Hey there ladies and gents!
Happy happy new year to you all!! It's been a little while since we've made a post but we haven't forgotten about you nor your tastebuds during this most frenetic time of the year.
This week I've been spending my days downtown doing an office temp gig 8-5, M-F. While I don't feel like I've been out of the corporate grind for thaaaaat long, there's lots of things I forgot about that go along with it, things both cool and not so cool. Such aaaaaaasssss:
- Having an acute awareness of the actual day of the week at all times (i.e. Ugh, it's Monday. Yay, Hump Day! Is it Friday yet??);
- When your computer or technology goes berserk, you can call up a guy in this magical place called "Eye Tee" and he'll come fix it;
- Being on a routine daily schedule (my body is totally going to wake itself up at 600a tomorrow, isn't it? Boo.);
- There are a lot of people who go to offices every day who secretly - or not so secretly - LOATHE IT;
- The exorbitant amount of money people spend on coffee (are we in the wrong business?);
- And, maybe my favorite...the free food and all the sparkle water I can drink!
I suppose like anything, the life of the forty-hour-a-week office drone has its pros, like health insurance and paychecks, as well as cons, like having to ride MUNI every day, but I think for now I'll try to stick primarily to Plan A: Build Better Candy Empire. (Fingers crossed Plan A starts to pay the bills around here sooner rather than later so I'm not doing temp gigs forever.)
On that note, we don't want any of you adoring fans out there to think that BBx has gone dormant; not the case at all. It's true that we had a whirlwind, exhausting and amazing holiday season and spent nearly every waking moment scurrying around like schizophrenic elves (or giants, as the case may be) cooking caramel and getting them out the door, but that doesn't mean we're burned out. In fact, we're fired up. Why? Because the People love Barbary Brix caramel and we won't rest until we give the People what they want! Which brings me to my next, very important point...
THANK YOU SO SOOOO MUCH FOR ALL OF YOUR HOLIDAY ORDERS AND SUPPORT!! We hope that you and yours are all a little bit fatter and happier as a result. Hehe.
All of that said, now that things have simmered down, we've been doing a bit of this thing called sleep, regrouping, patting ourselves on the back, eating meals at regular intervals, but not resting on our laurels. In fact, we're getting deep into Phase II of our strategic plan: Increase Production Capacity. Once we accomplish this, we'll be able to start distributing commercially (selling to stores who sell to the People), which we have always intended to be the main portion of our business. It's sliiiiightly less cyclical than holiday gifts, no? (Read: sarcastic wit, or at least a lame attempt at sarcastic wit.) I mean, how extra-excited would you be to conveniently pick up Barbary Brix products in stores where you shop for things like toilet paper and breakfast cereal?! Extra, extra. We know... We're on it. That long-term goal is still likely a long ways off but, to that end, we're in a serious investigation, networking, and research mode, vetting our various options for increasing efficiency and volume. Wheeeeee!
In the meantime, you don't have to be deprived of your favorite caramely treats! We are still filling online orders and have a number of events coming up where we'll be sampling and selling. In fact, our next event is happening two weeks from today!
On Friday, January 21, 2011 from 600-1000 PM we'll be posting up at the famous and historic Cotton Mill Studios (map) in Oakland for their upcoming art show and open studio event . There will be gallery displays by guest artists in addition to the artists and craftspeople who live there. Did I mention the apps, adult bevs, and music?
Check out these links for more info:
http://www.f3oakland.com/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/F3-at-the-Cotton-Mill/120253561362151?v=info
Hope to see you there!
Hugs,
Sugar
