And you thought Magnolia Bakery's limit of purchases of a dozen cupcakes on the spot was bad...
Newly opened Washington, DC bakery Hello, Cupcake has lost one customer, blogger culture me, dc, with its opening week policy of only 4 cupcakes per person:
I'm going to visit my boyfriend's aunt and uncle this weekend, so I planned to pop by the store and pick up a dozen cupcakes to take as a gift before leaving on the trip. However, after arriving at 10:15 a.m. and waiting in line for 20 minutes, I heard a customer in front of me ask to purchase a dozen cupcakes. The woman behind the counter informed him that, because it's opening week, customers are only allowed four cupcakes.
So he left. And I did, too. Between the two of us, Hello, Cupcake just lost nearly $70 worth of business.
I certainly understand Hello, Cupcake's effort to ensure they keep enough cupcakes on hand for the crowds, but it would've been quite helpful to inform customers of this four-cupcake limit BEFORE they wasted almost a half hour in line. I finally saw the 4" x 4" sign about this -- it was hidden near the cash register -- on my way out the door. A larger sign would've been nice, as would a note on the Web site. And if they prefer that you order large quantities of cupcakes in advance, then recommend this to customers in a prominent place on the site.
Newly opened Washington, DC bakery Hello, Cupcake has lost one customer, blogger culture me, dc, with its opening week policy of only 4 cupcakes per person:
I'm going to visit my boyfriend's aunt and uncle this weekend, so I planned to pop by the store and pick up a dozen cupcakes to take as a gift before leaving on the trip. However, after arriving at 10:15 a.m. and waiting in line for 20 minutes, I heard a customer in front of me ask to purchase a dozen cupcakes. The woman behind the counter informed him that, because it's opening week, customers are only allowed four cupcakes.
So he left. And I did, too. Between the two of us, Hello, Cupcake just lost nearly $70 worth of business.
I certainly understand Hello, Cupcake's effort to ensure they keep enough cupcakes on hand for the crowds, but it would've been quite helpful to inform customers of this four-cupcake limit BEFORE they wasted almost a half hour in line. I finally saw the 4" x 4" sign about this -- it was hidden near the cash register -- on my way out the door. A larger sign would've been nice, as would a note on the Web site. And if they prefer that you order large quantities of cupcakes in advance, then recommend this to customers in a prominent place on the site.
Comments
Perhaps you'll give it the ole college try in the future!
For reasons such as you have outlined, I would never patronise a a highly anticipated business launch - just too much pressure being in a crowd of people 'hungry' for a piece of the action. Combine that with new staff and a rhythm yet to be finetuned and you have a recipe for disappointment. That's just me anyway. Some people LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Store Openings. Me, I have a phobia of crowds. If they are as good as they think then there'll be plenty more opportunities to swing by and try them.