Week 29
Time for a vacation !
Yay for you ! Not for us, not yet ! We have noticed more people in the streets those past days, enjoying the nicer weather, some getting ready to leave the country, in hope to find a warmer climate and work on their tan. Smart move I would say. But we will stay open with our regular days and hours this summer, so you would be smart to take advantage of that exodus to come see us. The ice creams will be refilled tomorrow and next week, in order to prevent any shortage while the guys from Top Craft Ice Creams are enjoying some well deserved rest till mid-August.
Hiring process is going slowly but surely. I will most likely have an extra set of hands to help out from August. If the shop gets super quiet, like a regular summer for pastry shops, it should allow us to try out new recipes, and if we manage to keep producing as much as we are right now, we could try to open a 3rd day. Finally.
In order to successfully open one extra day, we will need an extra head. We are then looking for a freelance front of house for the summer (Wednesdays and Saturdays, plus extra days TBD) which would lead to a contract before the end of the year, depending on our development. If you think you can fit that role or know someone who could, do not hesitate to contact us.
On a non-food related topic, we are looking for a new place to live. We were wondering out of the thousands of people getting that newsletter (not necessarily reading it) if there would be 1 person who is a real estate agent, or someone who knows someone leaving an apartment in a near future ? You never know. We are not in a rush to rent a new place, so we are open to anything, as long as it is 15 minutes away maximum from the shop (for my sleep), and that our cute lady cat, Dolly, can join the party. Our company is too young for now to start looking at buying anything, but one thing at a time.
Saturday has been a crazy busy day again. We are using Sumup for the register, and I am regretting not having access to too many datas about the frequentation and items sold. I will look into a better option soon. But I am sure these datas would help a lot figuring out which products sells the most between 9 and 11. You do not see the point ? Well, we only have one proofer, which can fit 20 trays of 12-15 items. That proofer is full 3 times every Saturday morning, and 1 more time for the afternoon. Our doughs need 2h30-3h of proofing before baking, so it creates a limitation about the products and their quantities for the opening. At the moment, the options would be offering less diversity of products, or less quantity of each products, or buying an extra proofer (which would ask for a new kitchen lay-out), or baking earlier, which I do not want in order to not jeopardize the freshness of the products you ordered. The amount of items pre-ordered in addition of the amount asked for the walk-ins makes it even more difficult, but we will find a solution.
The improvements we added to the line management were a success. Only a few people were in the wrong line, but the maximum wait for walk-ins was around 30min (compared to 50 last week) and super fast for pick-up (lack of datas or lack of people complaining about the wait). We will conduct the experience again this upcoming Saturday.
This week, the mille-feuille is back on pre-order. It has been asked by a couple of customers, and I liked the way I made them the last time. Let's see how it goes this time.
Can't wait to see you guys again !
Reminder : - Pre-order your treats for Saturday is recommended (if sold-out, there will be no restock). - Tomorrow, we will be open from 8 to 12. - Saturday, make sure you come at the right time based on your time slot. No worries if you are a bit late. - Some products will be available on the counter for walk-ins.