Tweet Sweet

“Churches are offering sweet temptation for returning worshippers, by giving out free chocolate in the hope it will lure them back into the pews”, a recent news briefing from Ekklesia says.

Gifts for newcomers on ‘Back to Church Sunday’ include a ‘goody bag’ with brochures featuring different aspects of church life – and a free bar of Traidcraft fair trade chocolate. Peter Collins, Traidcraft’s head of church relations said: “…it’s a gift that makes a difference for good.”

As long as the chocolates are not in the shape of the Pope, or in 12 packs of the apostles, I think this is a great idea. (You remember what we use to do to gummy bears or perhaps gingerbread men? Yeah, not such a good position for religious icons)

So if you haven’t heard, the Space Shuttle Atlantis is in space doing some work on the space station. I remember years ago sitting in my elementary class watching the Space Shuttle launch and being full of wonder on what it would be like to be in space and to see the Earth from such a view. Now it seems that we come and go to space on such a frequency that people don’t seem to pay attention anymore - unless there’s an accident.

In a recent article from USA Today, there was another “first” in space. The article reads, “A well-fed construction crew is a happy construction crew, so Atlantis brought not only the girder but also a rare treat: cups of chocolate and vanilla ice cream. Never before has the treat been served on the station, where most of the food is precooked and eaten from a pouch.”

Now if only the chocolate had a mentionable brand name… hmmm. What brand could it have been? (Can you say “product placement”?) The article does say the name brand of the ice cream - Blue Bell. Yum. Apparently, NASA officials allowed the ice cream “to help out (the crew’s) happiness quotient”. Way to go space station guys! Can we measure that happiness quotient… post in on a chart?… improve it for the next flight? We’ll have to wait and see.

I was surprised that Blue Bell, with a mention like this in USA today, didn’t issue a press release on the item. It would have made a really fun news bit. Blue Bell in space? They’ve come a long way from 1907 where they packed their ice cream in a large wooden tub with ice and salt and delivered it by horse and wagon around Brenham, Texas.

In my last posting about The Chocolate Bar, I linked to the CitySearch review of the shop (since they didn’t have a website) and noticed they had a User Reviews section near the bottom of the page. The first of the User Reviews was from a previous Chocolate Bar customer who commented the following:

“…But I have to say something about the review posted about the lady who brought her children and believes she was treated rudely. The name and the sloagan include the words “bar” and “happy hour” which should be the first indication that this store is geared towards adults. Secondly, the store is full of molded chocolate which equals FRAGILE items. If she was asked to leave, maybe it was because she was not supervising her children…”

She was referring to a previous post:

“You’d think that an ice cream/candy store would welcome children. I went there with my neighborhood playgroup today (babies and toddlers) and the owner had the nerve to come out and ask our children not to run around the tables. The place was empty and they were not touching merchandise or anything, just souped up on sugar and playing. We tossed our half-eaten ice cream and cookies and left. There are much more friendly dessert spots in Houston with equally good or better treats.”

So that begs the question - how kid friendly should Tweet Sweet be?
And HOW do you make a sweet shop kid-friendly? (or perhaps I should say “kid tolerant”?) Now I have to mention that two other of the 30 comments listed mentioned that it was a great place for kids, so perhaps it was just a bit too much for the “neighborhood play group” all hopped up on sugar. But does “sweets” always mean it’s for kids?

I don’t have kids myself, but I’ve been around quite a few kids in their environment (ie Chuck-e-Cheese’s at lunch time) and it’s quite a sight to see. Kids are active, and love to touch and play with things as well as see them… they still are exploring their senses. The way I’ve always envisioned Tweet Sweet is as a “nice place”. A place where kids are welcome but on their best behavior. I see the place as a dessert shop that appeals more to a late-night sweet connoisseur than a penny-candy store that appeals to munchkins with pockets loaded with dad’s change. Of course I have no doubt that the children will be dazzled by the desserts just as much as mom and dad, but in a restaurant atmosphere and with restaurant manners.

So how do I do this? I think a lot has to do with the atmosphere, the brand, the packaging… the overall look-n-feel of Tweet Sweet. I think we are trained as adults to know how to behave by the way something looks. In addition to brand, a lot of that has to do with product line. Are the chocolate novelties more appropriate for kids? Or do their price-points, size, and appearance make them more suitable for adults?

Any more ideas on this? Your comments and ideas are welcome.

The Chocolate Bar: Where Every Hour is Happy Hour
1835 W. Alabama
Houston, TX 77098
City Search Review (They don’t have a website)

My Ratings:

Review Summary:
The Chocolate Bar has done it up right. They’re a chocolate-lovers store, a ice-cream parlor and a dessert shop all rolled up into one. With their extensive offerings of chocolate delights, you could come back again and again for something new or different.

My Visit:
After a healthy dinner at Salt Grass We drove around Houston to see some sights at night and to settle our food down in preparation for a big dessert at The Chocolate Bar. (Sometimes the phrase - “there’s always room for dessert” needs a little work to make happen)

Though it’s lacking a website (2006 and now website?!?), this delightful desert café will turn up numerous reviews when Google’d. The shop takes up the majority of what looks to be a strip mall, with very little parking. I was dazzled by all the colors in the windows when we arrived that I wasn’t paying to much attention to the outside. Designed in a large “u” shape, the inside is divided into a dessert area with tables and chairs, a center ice-cream parlor bar, and a chocolate gift shop with everything imaginable made from chocolate. All the help rotated around the center of the bar serving up dessert cakes, ice cream, or helping you purchase chocolate gifts.

Wow, I thought, it CAN be done. Tweet Sweet IS possible. I had been trying to balance in my mind how to divide up a space and still do all the things I’d like to do in Tweet Sweet. Ice Cream is a HUGE draw here in Utah - Cold Stone Creameries or Maggie Moos are on every corner. Ignoring the potential for income in this area would be stupid - especially in the Utah market. But how do you create a space that includes rich desserts, a retail area for chocolate delights AND an ice cream parlor? The Chocolate Bar did just that, and did it well. I do think that they incorporated too much seating in the dessert area, as bending down to look at desserts in the display cases would practically bump you right up against the customers already seated.

After arriving, I migrated over to the retail area where every possible shape and type of chocolate was on sale. All stamped with The Chocolate Bar logo - a bubby martini glass - there were chocolate bars, novelties, mixes, and assortments of all kinds. My favorite was the Chocolate Pizza. Placed in a pizza box and looking like an actual pizza - the 2 pound rich chocolate concoction mixed white chocolate, nuts and candied cherries into a work of art. No, that’s not cheese - it’s CHOCOLATE. “Cut me a slice!” I said with excitement. They had gifts for dog and cat-lovers, golfers, painters, sports-lovers, musicians, new mothers, and more - all crafted out of chocolate. The chocolate dipped fortune cookies and fresh or dried fruit looked out of the ordinary next to the chocolate assortments typical to most chocolatiers.

Once again, it was a hard decision to choose a desert I wanted to try… they all looked so good. And believe it or not, I can’t remember the one I chose (this visit was 2 weeks ago tomorrow). I do remember it was a rich chocolate, very heavy. It wasn’t as good as it looked, so perhaps I made a bad selection… they had so many good things. When I needed a glass of water, I was directed to the back of the shop where they had plenty of glasses next to the drinking fountain (nice idea with such rich desserts!) and on the wall were framed articles that have published reviews. Once again, I got 2 forks - a must for Tweet Sweet now. I noticed as I sat there that lights dazzled around the already bright and fun room - and looked up and there was a disco ball. How cool! The element went not only with their name theme (”bar”) but added a dynamic quality to the room.

Ideas for Tweet Sweet: Yes on the 2 forks (again), Yes on the ice cream parlor meets chocolate novelty store meets dessert shop, Yes on the “u” shaped approach to accommodate all the stores, and Yes on easy access to water glasses, and YES on the interesting lighting (disco ball) to bring a dynamic, fun quality to the room.

I’ve thought a lot about the future Tweet Sweet (My dream to have a sweet shop, in case you’re new to my blog), and how to promote it and bring people to the shop. While word-of-mouth is always the best and most reliable way of promotion, how do you get customers in the door the first time?

My most recent post about Snickers doing an American Idol-like competition to get people to sing about Snickers (tie in with popular culture and a specific demographic) and all judged by Nick Lachey (specific demographic and celebrity endorsement) made me think of a book I’ve flipped through a few times and read some passages from. Called “1001 Ideas to Create Retail Excitement” by Edgar A. Falk, it gives ways that businesses in general can build buzz for their retail establishment. Chapter 9 talks about creating exciting holidays and seasonal promotions, chapter 10 talks about in-store special events such as live entertainment, celebrity appearances, etc.

Here’s a couple of my ideas: (Many more ideas will be posted later - if you’ve got some to share, feel free to post in my comments!)

1. Christmas Promotion: Utah’s Largest Gingerbread House
I came up with this idea last year while visiting the Festival of Trees in Sandy, Utah. One of the display areas includes beautiful gingerbread houses with incredible detail and covered with sweets and candy. Why not have an artist create the largest gingerbread house in Utah (advertise it as such as well) and then give it away in a drawing a week before Christmas? (The tallest gingerbread house ever built was built by Roger Pelcher - it was 30 feet square by 52 feet tall - I don’t think that baby would be moved anywhere.) This also might be a good opportunity to get press on board for their always friendly/upbeat Christmas stories. (To offset all the calamities in the world, of course)

Here’s the White House gingerbread house created by White House pastry chef Thaddeus DuBois, on display in the State Dining Room for last year’s holiday season.

2. Wedding Season: Parade of Cakes
I don’t know if weddings are as big of a business in other states as it is here in the fair state of Utah, but we’ve got 3 or 4 bridal fairs in the spring during what I call “Wedding Season”. This “Parade of Cakes” would have half a dozen or so (space-willing) cakes showing unique wedding cake designs. I ran across a guy in Redmond, Washington who’s company goes by the name of Mike’s Amazing Cakes. The name does say it all - truely amazing cakes. My favorite is the fairytale castle designed to go with a Cinderella themed wedding (pictured below). Visit his cake gallery and take a look.

I ran across rather comical article about the potential use of lollipops.

The Angus Drugs and Alcohol Action Team says it believes that pub-goers will be less rowdy if they are sucking on sweets. The team’s supplied pubs and local law enforcement lollipops to be given to drinkers when they head out for the night, all in an effort to cut down on late night noise. Police officers will also have some on-hand to give to revellers on their way through residential areas to nightclubs and elsewhere. The scheme has come after long-standing complaints from residents about noise and anti-social behaviour.

Read the Article on the BBC:
Pub lollipops making right noises

Wouldn’t it be nice if candy could solve all the world’s problems?

Snickers(R) has teamed up with singing sensation and Snickers(R) fan Nick Lachey to announce the chance to win $25,000 by singing about Snickers. Nick will also be participating as one of the judges during the finals event in Los Angeles later this year.

It seems that YouTube has already started their own group featuring some not-so-winners-of-American Idol. But any search on the popular YouTube for Snickers(R) will turn up some pretty funny stuff based upon the original penned tune:

It seems that the peanuty bar has come a long days from their “Snickers Really Satisfies” campaign to attract a younger demographic.

I discovered the Candy Addict blog, and have been poking around this fun little spot on the web.

Brian (a writer/software developer with a sweet tooth) has put together quite a thorough blog about candy. One of his featured pages that I found quite comical was his Top 10 Grossest Candies.

He’s posted pictures of each of the candies and witty descriptions on what makes them gross (other than their names). The list include candies like:
- White Chocolate Maggots
- The Hose Nose
- Sour Flush Candy
- Cockroach Clusters
- Poop Candy
- Ear Wax Candy
- Candy with REAL bugs
- Candy Scabs

Brian also dedicates an entire category to gross candy. Check it out.

The Director of Nigeria’s Federal Agency for Food and Medicine - Dr. Dora Akunyili - advised Nigerians this week to ditch the “little blue pill” in favor for a dose of cocoa.

Read more about it on Yahoo:
Viagra works, but chocolate works better

The Yahoo article also mentions a line of Chocolates from Great Britain (the highest consumers of chocolate in the European Union) called Feeding Your Imagination that claim to boost your metabolism and act as an aphrodisiac. Spiked with “essential oils” this 100% Organic Belgian Chocolate has such names as dreamy, beautiful, fantastic, lovely, sexy and sensual. Therapeutic Chocolate hu? Put it on the menu for Tweet Sweet!

Did you know that you can get your own name or company logo on an M&M in one of 22 colors? Have you been to M&M’s website lately? Well I hadn’t until this evening. There I found a big button:

It took me to their website especially dedicated to personalizing your own M&M’s. Apparently this site is fairy new, as I recently saw a paid search ad for it as well.

I first ran across the concept of getting our own M&M’s a couple years ago when I ordered apple green and grey M&M’s for the lobby of my previous employer. What better way to personalize a space than with the candy bowl of corporate colors?

The MyM&M’s website invites you to “Create a memory as unique as your love” and share your love story with the world by putting yor personal message on a M&M (Wedding). Or use this option for any celebration including Anniversaries, Birthdays, Bar/Bat Mitzvah’s, Graduation, a New Baby or any one of a half-dozen Holidays. They also offer options for business’s including the ability to stamp your logo on their brightly colored candies.

In 3 easy steps you choose your color(s), your message(s) and packaging, and away you go. The pricing is steep - at least $12 bucks per 8oz bag with a minimum of 4 bags, or $300 when purchasing a in bulk (10 pounds). But it may be just what your special event calls for. Check it out.

M&M Flavors? M&M’s also has 8 new flavors including rasberry, black cherry, peach, orange, almond, mint, peanut/white chocolate, and mint cookie. Sounds pretty tasty! A pinwheel sampler tin of all the flavors will set you back $50.