Tasty Surprise in Store

I just tasted something delicious. Something that you, lucky reader, will be able to order off our site in a couple of days. Something that you won't believe is so delicious when you know what it is.

"Yeah, so stop hyping and tell me what it is already."

Please give me another day or two as I deal with the amazing volume of orders for King Cakes, which have sold faster than anything we've ever offered on the site. Just how fast have they sold? Let's take a look at our Top 10 Products, shall we?

1. Stollen--sells like crazy at Christmas. It'll be #2 by next week.
2. Chocolate Birthday Cake (Complete Party Kit)
3. Vanilla Birthday Cake (Complete Party Kit)
4. Croissants
5. Baby Boston Coffee Cakes
6. Sugar-Free Low-Carb Flourless Chocolate Cake
7. Cinnamon Walnut Coffee Cake
8. King Cake (will be #7 by tomorrow, and we moved a ton of those Coffee Cakes at Christmas)
9. Gourmet Cookies Gift Assortment
10. Demitasse Party Petits Fours

For reference, the Stollen has been available from the first day the site launched. King Cakes debuted in late January. It's good to see the cakes selling well, especially since it's helping Randazzo's rebuild their business. We talked to Tricia today, and her husband hasn't slept in a couple of days as they process the orders.

If you'd like to order one, we're accepting orders until Noon Eastern tomorrow, February 23. I'd said 2PM, but I had to move it back. Please note that we cannot guarantee a delivery date at this time, but all orders received by noon tomorrow will arrive before Mardi Gras.

Random Monday Thoughts

"Random Monday Thoughts." I might make this a new feature on the blog. We'll see. I just figured that since most folks have today off, I could mail in the segues and just write a bunch of unrelated stuff that wouldn't rate as a full post by itself. So here goes.

1. Telephone Tips: Believe it or not, your calls are important to us. Really. We like talking with our customers and helping them get what they need. Sometimes we get busy, or it's midnight and we're not here, and you'll get our voicemail. If you do, please make sure to leave a 10-digit phone number where we can reach you during the day. Don't assume that we know your area code, and don't leave more than 10 digits, as we don't know which 10 to choose.
   
   And if you don't hear back from us, please call us back instead of telling everyone you know that we have lousy customer service. We want to call you back, but we can't if we don't understand your phone number.
   
2. Blogger was down on Friday afternoon, which is why I never got to my other big announcement last week. I'm not getting to it today, either, because sending out information on a Monday holiday is like putting a billboard on top of Mount Everest.
   
3. Sometimes our packages show up early. It happened at Christmas, and it happened again last week. Why? Our friends at UPS have a policy of moving things as fast as they can during the busy times, and Valentine's is second only to Christmas for shipping. We do our best to get things there on the day you specify, but we are at the mercy of our shipping partners. I'll throw a nod to a competitor who shall remain nameless for turning this occasional event into a bonus. In their shipping information, they say, "May arrive early at no extra charge." That's good marketing.
   
4. Buy a King Cake, but do it soon. We're closing orders for these on Thursday, if not sooner. Remember that you'll be helping a Louisiana bakery recover with each purchase. I'm thrilled with the response so far from our customers, who have moved the King Cakes into our Top-10 products faster than anything we've ever offered on the site.
   
5. Finally, it seems that NBC is lamenting poor ratings for the Torino Olympics. I'll give you three reasons why they're down: First, the lackluster performance of Team USA, especially on the ski slopes, where it's like watching a train wreck. Then again, Americans love watching train wrecks, so that's only part of the problem.
   
   Second, the fact that we know the results before the broadcast. That always cripples the ratings for an overseas Olympics. Would you rather watch Bode Miller when you know he's been disqualified or watch the always unpredictable American Idol? I'd rather watch the Olympics, but I've got to go out of my way to avoid the coverage.
   
   Third, too damn many commercials. Those "Life takes Visa" spots have become such a pervasive nuisance that I'm reaching for the remote at the first sign of a break. More than once I've seen NBC come out of a commercial break, run about two minutes of coverage, and then go back to commercials. There's too many breaks, and too many repeats of the same ads. If I wasn't going to buy a Chevy the first 7 times I saw the ad during the Opening Ceremonies, I'm not going to buy one now. In fact, I'm so annoyed that I won't buy one ever, and I may even tell my friends not to buy them, in the hope that they run out of advertising dollars so I can enjoy two-man bobsleigh without screaming at the TV every time I hear the Olympic theme played on car horns.
   
   The incessant advertising has made watching the games a chore. Couple that with already knowing the day's results, and you've got a healthy audience for "House" over on Fox. NBC would do well to follow the "less is more" rule and give us 15-minute blocks of programming with higher-priced commercial breaks in between. IF Chevy and Visa want to buy all the spots, let them sponsor the night. Fox did that successfully with Ford for a couple of "24" premieres.
   
   Just stop ambushing us with the same ads over and over again. It's like going to one of those "salespeople on commission" stores and having people jump at you with sales pitch every time you turn a corner. I don't shop in those stores.
   
   And I'm not watching those Olympic commercial breaks, but I'm trying to watch the games themselves. I guess that puts me in the minority.

Are You in The Zone?

Firstly, if you're looking to get a King Cake for February 27 or 28, order it now. As in tomorrow, if not sooner. I spoke to Tricia down at Randazzo's today, and they're nearing the cutoff for orders delivered on Mardi Gras. If you want one for any other day next week, no problem. I'm likely going to cut off Mardi Gras delivery at 5PM Eastern tomorrow, so if you're on the fence, it's time to act.

On to the real question of the day: Are You in The Zone? I'm not talking about Atkins, but rather UPS Zone 1, which encompasses New England, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Washington, D.C. If you're living in one of those areas, or you care about someone who does, you can send them some delicious Hurley's Irish Soda Bread, or even some Irish Soda Crisps, for five bucks. It's just like getting "FREE" shipping, only you pay five bucks. That's still pretty goshdarn cheap when you consider how much you'd pay in gas to get from Washington, D.C. to Boston to find some Soda Bread at retail.

How do we do it? We must be insane. Or using UPS Ground shipping, which delivers in two days to anyplace within Zone 1. If you're outside of Zone 1, shipping is $15, but you'd pay a lot more in gas, and probably need a hotel, to get to Boston. Plus you'd likely want to do some touristy things while you're here, and now you're way over that $15. You'd be lucky to get a trolley ticket for $15, and they wouldn't give you any Soda Bread. Of course, we have a separate charge for the Soda Bread, but trust me when I tell you that no amount of money waved a Boston Trolley driver is going to get you baked goods.

The upshot of this whole thing is that you get a darn good deal on shipping no matter where you live, but if you're in the Northeast, you've got an extra-good deal, one that may even make shoveling snow worth the effort. At least, if you like Soda Bread.

The downside on all of this is that there's no more Express Shipping on our Soda Bread. I don't expect much heartache here, because in the two years we've offered this product, only a couple of people have had such desparate Soda Bread cravings that they paid for Express Shipping.

If you really need Soda Bread that bad, call me, and I'll hook you up. But before you call me, I suggest some deep reflection on the choices you've made in life that led you to this overwhelming need.

Feed Our Troops

I'm looking for some folks who'd like to help with an experiment: I get a lot of requests for APO/FPO shipping to Iraq, and it just so happens that our Biscotti can handle the trip. We've sent some over there already, but I'd like to send some more, just so I know all the ins and outs of shipping to the front lines.

If you've got a loved one in Iraq or Afghanistan and you'd like to send them a treat, please call our Customer Service number and let me know. I'll waive all the shipping charges, so you'll get actual, real, free shipping, not the fake "FREE" shipping offered by sites that can't figure out that the singular of "cakes" is "cake," and when you only offer one cake, you really should use it.

Our money-back guarantee is in effect for this experiment, so if the biscotti fail to arrive or the recipient doesn't like them, there's no charge to you. I'd say the best part of this deal is that you don't have to fill out the pages and pages of paperwork that it takes to ship overseas.

In other news, because you'll notice this, we've stopped carrying Chocolate Dipped Strawberries. Why? We're going to be adding more bakeries and products to the site in the coming weeks. As the number of products goes up, it gets harder for customers to find what they're looking for.

We've always meant to be a bakery site. That means a lot of internal wrangling about what our customers expect. At La Patisserie, for example, we've got a chocolate dipper here three days a week, a deli counter, soup, and gourmet cheese and pate along with the breads, cakes, cookies, and croissants. There aren't a lot of lunch places or gourmet shops around us, so it makes sense to carry those other items.

Online it's a different world. The gourmet or chocolate shop is just a click or two away, so it doesn't make as much sense for us to carry a lot of items that aren't baked. Chocolate Dipped Strawberries fall into that category. We still stand behind the product and the company--if you'd like some, please visit Berry Gourmet--but we'd rather keep a narrow focus and concentrate on finding the best baked goods in America.

And we wouldn't remove one product line without adding another, but you'll have to stay tuned for those details.

Tasty Reminder

Some days, there's a ton of stuff going on and it's nonstop juggling from the time I arrive until the time I leave. Those are fun days.

Other days, it quiets down a little and a sample of something delicious shows up on my desk. Those are really fun days, and today is one of them. I sent out a few of our Stollen to friends, including Phil Bruno at Supercookie, back at Christmastime. Phil loved it so much that he asked me if we had any left, and could I send him another. I was more than happy to do that, and in return, a large box of cookies arrived on my desk today, including--to my delight--two tubs of Spring Mini Cookies.

Since I spent well over an hour snowblowing the driveway yesterday, the sight of colorful flowers, bumblebees, and ladybugs was a welcome reminder that winter will soon come to an end. Spring training starts this weekend--here's to hoping that the Red Sox battered starting pitchers have healed in the offseason--and if you're a gardener, it's almost time to break out the grow lites and get those seedlings started.

So for those who can't wait for warmer temperatures and leaves on the trees, I've added the Spring Minis to the site. They'll bring a little warmth to the winter landscape. Of course, if you like the winter landscape (which probably means you don't have to shovel the stuff), our Winter Mini Cookies are still available as well.

After the Storm

After much shoveling, salting, and snowblowing, things are "winter normal" here in the Northeast. That means the sidewalks are icy, parking spaces are being saved with chairs, orange cones, trash barrels, and other garage items, and commerce is again on the move.

If you placed an order with us for Valentine's Day delivery, rest assured that it's on its way on time. Thanks to everyone who made this a very happy Valentines Day for us. Orders have been closed since noon, and we had a very good couple of weeks.

Things quiet down now until Easter, unless you folks decide to keep us busy by ordering lots and lots of King Cakes. With all the beads and doubloons these cakes come with, it's like getting Mardi Gras in a box, and the cakes themselves are terrific. You could also comfort your Olympic sorrows with some Olympic Mini Cookies. It's been a tough couple of days for the Americans. First Michelle Kwan drops out, then Bode Miller finishes fourth in Men's Downhill and Apollo Ahno fails to make the finals in the 1500-meter Short Track. Word today is that Women's Luge was plagued by crashes. I'm hoping that everyone's fortunes improve as the Games progress.

Whenever we hit a slow time over here, we take a look at the site and see what's working and what's not. We also review the customer requests we receive to see what else we should be offering. One year ago, when we were one of a handful of sites dedicated to bakery products, it was a matter of keeping up with the Joneses. Now, with more companies jumping into the space, setting ourselves apart from the competition becomes more important each day.

To that end, we've got some exciting developments planned in the coming weeks, based around one of my guiding philosophies of customer service, namely, "Never say 'No' to a customer." That, of course, is an impossible goal, but by the 20th request for a particular product or service, it's time to start finding a solution.

I've found two that should make you very happy. Look for details later this week.

And if you're not of a mind to wish that February 14th was just another day, have a Happy Valentine's Day. For those who dread the day, take comfort in knowing that the clutter of hearts and pink will be swept from the stores for another year on Wednesday.

Winter Wonderland

You may have heard that there's a big storm heading for the East Coast this weekend. You may be concerned that this will affect our Valentine's Day deliveries. Fortunately, the storm is coming on Saturday and Sunday, which aren't shipping days for us, so there shouldn't be any disruptions, and your sweets will get to your Valentine on time.

Meanwhile, we'll be up here waiting out the inevitable shortages of bread, water, and batteries that accompany every snow forecast of a dusting or more.

And Then There Was Express...

I know this isn't very cake-rageous of me, but if you want something to arrive in time for Valentine's Day, it's got to be sent via Express shipping. Your Valentine is worth it, and remember that the "Oh, wow!" you hear from your Valentine will translate into extra hugs later in the evening.

Don't have a Valentine? Then you've probably got plans to watch lots and lots of Olympic coverage starting on Friday. Sure, some of the folks in Torino might not be happy about the games, but that's no reason to deny yourself a single second of colorful, high-speed human competition.

During the wee hours as you tune in to the latest Curling highlights, you're going to need some snacks to keep awake. It just so happens that we've got Olympic Mini Cookies to chase those late-night TV munchies. Every tub comes with a torch, a set of medals, and lots of little Olympic rings. Be sure to stock up early, as I find that disorientation sets in around Hour 100 of continuous Olympic viewing.

You Heart Cheap Shipping

Today's the deadline for Second-Day Air delivery by Valentines day, except for cookies and petits fours. We can take those orders until 2PM Eastern on Thursday. After that, it's Express shipping or a disappointed Valentine. You don't want a disappointed Valentine. Trust me on this.

King of Cakes

There's a little round cake on the site today.
It's a different cake than yesterday.

There's little doubt in my mind that Gordon Sumner would write these words after a bite of the fantastic King Cake we now offer from Randazzo's Camellia City Bakery in Slidell, Louisiana. This is an essential for your Mardi Gras parties and a New Orleans tradition that was brought by the French in the 1870s.

The King Cake is round, sweet cake, with a dough similar to what you'd find in a Danish. The cake is decorated in three shades of icing--Purple for Justice, Green for Faith, and Gold for Power. The shape and colors represent the crowns worn by the Three Wise Men when they visited the Baby Jesus on the Epiphany. Each King Cake has a plastic baby baked inside, and tradition dictates that whoever gets the slice with the toy has to provide the King Cake for next year's celebration.

We're lucky to be able to offer these cakes. We'd been talking about adding King Cakes to the site last summer, and we loved the cake that Randazzo's sent us. Everything was set to go, then Hurricane Katrina hit. Randazzo's was flooded out, with four feet of water in the bakery. After 40 years serving New Orleans, it looked like the end.

Tricia Zornes, who took over the bakery from her father, decided to make a stand. She was determined to rebuild, hoping that she would set an example for other businesses in the area. On January 10, after cleaning up and replacing her damaged equipment, Zornes began baking King Cakes once again.

When you order a King Cake from us, you'll be helping Zornes rebuild her business. You'll also get a delicious cake that comes with Mardi Gras accessories, including beads, doubloons, and a history of Mardi Gras. We're proud to be able to make a difference for a local bakery in a time of need, and we hope that you'll support us by making one of Randazzo's King Cakes part of your Mardi Gras celebration, wherever you happen to be.

Our Long National Nightmare Ends

I know I'd promised to tell you the King Cake story today, but I'm overcome with woe. After weeks of patient waiting and countless prayers, Gocakego has responded to a nation's pleas for the Raspberry Buttercreme by removing it from their site. This has to be the saddest, least cake-rageous day I can remember.

What does it say about us, as a nation, that we're unable to bring a second variety of cake to hungry celebrants?

What will our children think when they click on a button that says, "Show me the cakes!" and see only one kind of cake? Will they think that life's promise is an empty lie? Will they understand why the Japanese are gaining ground while we struggle? Will tears pour from their eyes as they struggle to close them and sleep, imagining a day when America's bakeries are nothing but distributors for Pocky?

I should have stayed in bed today. It's all too much to bear. So too, is the arrival of SecretSpoon.com, the latest venture from the folks at ProFlowers. I like these guys in general, they run a decent enough site with the appropriate information and assurances.

But they're not bakers. They sell some cakes and cookies, and flowers, and steaks, and fruit baskets. So let me ask you this: You've got a special occasion coming up for someone you love. Who would you rather order from--a site run by bakers or a site run by a holding company? Which customer service department do you think knows more about baked goods--the one at the bakery that's been in business for 20 years or the one that just started because someone saw cakes as a new profit center for those days when meat sales are down?

At 1-800-Bakery.com, baked goods are all we sell. Okay, there's some candy and gift baskets, too, but candy's a close cousin and the gift baskets have baked goods in them. We're all bakers over here, using this site to extend our reach beyond our neighborhoods so we can share products that we believe in with people all over America.

That last thought plays into the King Cakes story, which I promise to share tomorrow. I'm sure I'll be over my Raspberry Buttercreme-induced heartache by then.

And on an unrelated note, congratulations to the Pittsburgh Steelers for their Super Bowl win, and to the Steeler's owners and managers for sticking with Bill Cowher during the tough years. You set an example that the rest of the NFL would be wise to follow.

More Sweets for Your Sweet

Straight up, I'm going to tell you about more stuff you can buy on our site. But before I get to that, today I was thinking about how romantic a Raspberry Buttercreme cake would be. Too bad it's still stuck in development. It's hard to get just the right balance of raspberry and buttercreme, apparently. Really, really hard. I hope the overtime spent on cake development doesn't cost the workers their sanity.

Now on to the sales pitch. We've got three new bakery partners this week, all of whom are worthy and welcome additions to our product line. I personally taste everything that we sell (and that we decide not to sell), and I can tell you that all three of these bakeries have wowed me. That's not an easy thing to do.

I told you about Solomon's Gourmet Cookies in my last post. For Valentine's Day, we've just added a Valentine Gift Basket that includes a dozen Silver Label cookies without nuts, three Black Label cookies, and three fondant-covered hearts expressing the warm sentiments of "Happy Valentines Day" and "I Love You." It's only available until the 13th, and it's sure to be a coveted gift of Valentines everywhere.

We've also got two new items from The Nutty Cookie of California, with more to come next week. These folks have perfected big, soft-baked cookies, and they use a lot of California-grown ingredients. Much to the dismay of the Wheat Council and the USDA, I ate these cookies for lunch a couple of times this week. I have a weakness for chocolate chips and skipping meals. I'm working on it, I swear.

The Nutty Cookie has supplied the biggest cookie we've ever carried, the "Bee Mine" Heart Cookie. Four pounds of cookie goodness stuffed with Guittard chocolate chips. It says "Bee Mine," and there's sugar bees on it, because nothing says, "I love you" quite like an edible pun. It's fun and cute and you know someone who'd love to get it, so stop snickering.

Finally, for you Mardi Gras afficionados out there, how about a genuine New Orleans King Cake from Randazzo's Camellia City Bakery? It's like getting Carnival in a box, because you'll get the cake along with Mardi Gras beads, plastic doubloons, and a history of Mardi Gras. There's more to the story of this partnership to be told, but it's Friday, and you should be out enjoying the weekend. I'll have the full story on Monday.

America Held Hostage--Day 10

Still no sign of that Raspberry Buttercreme at Gocakego.com. When will our long national nightmare be over? How can a people who have feasted on the variety of 300 beverage choices at 7-Eleven reconcile a business that offers only one choice of cake, just because they want it in a green box with "FREE" shipping?

Since I'd rather you didn't starve to death waiting for the green box to show with a Raspberry Buttercreme, might I suggest some Silver Label Cookies from Solomon's? They're a new addition to our site, and they're gooooood. Really, really gooooood. A lot of cookies cross my desk over the course of a year, and these truly wowed me. I can't use competitors names or superlatives on the site, but if you asked me in person for my opinion of these cookies, I'd tell you that they're the "Well-known gourmet chocolates that come in a gold ballotin of cookies." God, I've a hankering for some of those cookies right now.

Did you get your Valentine a present yet? Me either, but that's not an example you should follow. With 12 days to go, you should try to get your order in soon. Most retailers don't complain about it, but Valentine's is one of our busier seasons.

Just don't give your Valentine flowers. I mean, come on, flowers? You're getting raked over the coals for those roses, and she would much rather be surprised with roses on a random Tuesday than get the obligatory Valentine's dozen. I could never understand why we express our undying love with something that wilts in a few days. Must be a guy thing.

Give a single rose, if you must invoke the floral tradition, then think outside the box. Go over to our Seasonal Treats page and pick out some cookies or petits fours. Your Valentine will be surprised, and you'll get a cookie or petits four as a reward for being so thoughtful. Just try taking one of those roses home and see what happens.

"But Derek," you're saying, "How can you expect me to pay those overnight shipping charges to get the stuff there on Tuesday?" Hey, if you really loved your Valentine, cost would be no object, but since you're probably down a few bucks from feeding Exxon's record profits, here's some money-saving advice:

Order the gifts for delivery on February 10. Pop the petits fours or the cake in the fridge, and they'll be nice and fresh for Valentine's Day. Order by 2PM Eastern on February 8, and you can get Second-Day Air shipping.

Or, if you'd like to get some of the nice mini cookies from Supercookie, order by 2PM on Thursday, February 9, and we'll have them there on Valentine's Day. They ship in sealed tubs, so they'll survive the weekend without losing a bit of their freshness.

Then get your Valentine some jewelry or tickets to a game. Please stop buying the novelty boxers with hearts on them. They're disturbing.

Suggestions for All

I really shouldn't dispense free advice to the competition, and I doubt I would if I thought they would seriously take it, but that seems to be the case at Gocakego.com. They've added an actual address and--gasp--phone number to the bottom of most of their pages. They're still, however, only guaranteeing a "cake-rageous" experience, and I've got no idea what that means. I'm thinking it's one of those things that means something different to everyone. I prefer to order from places that offer a simple money-back guarantee, like the one we offer. And there's still the odd lie about FREE shipping.

Don't forget to use the BLOG discount to get $5 off our Chocolate or Vanilla birthday cakes. Type it into the Coupons field at checkout, and remember, we've got two flavors, they've got one. Really, if you're going to launch a site and offer two flavors of cake, shouldn't you have both flavors available at launch? It's not like you're tackling the Herculean task of offering three kinds of cake.

Maybe they're just waiting for raspberry preserves to come back in season.

Speaking of competitors, I get the odd call for someone looking for larger cakes than the ones we sell, specifically half-sheet and full-sheet cakes. Los Angeles-based Cake2go.com has you covered. They use a network of bakeries to fill their orders. I don't think that's the best way to do it, but I will concede that there's no practical way to ship a half-sheet or full-sheet cake, which is a very fragile thing. If you need something that size, visit their site.

Fix cake fix?

I'd like to say things are looking better at Gocakego. I'd like to say we won the war in Iraq, too, but like so many abandoned roadside cars, the problems with our cake-selling friends offer convenient places to hide customer service problems.

They fixed the broken logo on the inside pages, and they added a Contact Us link at the bottom of the page. Too bad that link goes to an e-mail address labeled "info." I bet everyone's tripping over themselves to answer those e-mails. When you send us an e-mail, it either goes to me or to Chef Steve. If we're here, we answer them within an hour. If we're not here, those e-mails are the top priority when we arrive back at work.

Still no sign of the vaunted Raspberry Buttercreme cake--rumored to be at least partially responsible for the Denver Broncos lackluster perfomance in the AFC Championship game--but a visit to the Double Fudge page (which still lies about FREE shipping) reveals a new link, called The Guarantee.

It seems that if your experience is anything less than "cake-rageous," they'll "...fix it. Pronto." I find that the truly "cake-rageous" experiences in life are too few and far between. And nowhere in this do they actually say what they'll do. Do they offer a free replacement? Is this a money-back guarantee like the one we offer? Will sending an e-mail to an address labeledn "guarantee" result in the kind of high-speed, life-affirming customer service that you, a wage-earning productive citizen, should claim as your birthright? I'm guessing that the answer to all of those questions is, "Well, maybe, sorta," especially since I don't see a phone number anywhere on the site where I can call and yell.

As you determine whether your experience was insufficiently "cake-rageous" enough to warrant the dangers of sending that e-mail, be sure to note Gocake's claim that, "Birthdays are not to be taken lightly." Neither are Web sites. Do it right, with all the links and information that customers need, or go away. That would be "cake-rageous."

In other news, someone called twice on Sunday to complain about our shipping rates. We're not here on Sunday. We say that very clearly on the site. The caller claimed that our shipping rates are too high. I might agree with that point, but I don't set the rates. The shipping companies set them. If you'd like to call UPS, FedEx, and the Postal Service and ask them why they charge so much, I'd love to hear the answer, particularly where the concept of "dimensional weight" is concerned.

As I've explained in the past, we don't make money on shipping. In some cases, shipping costs eat into the margins we're supposed to make on our products, because shipping is a complex voodoo science when you're selling nationally. Here's some information you can use to help understand the problems:

1. We ship stuff in oversized boxes. Cakes and pastries can't be crammed into standard boxes. When we use our own packaging, which we need to do for many of our products, we're billed for what's called "dimensional weight," becuase our boxes are larger than the standard UPS, FedEx, or USPS boxes. In other words, we're billed for the additional space our packaging takes up on the airplane on a per-pound basis. Dimensional Weight can add as much as two pounds to our packages, resulting in a higher shipping cost.

2. Cakes are heavy. Three DVDs may weigh less than two pounds, but one cake weighs about five pounds. Throw in some dry ice or an ice pack to keep the cake cool in transit, and we're up to a seven-pound package. Since shipping is priced by the pound, it adds up.

3. We can't use ground shipping. You don't want to wait five days for your cake to arrive. Especially if it's going to Texas. Trust me on this.

So I'm left with these very real expenses (and we take advantage of every discount we can get). That leaves me with two choices: Charge $35 for a dozen cookies or $65 for a cake and claim FREE shipping (it's not FREE if it's not in all caps, ask any marketer), or break down the price so you know exactly where your dollars are going.

If you find that level of honesty unsettling, there are folks online who'll lie to you and offer all the "FREE" shipping you can handle. You're welcome to do business with them, just don't call and complain to us first, please.

And if you want to know how much that "FREE" shipping cost you, here's some fun you can have at home. When the package arrives, go to Intershipper.com. Type in the originating ZIP Code (where the package came from), your ZIP code, and the package weight, and you'll find out how much they paid for shipping. If they do a ton of volume, you can subtract 20% of the shipping cost. Subtract the shipping cost from the purchase price of the product, and you'll know what you really paid for that "FREE" shipping.

Just Go, gocakego

Here's another one of my snide posts wherein, through sarcastic commentary, you might learn a thing or two about how not to run a Web site.

As a veteran of the dotcom bust, I like to think that the days of style over substance are gone. That Web entrepreneurs have learned that it takes more than pretty pictures and a little Flash to be successful. Then I see gocakego.com, and I'm reminded why phishing scams still work. In short, just because you spend years telling people not to do things via every available avenue, it doesn't mean they'll listen.

Go take a look at the site. The link's right up there. These are the same folks that had a teaser page online for so long that I began to wonder if someone had (wisely) pulled the plug before this venture got off the ground. Imagine my surprise at seeing actual content, albeit in short supply.

These folks sell cakes. Well, cake, since clicking on the "Show me the cakes!" button reveals that their much-anticipated Raspberry Buttercreme is still in development. In this high-speed day and age, when Presidents can't wait for a court order to start wiretapping, you can't have a cake in R&D for so long. The new Duke Nukem game may be on the market before this cake materializes.

In gocakego's defense, the site seems to be all about simplicity. Nothing's simpler than having only one cake, even if half the people who come to your site don't like it. Those customers, we'll assume, just go away, leaving only those who approve of Double Fudge cakes. And the pictures are pretty. Very, very pretty. Too bad the end of the gocakego.com logo gets cut off once you're off the home page, or that would look pretty too.

The green box also looks pretty, if you like green. Did I mention that the cake comes in a green box? That's a big part of the strategy over there, so much so that they've carried the green motif, with ample blue highlights, into their site design. Are there any two less appetizing colors than green and blue? I've done the research, and the answer is no. But the cake comes in a green box, and I'm sure they were careful to ensure that none of the gocakego.com logo was cut off on the box.

Assuming you get past the green and blue (blue, by the way, is nature's chromatic equivalent of the skull and crossbones, which is why sensible food marketers avoid it), you can order your choice of a Double Fudge or a Double Fudge cake for a mere $59.95--"Includes FREE shipping." As I've said many times before, there's no free shipping.

Let me repeat that: There's NO free shipping. Free lunch may actually exist, expecially if you're good at sneaking into marketing conferences without credentials, but there's no free shipping. The shipping is priced into the cost of the cake, which, incidentally, serves 6 fewer people than our Chocolate Birthday Cake, which, incidentally, comes with all the same stuff (minus the green box), and only costs $5 more with second-day air shipping.

Cross some names off the guest list, honey. We're getting FREE shipping. No you're not. You're being lied to on a green and blue background. Please do me, and the rest of the decent online retailers out there, a favor this year and stop buying things from people who lie to you.

If you insist on buying from people who lie to you, go ahead, use the Shopping Cart. As they say, "Ordering from our store is quick & easy." So quick & easy that they don't even bother spelling out the word "and."

First, give them the Shipping address. Be sure to notice the "Shipping and Handling" charge of $0.00 at the bottom of the page. It must really be free! You also get the choice of creating a customer account or buying as a Guest. Clicking the "What's a Guest?" link tells you that if you don't register, you won't be able to track your order. Now that's simple!

I also need to assign some bonus points for the error message that keeps popping up on the checkout pages, informing customers that "This page contains both secure and nonsecure items." That always makes me feel safe when I'm shopping online. Usually it's an image that's the source of the problem, but I've looked at the pages with nonsecure items turned off, and I can't tell the difference, so if it is an image, it's an invisible image that's probably being used for some search engine optimization purposes. Cheaters.

Once you tell them where to ship and who to bill, the next page tells you to "Select Your Shipping Method." You get as much choice here as you do with the cakes, as there's a single radio button next to the words "Free Shipping." These folks lie like Scooter Libby in front of a grand jury.

You'll be asked for a Discount Code and to choose a Delivery Date. It doesn't say anything about delivery restrictions, but there's an asterisk next to the field. The asterisk doesn't point to anything or link to anything, which must make it feel like less of an asterisk. That sort of abuse of one of the most useful and reliable symbols in language has always bothered me. For fun, I suggest trying to place an order for same-day or Sunday delivery. You won't get any error messages. You also won't get a cake, but you might get a fun phone call from someone in customer service. If you do, be sure to ask them why you can't get your Double Fudge cake the same day or on Sunday, then ask them why it didn't say that on their site. Then cancel your order.

This, of course, assumes that they have customer service. If they do, it's nowhere to be found on the site. Nor is any kind of shipping information, physical address, security information, or a privacy statement. They're all about simplicity over at gocakego, and those boring bits of information just complicate things, don't they? Maybe all that information is coming once the Raspberry Buttercreme cake is ready for the world.

Of course, why would you want the basic staples of online customer service when you've got a Party Online feature? Not only will they send you your choice of a Double Fudge or a Double Fudge cake with FREE shipping on a Sunday, but they'll also fill your e-mail box with birthday wishes. All you have to do is send them the e-mails of everyone you know. Which makes no sense, because you're not sending a birthday cake to yourself, and you probably don't know all the e-mails of the cake recipient's friends and family, unless you're hacking into his or her Hotmail when nobody's looking. With no Privacy Statement on the site, this is probably what gocakego recommends. And what happens with all those e-mails, anyway?

When you violate as many basic e-commerce requirements as gocakego does, it's understandable that you wouldn't put a customer service number anywhere. Personally, I wouldn't order from these folks if they were the only cake site online and my only other birtday gift option was a box of last year's Limburger, so long as I knew the Limburger was coming from a secure site with a clear path to customer service.

If you want to save the five bucks and take a gamble, go right ahead. Actually, I don't want you to do that, because I care about customers and I don't want shoddy sites like this wrecking the reputation of e-commerce. So try this instead: Order a birthday cake from us and use the Discount Code BLOG at checkout to save five bucks. I'll even give you a choice of chocolate or vanilla. You'll only match their price if you choose Second-Day Air shipping, because Express Overnight and Saturday cost more. And no, we can't deliver it on Sunday or Monday.

You won't get a green box and you'll have to send your own Happy Birthday e-mails, but you will be ordering from a safe, secure site with customer service a toll-free call away. The choice is yours.

Why send a cake in the mail?

The competition's heating up in the world of pastrycommerce, as evidenced by this AdWords entry from the competition over at the usabirthdays site:

Birthday Cake Delivery
Why send a cake in the mail when
you can get a cake baked locally?

Good question there, usabirthdays, and a good thing that's not the only ad that you run, because I'm about to explain a few things.

First, nobody's sending a cake "in the mail," at least not from our site. The implication here is that we're tossing our cakes in a box and shoving it into the closest mailbox. That's what most people think of when they think of mail. Cakes wouldn't survive too well in that environment, which is why we've spent years developing packaging and shipping methods, and working out relationships with UPS and FedEx to ensure that our products arrive on time and in one ready-to-enjoy piece.

So now that the editorial slur against our shipping practices has been addressed, let's get to the real question that's being posed, with the appropriate revisions:

Why send a cake when you can get a cake baked locally?

Why go to Vegas when there's a casino a few hours away? Why stay at the Ritz-Carlton (lose the Flash intro, people) when you can stay at Motel 6? (Maybe because they have a better Web site.) Why eat at Ruth's Chris when Chili's has the New Cajun Ribeye?

Awesome Blossom aside, there's a simple reason: quality. When you order a cake from us, it goes straight to an award-winning bakery. The same bakery, every time. Whether it's cheesecakes from JR Bakery of Chicago or one of the amazing cakes from Bittersweet Pastries, you'll get the same quality whenever you order.

What happens when you order from usabirthdays? Your order goes to a local bakery. They could be great. They could all be using the same recipe. They may have even won an award. But you won't know. And if you order again, and you're sending to a different state, you'll be dealing with another unknown bakery. You're taking a chance on quality. I think that's okay with floral arrangements, because they just have to look good. A cake has to taste good, too, and taste good consistently. That's what makes memories and traditions.

If you want to take a chance, there's sites out there that will let you. If you think the people you love deserve the commitment to quality and consistency that we provide, we're here for you.

And we won't send your cake through the mail.

Happy New Year

I'm impressed, not just with the volume of business we did on the site this season--a tenfold increase over December 2004--but with how smoothly everything went. For all of our deliveries, only a handful failed to reach their destinations on time.

In fact, for whatever reason, I got more calls for people upset with Wolferman's customer service than our own.

I also learned a couple of things this season. If you're ordering a gift for someone, enclose a gift card. We don't charge for them, and that's the only way the recipient will know where it came from. All of our shipping companies use the bakeries' return addresses, so the gift winds up being a mystery, and that can be unsettling for some people.
In addition, if you're expecting something delivered by a certain day and it doesn't get there, call us. I might tell you to wait a day, or I might ship a replacement immediately. I'd rather eat the cost of a replacement and know that you're satisfied than take a chance on something not reaching its destination in time. I scrambled to get some croissants out to a customer in the midwest on Christmas Eve because she called and told me she hadn't recieved her order on December 23. Everyone here shares a commitment to providing the best customer service possible, but we can't do that if we don't know that something's wrong.

There's one last shipping disruption to close out the year. We're unable to ship on Monday, January 2, because the shipping companies are closed. We can deliver on Wednesday, January 4, only by Express Overnight delivery. After that, things get back to normal until November. Our ordering deadline will move back to 2PM Eastern, and we'll be bringing back Monday delivery on select products.

I'd like to thank all of our customers for their support and all of our partner bakeries for their hard work during this past year. We surpassed many of our expectations, and we're looking forward to greater success in 2006.

From all of us at 1-800-Bakery.com, best wishes for a healthy, happy, and sweet New Year.

Send Someone a Stollen

I've been hoping that with the holidays here, our Stollen, which is quite good, would retake the lead as our top-selling product. As of this writing, we only need to sell seven more of them to get that top spot back. I know you're all up to the challenge--if you need a gift for a teacher, a delivery person, a faraway friend, our Stollen is a sweet, delicious way to say thank you or I'm thinking of you.

It's getting down to the line for Christmas orders. Here are our ordering deadlines:

For Boston Coffee Cakes, all orders must be in by today, Friday, at 5PM.

For petits fours, all orders must be in by Noon Eastern on Monday.

For cakes and tarts (except cheesecakes), all orders must be in by Noon Eastern on Monday.

For all of our other products, we will be taking orders for second-day air delivery until 5PM Eastern on Monday, and orders for Express Overnight delivery until Noon Eastern on Wednesday.

We're also expanding our live customer service hours. In other words, no weekend for me. I'll be here from 10AM until 2PM on Saturday, and from at least Noon until 2PM on Sunday. Call and order some Stollen, if you need some, and we'll have it to you, or anyone you choose, in time for Christmas.

This will be my last post before the holiday barring any unexpected developments. So I'd like to take this chance to thank you for reading and to thank you for helping us grow beyond our expectations this year. Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy Hanukah.

Cheers,
Derek

Ye Olde Nor'Easter

Thanks to the snow blowing around the Northeast today, our friends at Bittersweet Pastries are unable to accept any orders for Saturday delivery. I'm not linking to them because if I do you'll click on the link, then you'll see the delicious cakes, then you'll want one for tomorrow. But we can't ship it for tomorrow. Ok, fine, here's the link to our cakes. Just don't order any for tomorrow. Please.

This seems like a good time to bring up the always-popular topic of shipping disruptions. Snow is a fact of life for a lot of places in this country, and snow does affect our ability to deliver our products on time. The shipping companies suspend their delivery guarantees during a major storm, and depending on accumulation, sometimes for a day or two after a storm. What's a "major" storm? It varies, but anything over three inches is usually enough to snarl traffic and keep airplanes on the ground.

If you're planning on ordering something, be sure to check our Shipping Disruptions page, where I'll post updates on storm-related delays as they happen. If you're ordering ahead, please try and allow an extra day for us to get things where they're going, particularly if the shipment is going to New England, New York State, and the northern midwest and plains states.

For Christmas deliveries, the best advice I can offer is to schedule deliveries for December 22. That way, should a storm arrive, we'll have an extra day to get the gifts to your loved ones in time.

Whiskers on Kittens

We've seen a big spike in sales of our croissants ever since Oprah's Favorite Things show ran just before Thanksgiving. I didn't see the show, but I do know that the Individual Chocolate Lava Cakes from our friends at Galaxy Desserts made that list a couple of years back.

If you're thinking of getting some croissants, I hope you'll get them from us. We've got one major advantage over Williams Sonoma--ours are baked and ready to eat. Theirs need to be proofed and baked when they arrive. Many of our customers have told us that they like our croissants better than Williams Sonoma's--that's a matter of taste, as I think they're both good, but then again, I don't eat a Williams Sonoma croissant for lunch every day. I do eat one of ours, as they're one of my favorite things in this bakery.

For what it's worth, I thought I'd share a few of my other favorites from our site, just in case you're looking for a gift for a thirtysomething marketing director/web producer with a deep love for fine food.

Mini Cookies from Supercookie--Steve ordered a case of the Halloween cookies for the store. As soon as it arrived, I stole a tub of them and ate most of it the same day. Steve mumbled something about, "There go my profits," and walked away.

Vegan Blondies--I'll confess that I'm not a fan of most things that are good for you. I like steak, and I consider fruit punishment rather than a snack. But when we got the samples of these, the rest of the staff here had to fight me off to get some. They're so moist and dense, and completely free of animal products. If you've got a vegetarian or a vegan on your gift list, look no further. This is the perfect gift.

Chocolate Petits Fours--Dark chocolate for me, please, the more bitterswet the better. Divine Delights uses delicious chocolate to dip these petits fours, and their chocolate and mocha fillings are my favorites. I adore Godiva chocolate, but I'd be just as happy to get a box of these.

Chocolate Satin Cake--Someday I'm going to be left alone with a big bowl of chocolate ganache. Someday. Until then, I'll settle for this heavenly bittersweet chocolate cake that's filled, iced, and bordered with the stuff. It's like a hot fudge sundae without all that ice cream melting and messing up the fudge.

Stollen--It's NOT a fruitcake. Nobody likes fruitcake. Well somebody somewhere must, because they keep making the stuff, but I'll gladly take one of these Stollen instead. It's a sweet German bread filled with candied fruits (which is why some people make the mistake) and raisins soaked in Myers Rum. It's sweet and light, and we make it with a genuine German recipe. Pop it in the oven to warm it for a few minutes and you'll have a lovely Christmas breakfast.

Grand Sequoia Mousse--The only thing better than bittersweet chocolate in ganache form is bittersweet chocolate in mousse form. When our freezer died back in April, I was "forced" to eat all the samples before they spoiled. I love everything that Galaxy Desserts makes, but a half dozen of these would be my gift of choice.

New English Muffins--These were recently featured in The Boston Globe's Food section. All the varieties are a treat, but the five-cheese is the best of the lot. Spread on some pizza or spaghetti sauce, pop it in the microwave for a few seconds, and you've got a fantastic English Muffin Pizza.

97% Fat-Free Yogurt Cake--Did I mention that I don't like healthy foods? Here's another exception. We make this pound cake with yogurt instead of dairy, which reduces the fat without ruining the taste. I was handing samples of these out at the New England Food Expo back in March, and the visiting chefs and food directors were amazed at how good this cake tastes. Unless you tell someone, they'll never know it's a reduced-fat food. I like it just for the taste and texture.

So there you have it--a few of my favorite things from our site. If you're ever looking for suggestions, please e-mail me at derek@1-800-bakery.com . And remember, you'll never need to worry about color or size with a gift from our site. And if they've already got one, they'll be very happy to have another.

We're Not Scrooges (Really!)

I've heard that some folks are upset about my decision--yes, you can put the blame right here--to use the word "Holiday" to describe our petits fours. I've been accused of being Grinchlike and part of that PC crowd that's out to rob Christmas of its meaning.

Most of my friends will agree that I am Grinchlike most of the time, but they'll also tell you that I'm one of the biggest fans Christmas ever had. In August, they roll their eyes when they see me waving my "Christmas #1" foam finger around. The last thing I'd ever want to do is diminish the meaning of December 25, which I consider one of the best days of the year.

There's a technical reason, rather than a PC reason, why I chose the word "holiday." Some of our partner bakeries have their own Web sites and, like us, spend a lot of time and effort trying to get those sites noticed by search engines. If I use the same product names they use, we wind up competing with each other, and they get unhappy.

So whenever possible, I change the product names a little so that we're working with our own unique search terms. Our partner bakery uses the word "Christmas" for all their petits fours, so I went with "Holiday." That's all there is to it. If I was that PC, I wouldn't have Christmas Mini Cookies on the site. It was Phil Bruno's idea to call those other cookies Holiday Lites, not mine, and Phil's often annoyed at me for not changing his product names enough.

So now you know why I chose to use "holiday." I hope this makes sense, and I'll be happy to wish anyone who calls a Merry Christmas. Call in the afternoon, when I'm less Grinchlike.

Next week we'll debate my spelling of "Menorrah."

What's This Noon Stuff?

As I mentioned in my last entry, the order deadline for next-day shipping has been pushed back to Noon Eastern until the end of December. There's a couple of reasons for the change. The bakeries are busy, but just as important, the shipping companies are busy, and that's only going to get worse throughout the month of December.

I realize that the noon deadline is a drag, particularly for those on the West Coast who are still trying to find their workstations and start the day. It's a necessary concession at this time of year, and we'll be moving the deadline back to 2PM in early January.

As I've said before, ordering ahead is the best way to make sure that we get your products to you in a timely manner.

Keep an eye on our Seasonal Treats page through the first week of December, as we'll be adding a few more tasty desserts to make your celebrations warm and merry.

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's been a busy Thanksgiving, both at the bakery and on the site. I'd like to thank all of our customers on behalf of myself and Chef Steve for helping this business to grow faster than we ever expected. In case you're wondering where the blog updates have been, I've just had too much to do over the last two weeks. That, of course, leaves me with a couple of bits of administrata to clear.

First, we won't be shipping anything between November 24 and November 28. Our friends at FedEx and UPS are taking a weekend breather before the busy holiday shipping season kicks in. They've earned it. Any orders you place between now and November 27 will ship on November 28.

Second, our Thanksgiving products are no longer available, but a new collection of holiday desserts is now online, which you can find on our Seasonal Treats page. Remember that it's a good idea to order early--our Rum Pumpkin Tart sold out before Thanksgiving, and all of our holiday desserts are available in limited quantities.

Third, as the holiday shipping season begins, we've had to make some adjustments to our Overnight Express delivery. Beginning Monday, November 28, the order deadline for next-day deliveries is Noon Eastern. This will be in effect until January 2. All other shipping will be unchanged until December 19. I'll have more information on that in the coming weeks.

Finally, as the new site gets put to the test, we're discovering a few problems with the system. For the record, this happens at every site, and I'm being more honest about it than some folks are. We've experienced occasional outages due to traffic and some minor problems with our Checkout system.

If you ever encounter a problem with our site, I do hope you'll call us at 1-800-287-9870. If something isn't working and no one tells us, then we don't know that it's broken and we can't fix it. Those calls that report problems are essential to us. I'd particularly like to hear from any Firefox users out there who are having trouble.

That's all for now. I hope you have a very Happy Thanksgiving.

No Cakes 'til Tuesday

Due to production issues, I've had to take all of our products from Bittersweet Pastries offline until Monday. This is the first time we've had this kind of a situation, and I apologize for the inconvenience.

All of the cakes and tarts from Bittersweet will be available next week, and you can continue to place orders for their products so long as the delivery date is Tuesday, November 15, or later. If you've got any questions, please e-mail me at derek@1-800-bakery.com.

And We're Live

It's here, the new and improved 1-800-Bakery.com. After four months of researching, rebuilding, rewriting, and redesigning, our site has been relaunched to reward our customers.

That's the real Chef Steve gazing out from the top navigation. Now I get to look at my boss every time I'm on the site. Joy. All that's missing is a little word balloon that says, "Work harder."

I'm very proud of the new site and all the hard work from Chef Steve, the nice folks at b2services who helped with the redesign and upgrades, the customers who offered their suggestions, and, of course, the family and friends who helped us cope during this project.

There's a ton of new information and new features available on the site that I encourage you to explore. We've moved to a faster server, so you'll be seeing it all much faster than before. And there's more to come in the next few weeks, including improved product descriptions and an online glossary. Not to mention new cookies and petits fours for the holidays.

I'd love to know what you think of our new site. We designed it to be easier to use and more comprehensive than before, and I hope we succeeded. If you've got any comments or suggestions, please send them to me at derek@1-800-Bakery.com.

Addendum: It's possible that a few of your bookmarks may have broken during the redesign. To accomodate the new font size and page layout, I had to shorten the names of Hurley's Boston Soda Breads and the New English Muffin Company, as well as the product names for our Sugar Free Low Carb Flourless Chocolate Truffle Cake and Sugar Free Low Carb Flourless Marble Truffle Cake. The products are all still there, but they've got shortened names, and our site uses the product name to generate the URL. There won't be any changes like this in the future, and I apologize for the inconvenience.

Technical difficulties?

You might see some strange things happening today as we install the new site.

Wait, did I just say "install the new site"? Yes I did. And as with all things new, there's the odd technical hiccup to sort out.

So please pardon our appearance during renovation, and if the site does start acting wonky, give it a few minutes.

Florida Shipping and Holiday Schedule

We're once again delivering to all ZIP Codes in Florida, and I hope the arrival of November will put this hurricane season to bed. In case you're wondering, the list of affected ZIP Codes is compiled primarily from the U.S. Postal service. These delivery outages are a result of blocked roads or power outages in the affected areas.

I always err on the side of caution when it comes to shipping our products. Some of our perishable products simply can't take an extra day or two in shipping. But as the recovery moves forward in Mississippi and Louisiana, I'm increasingly looking at a patchwork of service offered by UPS, the U.S. Postal Service, and Federal Express.

So if you'd like to send something to someone on our shrinking list of affected ZIP Codes, please e-mail me at Derek@1-800-Bakery.com or call us at 1-800-287-9870. We'll do everything we can to get your gift delivered.

And now an ineloquent segue: Thanksgiving is coming. One of my first jobs in the bakery business was to help with customer pickups on Thanksgiving. It's the single biggest holiday for bakers, and if there's one thing I've learned, it's that you need to order ahead if you want to avoid disappointment. Our Jack-O-Lantern cookie sold out within minutes of last week's e-mail going out, and I'm expecting the same to happen with our Harvest Petits Fours and Cornucopia Cookie.

You can order at any time and specify your delivery date by typing it into the Comments field on our Checkout page. The deadlines for Thanksgiving delivery are November 21 for Second Day Air and November 22 for Overnight Express. But again, you could find a very limited selection available by then, so if you see something you like, order it soon.

After looking over the planned closures for the shipping companies we use, I've put together our November Holiday Schedule:

We will be shipping on our regular schedule for Veteran's Day.

For Thanksgiving, we will be closed from November 22 until November 28. This means that any orders placed after 2PM on November 22 will not ship until November 28. Our shipping companies are suspending Friday and Saturday deliveries that weekend, and if this year is like past Thanksgivings, we'll need the days off to recharge.

Shipping Resumes to Texas

We're once again able to ship throughout the state of Texas. It's good to see the number of affected ZIP Codes dwindling as services return to the areas hit by hurricanes this season.

Meanwhile, there's snow in the forecast for Boston tonight. I've got to go plan a costume that includes mittens and a knitted cap.

And now Wilma...

I'll be glad when this hurricane season is over. For those who follow these sorts of things, Wilma is the last named hurricane we can have this season. Seems they've run out of names, so if another tropical storm develops, it will be called Hurricane Alpha, unless the marketing folks step in and buy the naming rights. Hurricane Disney, perhaps?

The US Postal Service has suspended shipments across parts of Southern Florida for today. As always, I'll be monitoring the situation and keeping you up to date on our Hurricane Information Page.

Making a Friend of Monday

I'd promised a big announcement today, and here it is: We can deliver products on Monday.

That's the big announcement? Yes, and let me explain why it's so important.

We're not a network of bakeries. All of our products are bakery-direct, which means you get them from the same bakery--the bakery that created the original recipe--every time. We don't farm out your order to the bakery down the street because we know it's hard to maintain consistent quality when you do things that way. Besides, the bakery down the street doesn't have our products.

It's been a standard practice in bakery-direct e-commerce that Monday delivery was a no-no. Because we, and other bakery sites, want our products to arrive fresh, we don't want them sitting at a shipping depot over the weekend. We don't pack our products with preservatives, so it's important to protect them while they travel.

The down side to all of this is having to say "No" to customers when they ask if something can arrive on a Monday. I don't like saying "No" to customers, and I'm sure it seemed odd to you that in a seven-day week, there were really only five days when we could deliver.

After talking to our partner bakeries, I was able to find some products that can be shipped over the weekend and arrive fresh. Some of them are durable, others are packaged in airtight containers. As with everything we sell, we offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee along with our pledge that we'd never sell you anything we wouldn't proudly serve in our own homes.

I'm working with our partner bakeries to expand our Monday offerings. I hope you'll find the added flexibility valuable.

Second-Day Air Returns

Good news for you cost-conscious folks thanks to the cooler temperatures of autumn. I'm pleased to announce that second-day air shipping is back for all of our cakes from Bittersweet Pastries and all of our petits fours, with the single exception that we must continue to ship our petits fours overnight to Florida. It stays hot there all year, which must be nice.

With a little forethought, you can save up to 50% on shipping costs. Everything else seems to be getting more expensive these days, so it's nice to be able to offer our customers a chance to save.

High fuel prices are a concern for everyone these days, especially in the shipping business. We're working to find ways to maintain or possibly reduce our current shipping charges for many of our products. I'll keep you informed on all the developments.

And speaking of developments, we're getting ready to do something unique in bakery-direct e-commerce. It involves breaking our own rules (just a little), but it will give us the flexibility to provide you with even more memorable gifts.

Look for the announcement on Thursday.

Long Weekends and the Holiday Rush

Officially, we'll be closed on Monday to enjoy the long Columbus Day weekend. Our friends at Bittersweet Pastries tell me that they'll be around on Monday, so if you need an emergency Chocolate Birthday Cake or a tasty Cranberry Walnut Tart for Tuesday, they'll be able to ship them out.

This is a good time to start thinking ahead about holiday orders. Bakeries get very busy at this time of year. Thanksgiving is the biggest holiday of the year in terms of sales for most bakeries, followed by Christmas, Easter, and Valentine's Day. With so many orders coming in, products can sometimes be in short supply.

While we pride ourselves on being able to ship overnight anywhere in the continental United States (except on Sunday and Monday), at this time of year, it's far better to order ahead. By ordering in advance, you can be certain that you'll receive the special tart, cake, or cookies for your holiday gatherings. As colder weather moves across the country, you'll also save on shipping by taking advantage of Second Day Air delivery. Look for that option on our products as October comes to a close.

Ordering ahead is as simple as typing the delivery date in the Comments field on our One-Page Checkout form. For more information, you can check our Choose Your Delivery Date information page.

As a bakery insider, I can't tell you how important it is to order ahead during the holidays to avoid disappointment. We'll do our best at 1-800-Bakery to take last-minute orders, but product selection may be limited as specific holidays near.

Finally this week, the government has put together an informative and valuable site about protecting yourself online. Security continues to be an important issue for responsible online retailers, and I encourage you to visit the government's site and learn how to protect yourself while you're shopping online.

Why We Don't Like Mondays

Strange things going on around these parts. But before I get to that, let me kick off October with a hearty GO RED SOX in the hope that they'll win a World Series while I'm here in Boston to enjoy it.

Now about those strange things...the weather folks are telling us that fall foliage is coming late to New England this year. Typically you don't have to venture too far north into New Hampshire to see autumn colors by Columbus Day, but thanks to a warm September, even northern Vermont is only at 20% of peak foliage. I'm convinced that the seasons around here get a little further behind the calendar each year. Snow in late March is a lot more common than it used to be, and the hottest part of summer arrives in August instead of July.

On another calendar note, Halloween is on Monday, October 31. Monday is bad for us. We don't like Mondays. Because even though we live in a seemingly on-demand world where products appear at our doorstep the day after they're ordered, the shipping companies still insist on having their Sundays off. So anything we ship second-day on a Friday or Saturday gets a one-day layover in a warehouse somewhere.

We don't like layovers because we want your products to be at the peak of freshness when you receive them, so we don't do Monday deliveries. Ever. With only a couple of exceptions that you, the readers of this blog, will know about.

I know with complete certainty that a few of our products ship well enough that we can take an Express or Second-Day Air order and let them enjoy a day of rest on Sunday. Specifically, the rugelach and pralines from Steve's Mom are shipped in a sealed, airtight gift tin that keeps everything fresh. In addition, the cookies from SuperCookie travel well. The minis are sealed in a plastic tub, and the big cookies are packed in a plastic bag.

We can't ship cakes or petits fours on Monday, but the Big Birthday Cookie is a fun and surprising alternative for someone celebrating another year.

With Halloween on a Monday, we've set up the following order deadlines for delivery on Saturday, October 30:

• 2PM Eastern Wednesday, October 26, for Second-Day Air
• 2PM Eastern Thursday, October 27, for Overnight Delivery
• 2PM Eastern Friday, October 28, for Saturday Delivery

After that, our Halloween specialties will be gone. If you're looking for one of the most unique Halloween treats you've ever seen, check out the Jack-O-Lantern Cookie from SuperCookie. One of the neatest things I've seen in a while and, as always, a much better value than a cookie bouquet.

Finally, we're able to ship throughout the state of Alabama once again. As people return to the Gulf states, we're monitoring service updates from the U.S. Postal Service each day. Look for more information on our Hurricane Information Page.