It's That Holiday Closing Time of Year

As we head into the autumn months, we've got a few holidays coming up that will affect our delivery schedule. Take a moment to check the dates below before you place your order.

October 2, 2006--Yom Kippur
Bittersweet Pastries and Steve's Mom will be closed to celebrate the holiday. There will be no deliveries from either of these bakeries on Tuesday, October 3, and orders for delivery on Wednesday, October 4 must be sent Overnight.

All of our other partner bakeries will be open and operating on a normal delivery schedule. If you really, really need a birthday cake on October 2, please call me at 1-800-287-9870 by 12PM on September 27, and I'll be happy to get one out to you.

October 9, 2006--Columbus Day
1-800-Bakery.com will be open and on a regular delivery schedule.

Looking a little further ahead, we'll be open as usual on Veteran's Day, and closed on Thanksgiving and the Friday following Thanksgiving.

We'll also be moving our ordering deadline ahead as we get closer to Thanksgiving, so that we can manage the volume of orders that come to us during that time of year. I'll have more details about that in the coming weeks.

Where Did the English Muffins Go?

If you're looking for New English Muffins, you're out of luck for the next couple of weeks. They're in the process of moving to a new facility and can't accept any online orders. They should be back soon, and I'll let you know once we hear some news.

Categorically Speaking

One last bit of tweaking to our catalog that will ruin the best bookmarking intentions of our customers. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry--but it makes the site easier to use, so you'll like it in the long run.

And I'm done with these changes for the year. Promise.

The biggest change is in the navigation on the right-hand side of the page. The too-inclusive Cakes, Pies, and Tarts category has been split in two. Cakes now houses all of our layer cakes, coffee cakes, and cheesecakes. A little further down the page, Pies and Tarts is home to our Tarts, which Chef Steve assures me will be joined by pies in time for Thansgiving.

If you've got a favorite place for pies, please send me an e-mail at derek@1-800-bakery.com, and I'll make sure the bakery gets considered.

The product categories are also alphabetized now. It's more sensible than the old system, which was ranked by popularity and product variety.

Finally, just in time for Thursday's NFL Kickoff, our Football Cookies are back in stock. A tub of these will satisfy any armchair quarterback, and we've decided to extend our multiple-quantity shipping discounts on all of our mini cookies, so you can send up to three tubs and pay shipping for one.

Shop Ahead and Save

As I mentioned last week, the coming of cooler weather lets us bring back Second Day Air shipping on our cakes and tarts from Bittersweet Pastries. On the down side, that means that Overnight shipping is going back up to $27, because we're not getting the discount that let us reduce that shipping price anymore.

I like to say "order ahead" a lot. It's a good idea when you're buying gifts online, and if you can add an extra day to your delivery time, it'll save you $11.

All of this business with shipping options gets confusing, and we're working to make things even simpler when you place an order with us. You should see the results of that by the end of this month.

Last Chance to Save

I'm passing along a little bit of secret insider information here that's useful only to those in the following situation: You know someone who's celebrating a birthday on Wednesday or someone who'd just like to have a very nice layer cake on Wednesday or you know someone who's celebrating a birthday on a Tuesday in September.

If this applies to you, place your order by Monday morning, because Second-Day Air shipping will return for almost all of our Layer Cakes on Labor Day. If you can wait an extra day for the cake, you can send it for a mere $16.00.

On the downside, the summer special we negotiated will also end on Monday, so Overnight shipping goes back up to $27.00. Yes, I know gas prices are coming down, but have you seen how much butter costs these days? That's a bigger factor with us.

Any orders placed before 10AM on Monday will get the $19.95 Overnight shipping rate, and we'll still offer two-for-one shipping on our tarts.

I hope everyone has a safe and happy Labor Day weekend.