Minkchocolates

Timing is Everything

Wednesday. Dave Newson, man at large, joins me at Holt Renfrew to meet the visual display people and discuss the props available for our Valentines pop-up store. I envision chandeliers, mannequins, black velvet curtains swagged from the ceiling. They offer up a six foot table and a power bar. Dave senses my profound disappointment and assures me he’ll make it work. I skulk back to Mink and take an Advil.

Thursday. Dave pulls the two primary colors from the Mink Valentines poster, and arranges to have wide vinyl striping applied alternately on the table. He coerces them into giving up a couple of plinths with glass cubes that he’ll use to showcase my Artist Series bonbon boxes and anchor either side of the table. He pulls a graphic detail from the poster and instructs the vinyl guy to produce a band with that image in repetition that will finish off the bottom of the cubes. He confirms there is more to come.

Friday. I have one week to produce all the chocolate I’ll need for the pop-up shop, as well as the Mink store downtown and the one at Morgan Crossing. Sales volume from last year isn’t much of a predictor, as Valentines coincided with the opening ceremonies of the 2010 Olympics, and the organizing committee, Vanoc, scared the bejeezus out of everyone and implored them not to come downtown unless absolutely necessary. We still had a great holiday, albeit not entirely an accurate reflection of our potential.

What’s the mood this year? In retail, unless there are significant indicators of pending calamity, you have to be an optimist and plan for a 10% increase. But the pop-up store? It’s entirely unknown. Holts is the pinnacle of fashion retailing in Canada. I should kill, but what if I don’t? Hand filled hearts don’t have the same value the day after. I take the rest of the afternoon off to work from home.

Saturday. Mrs. Mink is planning Jr. Minks 3^rd birthday at the Sunset Community Center. The list of planned activities is long, and the guest list longer. She runs a few perfunctory details past me, knowing I’m only half paying attention. I perk up slightly when she references something about paying for it all from our joint account, but I’ll clarify that at the end of the month when the statement comes.

Sunday. I get an electronic e-vite to my son’s soiree. I open it, admire the choice of template, and click on my name. I have the option of attending for sure, attending maybe, or not attending. I choose the latter. For the benefit of all the parents of his pre-school buddies and their nannies, I feel compelled to decline with an explanation. Levi originally had a due date of February 15. Had he adhered to the schedule, I’d be having cupcakes after finger-painting. He chose to take an earlier flight, and arrived on the 13^th.

The day before Valentines, and the day of Valentines, are the two single biggest days in the chocolate business. By the time my business will allow me to party with the pre-schoolers, he’ll be in University. I go into his room and interrupt him playing with his trains. I tell him I love him and I’m sorry I won’t be at his birthday party. I try and explain that had he stayed in his womb until it was time to leave, I’d be there. He gave me one of those innocent quizzical looks he so often does, then asked if Toopy and Binoo would be there instead.

Monday. I’m stressed. Shecky texts me to say stressed backwards is dessert, and that I should have some rice pudding. Instead, I walk up to the Bentall Center and get my shoes shined. Sitting in the chair, watching my Blundstones get a new lease on life, I think back to when I’d go with my Dad on Saturday’s to get haircuts, him a shoeshine, then off to Mikes Cigar Store, where he got a stogey and I got a Dinky Toy. I couldn’t tell you anything about my birthday parties from those years, but I’ll never forget Saturdays. I call my wife and propose that going forward we celebrate the kids birthday on his due date, not his actual arrival date. Valentines will be in the books, and I won’t have to make excuses.

Marc Lieberman

Mink Chocolates Inc.,
Mink A Chocolate Cafe Ltd.

Call the store: 604.633.2451
Call my mobile: 604.376.3464
Call toll free: 1.866.283.5181

Shop: minkchocolates.com
Tweet: twitter.com/minkchocolates
Join: facebook.com/mink.chocolates
Read: blog.minkchocolates.com
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In Person: 863 Hastings Street West, Vancouver, BC V6C 3N9

February 14

My, How Things Have Changed

Back in 1996, when I was putting the finishing touches on, and getting ready to open, a new food concept in Vancouver, the natural tendency was to be highly suspicious of anyone with a camera, especially if that person was asking a lot of questions about what we considered to be proprietary information.

I can remember more than one instance where someone poking around the store, loitering far too long, asking too many questions, shooting surreptitiously from across the street, went on to open a competing business. It got to a point where the concept of industrial espionage was not limited to Fortune 500 companies, and our spy-dar was so highly tuned we could see them coming, and all staff was quickly advised to be on high alert.

Fast forward a decade and change, and the clandestine shooter is embraced with open arms. That undercover operative is given carte blanche access. Every iPhone user is no longer a secret agent, but a de facto Director of Public Relations, and is openly encouraged to take pictures, post pictures, share pictures, ask questions, and take notes. These days one runs a retail business on an open source platform.

You share everything, from the trivial to the crucial. The risk of having someone knock off your concept is mitigated by the conversation people are having about your brand, and the loyalty that ensues. As a business owner, you’re born to pioneer change, and are not surprised when every shift in tactic redefines your business and how you approach it.

I imagine no one is fretting over reprinting business school case study textbooks. It’s all being uploaded, downloaded, Googled and SMS’d faster than we can see it coming. My spy-dar is so last century.

Marc Lieberman

Mink Chocolates Inc.,
Mink A Chocolate Cafe Ltd.

Call the store: 604.633.2451
Call my mobile: 604.376.3464
Call toll free: 1.866.283.5181

Shop: minkchocolates.com
Tweet: twitter.com/minkchocolates
Join: facebook.com/mink.chocolates
Read: blog.minkchocolates.com
Watch: youtube.com search mink chocolates
In Person: 863 Hastings Street West, Vancouver, BC V6C 3N9

Nine out of every ten persons say they love chocolate. The tenth lies.
– Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

Under Construction

Tuesday I get a frantic call from the contractor building the new store at Morgan Crossing. “I’ve done all I can do”, Stephen says, excitedly. “They’re not with the program”.

With lifts in his shoes, he could pass for a young Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man. “Who’s not with the program”, I ask, knowing full well I’m going to have to stick handle something minor that’s a hair trigger away from being something major.

“We don’t have a building permit. I’ve done all I can do. I’m framed and all roughed in, but I need to call for inspection. I need that permit”. He speaks with a soft slur, as if his mouth can’t quite keep up to the volume of information his brain is asking him to dispense.

Apparently the good folks at Surrey City Hall are on a program that broadcasts on a channel we’re not subscribed to. I call the Chief Building Inspector. I learn that our drawings were misplaced for two weeks. Someone else was on holiday. I’m left with a promise that a plan checker has it on her desk and a review is forthcoming.

I relay this information to Stephen. “That’s unbelievable”, he says. “This isn’t just fun and games for us. I look after my clients. They’re not with the program!”

I agree with him. Building a store is like going to Playland, eagerly anticipating the front seat on the roller coaster and finding the ride closed for repairs, and no rain checks being issued.

I look at my calendar. It’s completely arbitrary, but I try to imagine a revised opening date. What was originally contemplated as April 15^th is now looking more like early to mid-June. I’ve got to delay the arrival of some equipment, reschedule the training program.

My phone rings. It’s Stephen. He’s agitated. I tell him not to panic, that Qantas has never crashed.

He doesn’t get the joke. That’s OK, I say, it’s someone else’s program.

Marc Lieberman

Mink Chocolates Inc.,
Mink A Chocolate Cafe Ltd.

Call the store: 604.633.2451
Call my mobile: 604.376.3464
Call toll free: 1.866.283.5181

Shop: minkchocolates.com
Tweet: twitter.com/minkchocolates
Join: facebook.com/mink.chocolates
Read: blog.minkchocolates.com
Watch: youtube.com search mink chocolates
In Person: 863 Hastings Street West, Vancouver, BC V6C 3N9

Nine out of every ten persons say they love chocolate. The tenth lies.
– Anthelme Brillat-Savarin