Remember Those Beanie Baby Days?

We have been owners of Sweet Tooth for over 20 years.  During that time we have seen fads and trends come and go.
One of the biggest and most exciting products available during this time was BEANIE BABIES.
I have no doubt that most of you remember those Beanie Baby years.  Remember the mad rush to get the latest Beanie Baby?  Remember people fighting over certain Beanie Babies in stores and even at Woodland Hills there were times when stores selling Beanie Babies had to shut their doors and just let a few people in a a time?
I remember telling the florist in The Farm that she had one of the greatest selling items in her front window and she didn't even know it.  As a florist she would purchase inexpensive plush to attach to a floral display.  Beanie Babies in those days were wholesale priced at $2.50.  That's why it was incredible when people would pay $150.00 for a Beanie Baby and remark that some day they would go on Ebay and finance their children's education by selling off their plush collection.
Ah, if only retailers could experience more exciting times like those.
Well today I received an email newsletter and the top story was about Ty Warner, the CEO of Ty, Inc. designer and distributor of Beanie Babies.
Currently Mr. Warner has been found guilty of federal tax evasion, to the tune of $53.6 million .  It seems Mr. Warner had secret off-shore accounts for which he did not report income and now owes a bundle of back taxes on those accounts. 
In fact, this has been going on since 1996 and those found guilty of federal tax evasion usually go to prison for a 5 year term and owe a fine of $250,000.00. 
Wow!  This is certainly one of the biggest, most explosive stories in retail history.
And in case you weren't aware of it, Beanie Babies are still around and you can find them in some local stores.  We occasionally get a question about whether we are carrying them.  Truthfully, I am glad we got out of that line. 
I can't help but wonder what Mr. Warner will do if he ends up in prison.  Maybe bring along a few special Beanie Babies to keep him company??

Event Planning: Just Another Day at Sweet Tooth

For a few weeks now we have been planning an event in our store.  The event is centered on the release of a new Mary Engelbreit sponsored cookbook:  120 Fantastic Desserts and will take place on Saturday, September 21.   3 Tulsa cooks have recipes in the book and Oklahoma is well represented with people whose recipes are published.
A few years ago Mary Engelbreit sponsored another cookbook and 2 Tulsans were featured then.  We had a tasting of their recipes and a cookbook signing event in the store.  It was a lot of fun and well worth the effort to show off some of the special people who live in our city.
Event planning is just one other aspect of retail merchandising.  More and more, events in stores are becoming the norm and a way to introduce potential customers to what a store has to offer.
It takes a lot of time and effort, though, and we never know what the outcome will be.
This time we sent out press releases about the cookbook and the event.  Both KOTV and KTUL responded as did Scott Cherry and Jason Ashley Wright from the Tulsa World and Judy Allen from Tulsa People magazine.  Wow!! we were totally excited about the enthusiasm they all showed for our event and for the 3 Tulsa cooks.
So Jeff went on KOTV morning program with Anna Marie Penix, one of the cooks, to talk about her recipe and our event.  To prepare I baked her carrot cake and Amy Dodson brought us a plate of her Pinwheel Cookies. 
Lee Ann Taylor at KOTV was a wonderful interviewer, asked all the right questions, gave all the right information and even ate a piece of the carrot cake during the break!  I imagine the Pinwheel Cookies and the carrot cake didn't last too long after the show was over.
What did I have to do with all of this?  Well, I am now becoming an expert in baking Mimi's Carrot Cake, Baked Fudge from Denise Rounds and being a real cheer leader for the whole thing.  For each appearance we are bringing a cake and some cookies.  Jeff has practically memorized the recipes and has picked out just the right jacket, shirt and tie to go with his appearance.
Our friend Eric Himan who is a good cook and has made numerous appearances on local television demonstrating recipes is going on KTUL Thursday morning with Jeff to tell the television audience how to make the cake.
That's a lot of preparation and work on everyone's part!!
But you know what?  Doing all this is a heck of a lot of fun!! 

Chocolate and Scented Candles Are Not Good Neighbors

Scented candles are a no-no for stores like Sweet Tooth which sell unwrapped chocolates.  Perhaps you haven't heard that chocolate obsorbs odors and mixing scented anything in the same store or gift basket assures that when you bite into your chocolate truffle, you will find an odd taste.  It might not be so bad, but it won't be exactly what you expected.
We've heard of some stores which sell chocolate and at the same time are cooking other items in the store.  We cringe!!  We know that those chocolates aren't going to taste the same, that the chocolate will "bloom" because of the heat in such a place and customers will not be getting the best chocolate for their money.
"Blooming" chocolate occurs when the cream and butter begin to separate from other ingredients.  Some people mistake that little white dust on the chocolate as mold.  It isn't mold, but simply the separation of various ingredients in the chocolate.
Chocolates which don't require refrigeration do love a cool atmosphere (no more than 70 degrees or a bit less).  Purchasing chocolate in a store which is not kept at that temperature may mean that the chocolate has aged quicker than normal and is already beginning to bloom.
Chocolates aren't sun lovers....so keeping them in their original boxes until you need to put them out is the best care and maintaining an atmosphere which does not have high humidity is also necessary.  Chocolates which require refrigeration have shorter shelf life since they have no preservatives.
Sometimes people ask us to create a gift basket and they want to include some sort of scented candle or perhaps perfume which they have purchased elsewhere.  We do our best to protect the chocolate, putting the scented item in a cellophane bag.
At Sweet Tooth we like to "baby" our candy and we are especially trained to watch for any changes in the chocolates.  We rotate all of our candy when we re-stock in order to keep our candy as fresh as possible.  After all, all of our staff are Quality Control experts....the manner in which they treat the chocolates and the other candies insures that our customers are going to be fully satisfied with their purchases.
In reality what we are selling is as much our customer service as it is the products in our store.