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.
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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.