June 2022

A Note From Kathy

As we head into summer, we continue to see changes in our downtown community, and in our business, and continue to try different service delivery hours and focus that best serves our many customers segments.  As each month passes, we learn more about how to  adapt to ensure a stable  short and long term business model that is positioned to focus on  our growing business segment customers, while also serving our local and online shoppers and classes and events participants.

So what have we learned….

• Retail Hours are not busy– we reduced our hours to Friday and Saturday, yet we are seeing very little walk in customers as the summer heats up and we all enjoy the outdoor fun that Minnesota has to offer
• Business to Business Programs continue to grow– We send out over 100 promotional samples to dealerships across the country for our Luxury Chocolate for Luxury Cars program, and are already seeing large orders coming in!  And we are already planning our Holiday Gift Program for other large business clients who make their decisions as early as August..
• Classes and Events are steady but mostly private-  Our private class schedule is very active, yet our public classes are rarely filled, and we have done a few “private” classes for those that do sign up as they are often our best “walk in” customers!

You may have seen the “For Sale” in the window from our landlord, but our business IS NOT FOR SALE, yet the space we occupy is and has been.  For the past two years, we have been grateful to be a part of the positive transition on this key corner in downtown Minneapolis, through the challenges of COVID and the local unrest, yet we will remain flexible for our next chapter too.

For all these reasons and lessons learned, we are  exploring a relocation to our own owned facility in the downtown area, with predictability we need for our seasonal peak business.  We already purchased a new van to launch a L’More Delivery Service for Business and Larger Orders in the Twin Cities.  At the same time, we will continue our website Online Shopping for shipping locally or nationally, or scheduled pickup at the salon as usual, and also continue classes and events in our current space as planned.

Stay tuned, as we work through the details of this new business model in our next update in July!

Kathy