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Published: June 16th 2008
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Happy Father's Day!
It's Monday here and the first day of our new hours: 7am-4:30pm. Christoffel and Alison had only a low-risk type food license, and now that they have been approved for cooked food we expanded the menu. We all know how to cook different things (I think I can handle french toast, we'll see), so it's just a matter of us all pitching in new ideas and working to get it right. Alison is still adding her artistic touches to the place, and Jack has perfected all of his coffees. He even knows how to make a machiatto. I wouldn't have been able to spell that three days ago. I tend to do more PR work with our customers, especially the ungrateful ones. We had the strangest old lady come in and criticize everything in sight, but we had a talk with her so she left happy and loving the place. She didn't make any sense and got confused over simple things, but we make the customers feel like they're right anyway. Mom, you have always been right about customer service so I'm trying to make you proud here. The four of us eat any of the food
that is going to be thrown away, so on slow rainy days we are pretty well fed. Plus we make ourselves caramel lattes, hot chocolate from bars that we shaved by hand, french vanilla fudge milkshakes, and fruit sodas all day long.
Jack and I want to start a business together someday, so they are really giving us a great gift by including us in on all of their decisions. They listen to our ideas and ask us to give them feedback on theirs. There are so many little, but important details that go into every piece of this business. Today I learned how to program the cash register so that each button has a food item and a price assigned to it. Jack and Christoffel are still installing lights in the bar, and the painting should be done in a couple days.
To answer questions, Christoffel is 28 years old and Alison is 32. They have been married about one year and this is their first kid. Bobbi, Chris says thank you for wishing him a Happy Father's Day.
Waihi is a small town. The people here think small, small changes take years to happen here,
and anything that is not familiar scares them. You'll find that anywhere in the world, really, but it can be frustrating for a new business. One lady had a little chat with us about how our coffee mugs don't have handles. She thought it was ridiculous not to have a handle, but that's probably just because she has never seen it before. Chris bought the ones without handles because they are easy to stack and most people bypass the handle anyway and hold the mug around the sides. We have a separate set of tea cups with handles, so we just gave the lady her coffee in that one, if that's all it takes to make her happy. Some of the customers who walk in here crack the door, peer in, and some walk right back out. We have a few people who will give us feedback starting every sentence with, "Well at
my cafe..." We listen because they are our competition and we want their customers, but I can promise you the owners have done their research and they know how to do it better than the cafes up the road. The people around here only know things to
be one way. It will be a while to break through. The past two days have been especially slow. It will get better, though.
As far as advertising and promotions go, Burrowing Bullie has signs on the sidewalk out front and along the side, window paint, a local radio spot aired multiple times daily, website, flyers and business cards, loyalty cards (stamp cards) for returning customers, one half price coffee card for local businessmen, and word of mouth from every happy customer and backpacker who has been in here.
Wednesday is our day off and should be one of the only days it doesn't rain this week. If it stays sunny, the guys can put up that fence for the dogs and we can start moving them in to their flat (their is an apartment sectioned off upstairs next to our room).
Oh, you guys should download google earth and see some of the cities we have stopped in! You'll know it's Waihi when you see the 250 meter deep mining crater next to it!
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Bobbi
non-member comment
BB
The place is adoreable! Love the pictures! You guys look great! Jack ... haircut ??? :-) Love you, Mom