Even though the customer is completely anonymous. That is ludicrous.

If that is the case, then pretty much everyone on this board, Yelp, etc.. isi n the wrong in your eyes. How come it doesn't work both ways?

Ungenerous? I think not. The lady was aggressive from the get -go about our policy, so you know what, she really deserved nothing, yet I reluctantly gave in. I am not sure what you do for a living, but I highly doubt you have NEVER complained about something work related. Give me a break.

Look. I was merely looking for opinions/comments as to my policy regarding the limit. The aside about the "Is it good?" was just something that was on my mind at the time, and yes, it probably stemmed from my annoying customer that day (and the Yelp review, which has since been updated). Just a few things though...

Yes, maybe I sounded like Gillian. And you know, so what! I don't know Gillian and have never been to the late Colorado Kitchen or the new place. I know she has gotten sh*t for her customer service policies, quirks about orders, etc... That is her business, she can run it anyway she pleases. It is not how I would run mine, but to each is (or her) own. But to say I sound like Gillian because I am complaining about a question I perceive as odd (Is it good?) just doesn't seem right. Like Shaggy said, we all complain about our jobs, and here I am complaining about mine. I very rarely do, as I think I lucked out in the career department, as I am very happy as to where my business is now, and where it is heading. I have a good quality of life, not a whole lot of money, and a happy and supportive family. But from time to time, customers truly get on my nerves, and I like to vent about it. I thought venting here would be okay. However, when I get comments like " It's just retail, get over it..", it kind of pisses me off. I chose this career path because I like making chocolates and think I do a decent job of it. However, in order to make a living , I need to do a lot of other things (help customers, pay the bills, do the dishes, handle employees, etc, etc...) Believe me, it ain't easy to juggle all these things, but we manage and things seem to work out for the best in most cases. Like I said, I don't complain very much, so just indulge me every once and awhile (as most of you have, and thanks for that!).

Everyone have a safe and happy Easter weekend.

Cheers,

Jason

So in the end your lady got her three bunnies anyway. You didn't lose any money, and maybe one customer who otherwise would have gotten a bunny got shut out. Doesn't seem worth the big fuss. It's just retail, Jake.

Yeah, but I was trying to share the wealth. The reason I gave in, was because I really wasn't in the mood to argue with her about it.

You say it's "just retail", but that is how I make my living, so, for me, it IS kind of a big deal.

Also, who is Jake?

That's why I suspect it's more a reactive comment than anything, which is also why so many people say it. And the fact that so many people say it is probably what's annoying to those working in the store.

I believe Pat has hit the nail on the head. I am sure it is a reactive comment, it is just slightly annoying to hear it multiple times a day. That is why I labeled it a 'pet peeve'. Not really a big deal, just an annoyance.

Actually, there are candid employees and owners who would tell you some things in the store in fact sucks. Same thing happens in restaurants - some servers will tell you not to order certain things. I see it on Kitchen Nightmare - chefs will say that everything they serve is good - well, that's just blatantly not true.

I don't know too many owners of shops (similiar to mine) that would candidly say "this sucks". Employees, maybe. I would hate for one of my employees to think that something sucks, and I hope they would tell me if it did.

I'm at a loss as to why you find the question odd or why you're entitled to a thoughtful question.

If it happens again though, just tell the customer how you feel? See if that works for you.

I think I explained why I think the question is odd. If I didn't think it was good, why on earth would I sell it?

Aren't we all entitled to a thoughtful question?