St. Paul Classic Cookie In The News

Here is another article, based on the Star Tribune article:
Small Business Blog Success Story: Power of Web Cooks Up Sweet Ending

St. Paul Classic Cookie is in the News!!!

Woohoo! We are so excited!!!

If you haven't read the story you can read it here:
http://www.startribune.com/business/18163164.html?page=1&c=y

And as our way of saying thanks for taking the time to read about us, print this blog off to receive $2.50 your next order of $10 or more, not valid with any other specials.

E-mails generate dough for St. Paul Classic Cookie rescue

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
E-mails generate dough for St. Paul Classic Cookie rescue
MARCH 31, 2008. SAINT PAUL, MN.
St. Paul Classic Cookie owner Katherine Novotny knew she had all the ingredients for disaster on March 3rd. Her family-owned bakery, located in the heart of the St. Paul Skyway system in the Alliance Bank Center food court, was suddenly crumbling under the pressure of skyrocketing commodities prices. She found herself caught between paying the bills and continuing to buy the supplies needed to provide her customers with her made-from-scratch cookies, muffins and other bakery items.

Almost overnight, her suppliers’ prices increased over 500%—too fast for her to raise her prices to keep pace. Novotny feared her bakery would be forced to close, even though they were so close to “making it.” In an extraordinary effort to keep her family’s cookie tradition going she sent out an e-mail plea to her fellow businesses, networking contacts, and loyal customers to please place an order by the end of business March 6th. She also posted her plea to her blog at saintpaulclassiccookie.blogspot.com.

The public’s response was overwhelming. Lisa Cotter Metwaly of fellow St Paul business the Q Kindness Café, contacted the St. Paul Chamber of Commerce on behalf of St. Paul Classic Cookie. Michael Belaen from the St. Paul Chamber of Commerce published the cry for help in a notice to the Chamber of Commerce’s 3400 e-newsletter subscribers. And Linda Labarre of Linda Labarre LLC spontaneously decided to pass out flyers to folks in downtown St. Paul asking people to help St. Paul Classic Cookie in their time of need.

According to Novotny, “Enough people responded that we were able to pay our bills, meet our deadlines and stay open. And we were also able to talk to our customers so they understood why we raised our prices the next week.

After the plea went out, “people suddenly started coming up and ordering a dozen cookies at a time. It was unbelievable the amount of support—we could almost not keep up!” Novotny exclaimed. “There’s one woman who came in after seeing a sign in the lobby of her downtown Saint Paul apartment building that her concierge had posted, urging people to support us.”

Lisa Cotter Metwaly, Q Kindness Café owner, is also chair of the Central Business District Council of the St. Paul Chamber of Commerce. “When I got Katie’s email, I knew it was the right thing to do, to pass it along. The community here is so kind, it’s just a matter of letting them know what they can do, and ask them for help.” She emailed Michael Belaen, Manager of Economic Development at the St. Paul Chamber of Commerce.

Belaen sent out a notification to the Chamber’s 3400 e-newsletter subscribers. “There’s 68,000 people working downtown St. Paul, but a lot of people that work here stay in their buildings, so there’s not a lot of retail awareness. I chose to get involved to build awareness and see our retailers succeed. Plus, I’m a loyal customer [of St. Paul Classic Cookie.]”

Asked why she thought the public responded the way they did, Novotny replied, “Well, we just make the best cookies in the world. We absolutely love what we do and it translates into our goods.

“It’s funny, we never really realized what a tradition we were for people down here until this happened. I honestly don’t know anywhere but in St. Paul this could occur—we have an amazing community here.”

Novotny is active in the local business community. She runs a MotherVenture group and has attended Saint Paul Chamber of Commerce and Minnesota Women in Networking events. She feels this series of events also demonstrates the power of a strong network. “You don’t really know how networking will pay off for a small business, until it saves it!”

St. Paul Classic Cookie plans to thank their customers with a customer appreciation day later this month. They’ll be sure to get the word out the way they did in March.
###

ABOUT ST. PAUL CLASSIC COOKIE
St. Paul Classic Cookie is located at 56 E 6th Street, St, Paul, MN 55101. The family-owned bakery features cookies, muffins, cupcakes, cakes and brownies, mixed from scratch and baked fresh daily. Their website is http://saintpaulclassiccookie.blogspot.com/
**FOR HIGH-RESOLUTION PHOTOS, EMAIL katrina@themixcreative.com**


Photo caption (Katherine with tray of cookies in front of store): Katherine Novotny, Owner of St. Paul Classic Cookie, is delighted she'll be able to continue her family's cookie tradition in the heart of the Saint Paul skyway system. Photo by Rod Wilson, Andrews Photography, www.Andrews-Photography.com.

St. Paul Classic Cookie Menu

St. Paul Classic Cookie Co.

651-227-4840

Skyway/Alliance Bank Center

56 E. 6th St.

St. Paul, MN

Monday-Friday

7am-4pm

Menu

Cookies 1.50

Dozen 15.00

Muffins 1.50

Dozen 15.00

Brownies 1.75

Dozen 18.00

Bars 1.75

Frosted Cookies 1.75

Dozen 18.00

Cupcakes Small 1.50

Dozen 15.00

Large 2.25

Big Decorated Cookie 16.50

Small Decorated Cookie 2.75

Cake Slice 2.50

9 in. Double Layer 25.00

Large Cookie Tray 27.50

Small Cookie Tray 18.00

Beverages

Milk~2%, Skim, Chocolate .65

Orange Juice .65

Soda .75

Coffee 12 oz. 1.25

16 oz. 1.50

Tea 1.25

Bottled Water 1.00

St. Paul Classic Cookie

Mixed From Scratch, Baked Fresh Daily!

http://saintpaulclassiccookie.blogspot.com/

Thank You St. Paul!!!

You made this happen!

Well we made it through, Yippee! And we couldn't have done it without the support of all those who work and live in downtown St. Paul.

I want to thank my friend Lisa Cotter Metwaly from the Q Kindness Cafe, who contacted the St. Paul Chamber of Commerce on our behalf. If you haven't been to Q Kindness Cafe, you should try it out. They are located in the Lowry building and serve yummy, homecooked food, with fantastic service. For more information about the Q Kindness Cafe check out their website www.qkindness.com. They are also open Saturdays.

I want to thank Michael Belean from the St. Paul Chamber of Commerce who was so kind to put it in the Chamber of Commerce's e-newletter. If you haven't checked out the St. Paul Chamber of Commerce before or lately, they are always having fun events and have great business support. Their website is www.saintpaulchamber.com.

I want to thank Linda Labarre of Linda Labarre LLC. who can meet all your organizing needs! She so kindly came down and passed out flyers to folks in downtown St. Paul For more information on her services you can look at her website at www.lindalabarre.com.

And finally, I want to thank all those who came out to support us last week, THANK YOU!! Without you, we would not still be here.

We will be having a customer appreciation day later in March, please check back or email us at saintpaulclassiccookie@yahoo.com to subscribe to our newsletter and we will keep you posted with the details.

Thanks to you St. Paul, the cookie tradition will keep on keeping on in downtown St. Paul!

Help Keep St. Paul Classic Cookie Open, Support a Small, Family Owned Business

It is with a sad heart that I have to write this when we are so close to making it, but because of substantial price increases in our ingredients in recent weeks, we may be forced to close.

St. Paul Classic Cookie is a small, family owned bakery located in the heart of downtown St. Paul.
We make cookies, muffins, brownies, bars, cupcakes, cakes, and cookie cakes. Everything we make in our store is made from fresh ingredients and mixed from scratch and baked fresh daily.

We are trying to keep the cookie tradition going, but in order to do so we are reaching out to our loyal customers to help us get through this next week. We need to raise some extra money before the end of Wednesday to keep our doors open, so if you were thinking about buying cookies, bars or brownies, now is a great time!

Please come visit us Tuesday or Wednesday, between 7am and 4pm, if you live or work in downtown St. Paul, MN, or you can buy cookies, bars, or brownies from us through paypal and we can mail them out anywhere in the U.S.

For more information on ordering online, please read our blog on our cookies:
http://saintpaulclassiccookie.blogspot.com/2008/03/cookies-by-dozen-yummy.html
or bars and brownies:
http://saintpaulclassiccookie.blogspot.com/2008/03/peanut-butter-perfection-and-decadent.html

Thanks to all of our customers and we will continue to work hard and I hope we can continue to keep the cookie tradition going in downtown St. Paul.
Best,
Katie

Peanut Butter Perfection and Decadent Brownies

When you want something truly rich and decadent, try our Peanut Butter Perfection Bars or our Brownies with or without walnuts.

For only $16.00, including shipping and handling, we can mail half a dozen generously cut bars or brownies or mix and match, anywhere in the U.S. You can order by sending us a payment through paypal at saintpaulclassiccookie@yahoo.com , please specify what kind of cookies you want with your shipping information. You can also order them by calling our store 651-227-4840 Monday through Friday 7am-4pm Central Standard Time. We accept Visa and Mastercard.

Cookies By The Dozen, Yummy!

These are the most delicious cookies made from all natural ingredients. Each cookies is approximately 3-4oz. Choose your favorite or mix and match per dozen.

Made from scratch and baked fresh daily, these are the perfect treat for any celebration. Everyone loves cookies for birthdays, births, anniversary, or just to show someone you care!

Choose from: Chocolate Chip, Chocolate Chip Walnut, Chocolate Chocolate Chip, Oatmeal Chocolate Chip, Oatmeal Raisin, Oatmeal Butterscotch, The Ultimate(like a 7 layer bar, YUM!), Peanut Butter, Peant Butter Chocolate Chip, White Chunk, Oatmeal, Coconut Oatmeal, Peanut Butter Monster, Coconut Date Nut, Ginger, Sugar, Snickerdoodle, Lemon Cranberry Walnut.

For only $25.00, including shipping and handling, we can mail one dozen cookies anywhere in the U.S. You can order by sending us a payment through paypal at saintpaulclassiccookie@yahoo.com , please specify what kind of cookies you want with your shipping information. You can also order them by calling our store 651-227-4840 Monday through Friday 7am-4pm Central Standard Time. We accept Visa and Mastercard.

Valentine's Day Specials

Give your sweetie some of our famous sugar heart cut-out cookies decorated with messages. $2.50 each.

Start Your New Year Off Right!

Don't forget to eat your breakfast!

If you haven't yet, try one of our fantastic low-fat muffins. Our low-fat muffins come in the following flavors: blueberry, cherry, mixed berry, lemon poppyseed, cranberry, raspberry, chocolate chocolate chip and chocolate chip.

Or if you want something more decadent, try our French Puff. With an old fashioned donught taste, this muffin is rolled in butter and cinnamon sugar.

With so many flavors, we are sure to have one you'll love. Stop by on Wednesday for our Daily Special, buy a muffin and get a free medium coffee(ground and brewed fresh from organic and fair trade PEACE coffee).

Looking for a great breakfast for your next meeting? Try our Morning Meeting Special, one dozen muffins and a box of coffee-to-go for only $20.

We'll see you soon!