New Bakeries In My Area Scoping Me Out
Business By Strubbette Updated 11 Aug 2013 , 3:16am by LoveMeSomeCake615
AI'm about to turn 36 and I still think of myself as a young 'un. Mostly out of delusion I suspect!
AInwill chime in on the age thing. I am a forever 25 year old 36. Lol
#2 girl opened Friday. Needless to say it has been a stressful weekend for me. The reviews started hitting my store today. Customers heard them talking about buying product from Walmart to put in their case because they ran out of things. They had no cookies because their supplier hadn't delivered them for the week yet. But the kicker... They are telling people that my cupcakes are dry and my frosting is nasty. Yep. It has taken everything I have not to spread all of this. I am Trying to take the high road but they are making it so dang hard.
Inwill chime in on the age thing. I am a forever 25 year old 36. Lol
#2 girl opened Friday. Needless to say it has been a stressful weekend for me. The reviews started hitting my store today. Customers heard them talking about buying product from Walmart to put in their case because they ran out of things. They had no cookies because their supplier hadn't delivered them for the week yet. But the kicker... They are telling people that my cupcakes are dry and my frosting is nasty. Yep. It has taken everything I have not to spread all of this. I am
Trying to take the high road but they are making it so dang hard.
People who know your product will know that this is NOT the case and will take this talk for what it is, a rather unprofessional attempt to "compete" with you. If she has to rely on lies and low blows then what she is really telling people is that her product can't compete at the same level as yours :-)
Keep your chin up and don't sink to her level!
This thread reminds me of my town. My bakery will open next March. I have spent years testing and tweaking my recipes, testing how long items stay fresh and true to taste. Determining the ideal product mix, for looks, taste and pricing. Have calculated how much product I have to have on hand TO NEVER RUN OUT during my opening month. Developed an identity and a marketing plan.
I mention all of this because we have a cupcake/novelty cake bakery here that opened last year. The owner is a lovely person. However, I find her cake dry and unappealing, and I don't like Rich's whip and other "fake" frostings. Even though that is my opinion, I would never share it with her unless she asked me. Which she won't. So how would she ever know? Through testing her products. And it would help if she wouldn't store extra cupcakes in her cooler. :)
Maybe take this opportunity to make sure your product is always fresh - develop methods to ensure it. (Maybe your "friend" did get a dry cupcake from you once.)
And if she can't consistently keep up, it may be an opportunity for you to increase your sales, from her potential customers who are hungry for baked goods. Turn those lemons into lemonade! By the way, if she is filling her case with stuff from Walmart to keep up, and isn't even making her own cookies, she's not going to be around long.
Liz
Wow, I just can't see not making your own cookies. I hate store bought cookies, there is not a single one I will eat. They are terrible.
Wow, I just can't see not making your own cookies. I hate store bought cookies, there is not a single one I will eat. They are terrible.
Same here, they taste awful.
I don't understand the allure of opening a bakery where you are reselling stuff from Sysco and the likes. Why go to the effort? And your food costs would be through the roof. Oh well, to each their own.
Liz
AExactly what I was thinking - either their food cost is going to be through the roof or their products will be so nasty that nobody will want to buy them. Or both.
Same here, they taste awful.
I don't understand the allure of opening a bakery where you are reselling stuff from Sysco and the likes. Why go to the effort? And your food costs would be through the roof. Oh well, to each their own.
Liz
Yes, food cost would be horrible! I seriously have no respect for people who can't make cookies. There is nothing to them! Mix your wet, mix your dry, mix together, but generally not too much. Bake. The science/process is so much simpler than scratch cakes.
Both, except for people do actually eat that crap. But will they eat it for $3.99 for 18, at Kroger's, and not realize they are the same cookie, 2 for $1, or whatever? I don't think so.
I feel like such a baking noob, I had no idea that bakeries ever ordered cookies from an outside supplier! Grocery stores, sure, but an actual bakery? what the heck?
I feel like such a baking noob, I had no idea that bakeries ever ordered cookies from an outside supplier! Grocery stores, sure, but an actual bakery? what the heck?
It's just not right, is it? It's like busting out the Otis Spunkmeyer, and calling it your own.
I hate to really ruin your day, but most supermarket bakeries and retail bakeries do not make their own small cookies, the ones sold by the pound. You know the leaf cookies, Florentines, rainbow cookies, holiday cut-outs, all generically referred to as Italian assortment Cookies (or worse Gourmet Cookies)? For the most part, these are factory made and pre-packaged on cardboard trays. They arrive on the same truck that delivers ingredients such as flour, sugar, cake mixes, fruit fillings, etc. Many bakeries don't even bother removing the cookies from their cardboard tray. A couple of the manufacturers are Silverlake and Best. These are sold by Amazon, too.
It seems amazing, right? So who buys these? Probably the same folks who keep fast food places (McDonald's, Pizza Hut, Subway, Taco Bell, etc) in business. We, as forum posters, are a self-selected group of bakers so we are not the target market.
These cookies are very good sellers, otherwise bakeries wouldn't stock them.
AI had the same reaction when I heard those things. Who does that and what's the point ?
I keep my cupcakes in the case for a maximum of 2 days. After that they either get donated to the local rescue mission or get taken home. I'm pretty sure it was just said out of spite.
Ok.... I'm off to bake lemon rosemary and pumpkin cookies for a customer!
I don't understand the allure of opening a bakery where you are reselling stuff from Sysco and the likes. Why go to the effort? And your food costs would be through the roof. Oh well, to each their own.
Many "bakeries" are simply businesses concerned with the financial aspect. Their products have value based on sales, not taste. It's cheaper to unwrap a box of factory cookies and slide it into the case, than it is to pay for raw ingredients and labor. They use a different business model than we do. And we look at baking differently. Our customers, the OP's customers, hopefully see and taste the difference. Using gossip to create sales is a short term strategy for Strubbette's competitors. Eventually they will figure out a concrete business plan or they will go out of business.
Many "bakeries" are simply businesses concerned with the financial aspect. Their products have value based on sales, not taste. It's cheaper to unwrap a box of factory cookies and slide it into the case, than it is to pay for raw ingredients and labor. They use a different business model than we do. And we look at baking differently. Our customers, the OP's customers, hopefully see and taste the difference. Using gossip to create sales is a short term strategy for Strubbette's competitors. Eventually they will figure out a concrete business plan or they will go out of business.
We own a local restaurant also, where almost everything is made from scratch. So I understand that I am playing under a different set of assumptions than most food service establishments today. :)
But what I don't get about Strubbette's competitor is that she said that the girl is an amazing baker! What kind of "amazing" baker worth their salt wants to put generic stuff from the food vendors forth as their own creation?
Liz
I had the same reaction when I heard those things. Who does that and what's the point ?
I keep my cupcakes in the case for a maximum of 2 days. After that they either get donated to the local rescue mission or get taken home. I'm pretty sure it was just said out of spite.
Ok.... I'm off to bake lemon rosemary and pumpkin cookies for a customer!
Sad that she said that out of spite. :( But glad you can make scratch cookies at will!
Liz
AI think you ate confusing the 2 girls. #1 was my friend and an amazing baker. #2 is the one that just opened a shop and has been bad mouthing mine
I think you ate confusing the 2 girls. #1 was my friend and an amazing baker. #2 is the one that just opened a shop and has been bad mouthing mine
Oh, sorry, I'm not keeping up well. This makes more sense now. If girl #2 is the one with high rent, and is filling her case with pre-made stuff, I highly doubt she'll make it. Six months tops. Hang in there Strubbette!
Liz
Its ridiculous that someone who admits to having to fill their case with Walmart cupcakes would call yours dry and nasty. If people walk into her store (I can't call it a bakery lol) and eat one of those cupcakes, they are going to quickly realize she has no taste in baked goods.
Hope her first few weeks don't affect your business too much though. I agree with the other comments, she wont last very long.
AI worked with a girl who couldn't bake a cookie to save her life, and didn't understand pie crust. But she called herself a 'baker extrordinare' on her blog site, and in an article in the local paper. After our falling out, she didn't have anyone to hide the fact that she was incompetent in the kitchen. She closed shop a month later.
I've noticed that my sales since she opened have gone up considerably. I guess people are liking my dry, nasty cupcakes. lol
But seriously, thank you guys so much for the support. I am sure my husband is tired of hearing about it. Plus, its nice to vent to people that know exactly what I am going through.
AIn spite of high joblessness and wages staying flat, the price customers pay for goods increased by 1.8 percent during 2012, according to the labor Department. While that is not a massive amount, it affects the price of staples we buy each day and builds up. Below is a survey of some of those items. A [URL=https://personalmoneynetwork.com/personal-loans/]personal finance[/URL] can help you pay for the increased cost of stuff.
I may have seen it all now...
Girl #2 just had someone come in to my shop and try to pass out fliers. My bakery is downtown and she only tried my place and the places on either side of me.
A
Original message sent by Strubbette
I may have seen it all now... Girl #2 just had someone come in to my shop and try to pass out fliers. My bakery is downtown and she only tried my place and the places on either side of me.
I may have seen it all now...
Girl #2 just had someone come in to my shop and try to pass out fliers. My bakery is downtown and she only tried my place and the places on either side of me.
Girl is ballsy....or a little psycho-stalkerish. Maybe it didn't work out between your brother and her because she had a thing for YOU. 
She just seems really, really concerned with you and your business.
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