Instant Cravings

Popcorn is my drug of choice.  I think paying to watch a movie in the theater is too expensive but I go....for the popcorn.  My favorite wedding gift was not the porcelain engraved candle holder for our unity candles.  It was the stove top popcorn maker.  My best friend has bought me a different kind of gourmet popcorn kernel for my last three birthdays.  At the end of a rough week, I don't grab ice cream, I grab my popper, butter and a large bowl.  Heaven.

 When I became aware of Cravings Popcorn in Old Town Lansing, I was immediately intrigued.  Eventually time opened in my schedule and placed me right down the street from their doors.  I had never been there before and I didn't know my way.  Thankfully, the fragrance of all sorts of flavored popcorn wafts out onto the street to help potential customers find their way.  My children and I found our way to their popcorn bar.

That's right. A bar with popcorn samples of their delicious work.

Genius.

The genius of owner Chad Guerrant doesn't end with a clever sample table.  Today is Monday.  Lucky for us, it's Mystery Monday!  Cravings Popcorn has 17 Mystery boxes available for pick up.  The contents are a mystery until you open the box.  Once opened, my family was surprised with how much we were actually give to try out.  Later that week, we ran into Chad at the Old Town Scrapfest and he asked us all our opinions about the new flavors.  

I would tell you what was in our box but I don't want to ruin the surprise.  Besides, it will be different for you anyway.  I will tell you that you are not required to share but you will.  The Cravings Popcorn love will get passed around.  Your office will be happier, your friends will be grateful and your kids will think they are getting a special treat.  

In the end, they will all want more....just like these two!

Brilliant!

Cravings Popcorn is located at 1220 Turner St. in Old Town Lansing. 
For more information visit their website www.cravingspopcorn.com or like them on Facebook. 

Rycus...You'll Like Us!

Yesterday morning I dropped my purse on my desk, plugged in my iPhone and then walked across the expanse of Ron's Remnant room and then the Rycus Flooring Showroom to get a fresh cup of coffee.  Ron Rycus grinds his own coffee beans and offers me a cup every morning.  He even bought me my own box of stir sticks to accommodate my need for flavored creamers.  A new tradition has begun.

As the owners of a professional flooring installation company, building a relationship with local retailers is extremely important.  They need to know that not only will we provide a ridiculously fantastic finished product, but they need to know that we have the integrity to never poach customers.  Our job is to up hold the high standards and the hard earned reputation of our retail clients.  We have that kind of relationship with Ron and B.J. Rycus at Rycus Flooring.

Rycus Flooring specializes in providing customers with an immense variety of flooring materials and installation services to include cork, vinyl, wood, carpet and tile.  Susan and Jackie, the two sales professionals, are knowledgeable about the products offered, flooring design and proper installation techniques.  As a company, they serve builders, construction companies, homeowners and everyone in between.  B.J. sits on the Board of Directors for the Greater Lansing Home Builders and Remodelers Association and is the President of the South Lansing Business Association. 

I should also mention that although B.J. is a huge...HUGE fan of the Spartans he also holds a sweet spot in his heart for my hometown college UTEP.

Go Miners!!

This winter we partnered to provide free tile (Rycus) and free installation (us) to Village Summit a Micro Community Center.  This summer we are hosting a wish list drive for the Ronald McDonald House of Mid-Michigan at our shared location.  B.J. gives me workout tips  and Ron laughs at my sons latest antic's.   

What we have here, ladies and gentlemen, is two family businesses working together to keep it local.  It's a good thing.

Don't tell anyone...it's a secret :)

Rycus Flooring is located at 5300 Pennsylvania Ave in Lansing, Michigan.  Come by anytime to check out some beautiful samples.  They will even provide a place for your husband to sit...out of the way. :)

Bursting at the Seams

It's Friday and I am not writing my blog for buy local.  Not because because I don't want to or because there is nothing interesting to write about.  I have met with at least three local business owners over the course of the past two weeks.  I have hung out with far more at a few networking events.

I am not writing about them because I am taking a pause to document another landmark for our little family business.  Paul and I have been working together since 2003 when we renamed Torok Ceramics, our first smaller attempt at business, Heritage Flooring.  We have grown from a part time gig to a full time business.  We have graduated from a sole proprietorship, to a partnership with employees.  We continue to depend on our happy customers to be our best sales force but have begun to gorilla market like crazy people.

It has been a stretching, learning and growing experience for all involved.  This month we celebrate our relocation to our first store front.  To understand the magnitude of this evolution you have to see what our operations look like now.  For honesty's sake, I am going to show you what we generally hide from our customers. 

This is our current office space...

This is our warehouse.

You may notice there are a few extra things in our "warehouse".  A double jogging stroller for the Jr. Associates, a few camping chairs, bikes, our freezer, tackle boxes and folding chairs.  Our "warehouse" is our garage too.  Just like our family, it has been doing double duty for several years.  I look forward to not having to play Twister to get to my freezer every week because of our supplies and tools.

When our customers call us to find out where we are located, we slyly offer to bring samples to them.  We have a P.O. Box for our mailing and we almost never schedule appointments at our office.  It is just not big enough for two people to have a discussion.  We have built our business slowly and therefore did not want to take on too much overhead. However, we have decided now is the time to expand.

This is where we are moving.

I cannot tell you how much excitement is brewing.  For the first time since we began our professional installation company we will have all of our operations in one place.  Our employees will have a hub and our communication will be more efficient.  Our customers will be able to benefit from our design center and gallery of completed work.  We will host seminars on DIY projects, interior design and occasionally business.  On a personal note, my husband and I will be able to finish a majority of our work in a location other than our home. It may be time to stop joking about writing off our mattress because it no longer applies. Shop talk will remain at the shop...most of the time.

We have a lot of renovating, cleaning and organizing to do over the course of the next month and we can't wait to get started.  When we are done we will invite all of you over for our grand opening and it will be a blast!

***********************************************************************************

I should mention that I will continue my series on the Great Small Business Adventure after we are all moved in.  I have been delighted to sit on Barb Hranilovich's back porch and discuss her invention of the BeveraceCADDi.  I have spent time with Chad Jordan and discussed his growing business in gourmet popcorn at Cravings Popcorn.  I have a lot to say about Rycus Flooring and my friend BJ Rycus.  I hope to meet Angela from Annabelle's Pet Station too.  The best part of my buy local series is meeting all of these great local entrepreneurs and I can't wait to continue to share them with all of you!

The Edge

We have been in business since 2003 and we have not reached the point were we are done learning. Some would say that the ability to keep learning is the mark of a great business owner. I would say that sometimes it is the mark of a business owner that doesn't know what they are doing and so they are forced to keep learning. Failure, although not recommended, is great for the learning curve.

I have spent a lot of time sifting through ideas on everything from how to treat our customers to how to write a great press release. Press releases are a new idea for us. We have had a lot of good news lately and we want to share it with everyone in the Mid Michigan area. Recently I just had a press release published with Capital Gains Media and I was over the moon. My secret weapon was Maureen McNulty Saxton from PR Edge.

PR Edge is a public relations and marketing firm that specializes in writing, event planning, issue management and strategic planning. I am lucky in that I have her to sit next to on field trips, school committees and playdates. I usually begin our conversations with, "Hi, how are you!" and a hug. Somewhere inbetween our salutation and interruptions from the kids I insert, "So, I have this idea."

And then we are off and running. I am bouncing ideas off of her like a dodge ball target and she is sending them back at me at the same speed. I have asked her to proof my writing, plan seminars and participate in a referral program for my Business to Business clientele. She has even helped me deal with difficult customer relations and how to deal with innapropriate comments on our Facebook Fan Page.

Check back for the referral program. I am still working on it and it's going to be fantastic. But I digress.

One of her company's biggest roles is to help public awareness about issues that may effect your business. She is currently on the board of the Women's Caring Project, a non-profit dedicated to helping prop up families that are having to choose between three vital needs. Employment, childcare and/or early education and the basic neccessities. The criteria for recieving assistance is income based and usually involves a parent that is working and attending school at the same time. She assists the Women's Caring Project by offering her expertise in spreading public awareness and seeking out like-minded foundations and endowments for the Child Care Commitment.

She educated me. Did you know that as a nation, we agree that early childhood education is important but there is no viable budget support behind those statements. I didn't know that but I do know many women who find working a challenge because their wages are not enough to pay for childcare and not quite low enough to qualify for State assistance. The math doesn't add up and their children end up going without something (ie, quality care, healthy food, medical care) but that is a topic for another blog.

Recently, I ran across this article by John Schneider from the Lansing State Journal. Oh my, someone really needs a issue management consultation with my friend. So I asked her.

*microphone lifted up to her like a paparazzi*

"Maureen McNulty Saxton from PR Edge, if you had any advice for the owners of this remodeling company what would it be?"

And this is what she said.

"While it may be (appallingly!) true that the law allows liens to be made on homeowners who've done nothing wrong, it's too bad that this remodeling company didn't get out in front of this situation and contact the homeowner before the distribution company did - and before they took a hit in the newspaper. While it's good to hear they are now working with the homeowner to resolve the lien issue, they are still just playing catch-up and in the future might want to consider setting up a proactive press strategy. This is not the kind of story with which they want their name to be associated. They might even want to consider contacting their state representative and inquire as to why the state fund to relieve homeowners is "broke" and how they can help rectify that -- as a local business concerned about their customers. Assuming the situation gets resolved and they take some proactive measures to show their concern, they might want to issue a press release. They most definitely should contact the same newspaper columnist once the situation is resolved to everyone's mutual satisfaction."

Great advice, don't you think.

To contact PR Edge, you can come with me on a field trip or two. Or, you can just refer to the information below. I recommend that you do...but I will bounce that idea off of her too. :)

Maureen McNulty Saxton
PR Edge, LLC
P.O. Box 4493
East Lansing, MI 48826
(517) 899-5513
PR-Edge@comcast.net

Some resources for homeowners;

Consumer’s Guide to the Michigan Construction Lien Act & The Homeowner Construction Lien Recovery Fund

Blank Construction Lien Form Instructions

Old Town Grace

I hate my closet. It was constructed a hundred years ago when clothing was hung on hooks and not hangers. It is a dangerous combination of deep and narrow. There are shelves on the back wall, which would be fantastic, if they weren't behind the rod where my clothing hangs. It defies reason and is a source of aggravation to be sure.

I dream of a well organized personal dressing room. You have seen them before. Dare I dream to have a closet like Oprah's (a more modestly priced version) or like Goldie Hawn's closet in the
movie Overboard where shoe bins revolve. You can tell that I have spent a lot of time thinking about this since I am bringing up a movie from the early nineties to make my point.


Last week, I found my ideal closet. I walked into Old Town's Grace and it was magic.

When the door shuts behind you the world is gone. The hardwood floors (not installed by us but we don't hold grudges) muffle the sound of busy shoe steps that you might find in a run of the mill department store. The lights are dim and jewelry is displayed like joyful little works of art. The music that filled the room was not the obnoxious disco beat that says, "Buy here, Buy now!" in a constant drone. It was what I would play in my home on a relaxing afternoon with...well maybe without my family, truth be told.


Grace is a respite. A place where femininity is celebrated and then adorned accordingly, as the sign on their door reads. Loosely quoted. When you leave, Summer, the owner of Grace, spritz's your shopping bag with perfume and you take a slice of heaven with you. I think that was my favorite part. The smell that lingered in my car reminding me that I had snuck off during the middle of my work day to buy a handbag at a delicious boutique in Old Town.

oh, BAG!

I almost forgot to mention THE bag.

A few days before my visit I stumbled upon this note on Facebook
Grace Old Town: eco-friendly. authentic. handmade. fair-trade. GORGEOUS!

I am a sucker for good causes especially when related to women and children in poverty. I love supporting local businesses but international poverty tugs at my heart strings too. I also aspire to be a more earth friendly family/company every year. I read the blurb about Es & Yaa Co. and I had to pop in to have a look for myself. I did and here is what I found, loved and purchased knowing that my money would serve someone in Ghana.

I love when shopping equals good karma.

For more information about Grace, visit their website www.oldtowngrace.com, become their friend on Facebook or their Tweep on Twitter. Personally, I would suggest that you get in your car, drive into Old Town and visit with Summer and her Italian bags during her Swing into Spring Shopping Party. You won't regret it.

Me Jane. You Tarzan.

It is perfectly fitting that the first interview that I do for the Great Small Business Adventure is with Jane from Tarzan promotions. Speak the name of her business and it immediately conjures up images of the jungle. However, I will refrain from using any cliche phrases.

Jane specializes in making sure that your company leaves it's mark on the most important thing in your world, the customer. When we sat down at the local Biggby for a chat I had one thing in mind. What is the "it" product that is going to be the Holy Grail of my customer loyalty? The answer was surprising to me.

Jane started her company in 1994 mailing greeting cards for companies wishing to stay in contact with their clientele. After the housing decline she lost 50% of her greeting card business because her main client was real estate agents sending cards upon closings. Closings were at a stand still. It was truly a jungle out there.

Couldn't help myself.

Luckily, her customers had lead her into a more diversified business by requesting other promotional materials to supplement the mailings. Diversification saved her business and helped her keep her profits up throughout the recession. Jane enjoys helping her clients stay in contact with their customers. She believes her business is all about making other businesses successful.

An area car salesman has been employing her services for years. Initially, she sent out automotive repair tips on post cards every 3 months to his customer base. Eventually, you run out of tips. Jane suggested that he send recipe cards. This is the point where even I had a question mark written all over my face. Jane explained that she surveyed the customers that received the recipes, male and female, and found that they either prepared the recipes themselves or gave them to a foodie they knew. No one she could find threw them away. Recently, the car salesman was shocked and grateful to find an old customer he no longer remembered walking in his door ready for a new deal three years after the original sale! SCORE!

So here comes the big question. What is "the" thing. Are you ready?

Urinal Screens.

Yep, you got it. The screens that are put into urinals can have your logo emblazoned on them and they are all the rage at the promo shows! The good news is that Jane acknowledges that the next big thing may not work for you. Every business is different and it's all about finding what will work in your industry and for your customers.

Jane does not peddle products, she finds solutions that help businesses become memorable to their customers.

Check out Jane from Tarzan Promotions and the 850,000 promotional items she sells. By the way, she still sends greeting cards too! If you want to meet her in person, I usually find her at a Capital Area Local First event. You can also follow her on Twitter @tarzanpromo!

Good Fruit Video

The Great Small Business Adventure

Almost two years ago I was approached by Daphne Reznick from Vision Care Associates about joining the Capital Area Local First and I wasn't sure we needed to. How would our customers hire a non local installer? I mean, you can't set tile from across the country. You have to physically be in someone's home or business to provide that service. Daphne reminded me about Home Depot, Lowe's and Menards and the installation services they offer. Oh crap.

Ever since, driving past that big orange sign has felt a little different. Don't get me wrong. Although, I am a localvore I know that the big box stores support local by hiring a local work force. So, Home Depot, I have no hard feelings. I even brought my kids to your free pot-flowers-for-Mother's-Day event. I have also been known to take a DIY course or two. However, I now see clearly, another competitor.

When Paul and I changed our name to Heritage Flooring in 2003, we were very isolated. I never attended networking events and we depended on word of mouth for our new business. I eventually joined a local Business Networking Intl. chapter and the world broke open. I feel the same way about our Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn adventures. I can now see before me hundreds of businesses in our area that I didn't know existed a month ago.

We did join the Capital Area Local First. Joining the group made us evaluate our purchasing power. We have our copies made at Gladstone Printing instead of Office Max. We go out of our way to support local eateries like Pablo's in Old Town, my personal favorite, although it's not really a sacrifice. We talk to our children about why we stopped at Cravings Popcorn for our afterschool snack.

"Because they are like us guys. They own a business in Lansing and that's how they make their living. If people didn't choose us we couldn't support ourselves."

And we love hearing our oldest son talk about how he will start his own lawn and snow company as soon as he is big enough. I am already looking at adult fliers as local competition.

*shrugs* It's the Mama bear in me.

I have a new idea. Every week I am going to meet with a local business owner and talk about what makes their business so awesome. I want to know how long they have been in operation, what services they provide and why they continue to work in this economy. After we meet, chat and have coffee I will post my findings on this blog under a buy local tag. This is an adventure I should have started years ago and I hope you will check back weekly! It should be a blast.

Thanks Daphne for opening my eyes. Buy Local!

P.S. I found this event on Facebook. On March 20th, we make a commitment to purchase from locally owned companies. Will you join us?