Goodbye to another Catherine’s Chocolates

Lemmings I tell you, they’re lemmings. Is everyone trying to get out of the chocolate’s business?

Catherine’s Chocolates to close its doors in Avon

While we’re moderately sorry to see you go, we’re kind of looking forward to no longer having to fight over the .com internet address.

 

Thanks to ilovememphis for the CC photo!

We must be doing something wrong

I’m just going to come right out with it. I don’t understand you people.

This appeared on Facebook a couple of days ago and it’s only now that I’m able to write about it without having to keep down the bile.

Seriously, you have how many friends?

I mean seriously, Candy Crush Saga can get over 1,000 Thumbs Up and a place all of your own is only managing 600 or so. People, this is a place where (once you buy it) you can crush as much real candy as you want! REAL CANDY!

Have a look at some of the holiday stuff you could smash!

One of our favorite pastimes around here is to wait until after a holiday then melt down the left over Santas, or Easter Bunnies oh so slowly in an inescapable pool of chocolate like quicksand. The really jaded among us get a special kick out of breaking up then melting the remaining hearts after Valentine’s Day.

I don’t mean to hate on Candy Crush Saga too much — I’ll admit, I never played it — but if you like Candy Crush, give us a try too. Or sign up for the newsletter. There’s a box right at the top of this page.

Want to really help small businesses? Pay cash.

Thanks to JMR_Photography for the CC photo

First off, I’m glad Small Business Saturday (no, that’s not a link, I’ll get into why in a second) has come into existence and hope it helps make people aware of the importance of small, local business that contribute to more than the economy.

The idea of this video is incredibly appealing.

And while it is, of course, a little self serving for a small business to promote shopping at small businesses, we think supporting the companies that donate to schools, sponsor sports teams and generally make it nice to live in a community is worthwhile.

But some part of me still can’t help but have a bad aftertaste. While it looks like the U.S. Small Business Administration has a role, much of that role has been outsourced to the credit card company American Express.

For anyone who doesn’t run a company that processes credit cards, American Express is the company that charges small businesses the highest fees for transactions made with its card. Its rates are so high that we are continually re-thinking our decision to accept AmEx at all.

Thanks to Andres Rueda for the CC photo

Credit card swipe and processing fees run between 2 and 3 percent – doesn’t sound like much but it adds up to $50 billion a year – going toward credit card companies’ profits. This article on swipe fees and credit card processing is about the slim margins at restaurants, but the math is the same for many small businesses.

If you’d like an idea of what it costs merchants when you use a credit or debit card, check out The True Cost of Credit.

Getting back to Small Business Saturday…

The program’s AmEx website (there’s the link) lists FedEx, Microsoft’s Bing, Facebook and Clear Channel as its headline supporters – hardly bastions of the small, local business movement.

Other “Corporate Supporters” include the very companies that are putting many small businesses out of business. Places like: 1-800-Flowers, AT&T, DELL, FTD, Groupon, Newegg, Staples, OfficeMax, Vistaprint and Vacation.com – among many, many others (see the whole list by clicking on “Supporters” on the Shop-Small website). These are some of the very businesses that are putting local small business like florists, phone providers, stationary shops and printers out of business.

So there’s the fact that the program is basically run by a credit card company that, in my view, overcharges small businesses and is sponsored by big businesses that have forced small ones to close up shop. That’s where the bad aftertaste is coming from. Supporting small business is a wonderful idea but next year maybe we can all do a better job at forking over a smaller slice of the pie to big businesses.

Don’t get me wrong…

By all means, if you’re going to be buying gifts for the holidays (or anytime, really) go buy them from the small, local businesses that are engaged in your community. And if you really, really want to help them go to the ATM first and pay cash.

Look at the new guy on the (chopping) block

As if we weren’t having enough trouble finding people seriously interested in taking over a sweets business. Now we have to compete with Hostess? That’s just freaking great.

Twinkies, Cupcakes and (our favorite because it was in our lunch bags every day between grades 5 and 10) the Suzy-Q’s.

Twinkies won’t go bad but they will run out.

So there are really only a few things that can be done at this point:

1. Stock up on chocolate covered Twinkies – and I mean now because it’s starting to look like once they’re gone they’re really going to be gone.
2. Do what you can to #savethetwinkies.
3. If you’ve got the backing to splurge on taking over Hostess, well there’s no good reason not to include our place in your new plans. We’ve got a great location and our stuff tastes way better than any Twinkie.

 

My teeth are rotting and waist expanding as I look at this picture

Also, judging from this report’s last paragraph:
“The company’s last operating report, filed with the bankruptcy court in late October, listed a net loss of $15.1 million for the four weeks that ended in late September, mostly due to restructuring charges and other expenses.” Buying our place looks like an incredible return-on-investment and would basically amount to a rounding error in the Hostess deal, so get in touch!

From webs of woe to a web of wow

This is just a taste of the greatness

I am so glad the time when I’m the only one able to look at this new website is over.

After wading through “trouble tickets,” which actually deserve to be called protocols of woe, to SSL security certificates so secure they couldn’t be used to buy anything – not even the really expensive stuff.

And we don’t even have expensive stuff – at least not compared to this place  – they’re selling 9 truffles for about the price 20 of ours would cost you. And we’ve tried theirs and they weren’t twice as good – actually, they weren’t better at all. People have been raving about ours since way back.

Anyway, go check out go buy something from our new digs: www.catherineschocolates.net.

Many thanks to internet-God Frank at Neonet Technologies for all his help!

 

-Catherine’s Chocolates a.k.a. runachocolatestore.com

Hey Euro people, get your fingers outta the fudge

European leaders discussing fudge-making?

I’ve barely got a whiff of an idea about what the hell “Euro-fudge” could possibly taste like – though I’m assuming it costs a couple of billion dollars and ends with a strike.

While I’m also certain there’s no way Angela Mekel and Francois Hollande could ever agree on a fudge recipe*:

FH: Plus de beurre: Plus de beurre!

AM: NEIN, DAS REICHT. KEIN BUTTER MEHR.

There is simply no way even 27 Europeans could come up with a good batch of fudge. Sure, Wikipedia is politically correct defining the sweet goodness as “a type of Western confectionery,” but let’s be honest here, it’s an American thing. When’s the last time you saw squares of fudge on a European vacation?

Parts of runachocolatestore.com live in Europe and the distinct lack of fudge there means we’re stuck mailing  care packages of chocolate, chocolate-peanut butter and chocolate salted caramel  fudge across the Atlantic with a regularity that has us worried we may be inducing  a diabetic coma on our own flesh and blood.

So, like the headline says, Europeans, get your fingers outta the fudge and stick to putting mayonnaise and curry powder on your fries.

 

* Should I be wrong and you’re both contemplating a joint departure from politics, we’d be glad to share great-great-great Uncle Emil’s chocolate fudge recipe with both of you. We’re sure you’ll love it. Angie, Francois, tell you’re people to get in touch.

 

+++UPDATE+++

Since posting this, the International Herald Tribune went and changed its headline to a considerably lamer In Duel Over Euro Crisis, Merkel and Hollande Both Score Points. Here’s the IHT’s automatic tweet:

Never take the fudge out of the headline.

Never take the fudge out of the headline, people. It’s bad form. (Good thing we made that screenshot 🙂

People freaking love us

In this Facebook age of ambiguous free-Liking, it sure does feel good, good, goooood to curl up with the pure love you guys put into these reviews.

And we quote:

**A little Gem
**A Berkshire Institution
**Fudge Fans Should Visit

Thanks very much. Your kind words are much appreciated.

 

And our thanks go to haikugirloz for the CC photo!

Time to make the chocolates

This is what chocolate sent this time of year looks like – use it to your advantage.

We don’t ever want to take anything away from Dunkin’ Donuts (the hazelnut coffee was a savior on many occasions) and their amusing ads from the 80s.

But actually now is the time to learn how to make the chocolates.

We find it fairly limiting to say, “It’s now or never,” but to a certain degree in the chocolate business – your chocolate business – it is.

Being generous, a chocolate store lives by the money it takes in from Halloween to Mothers’ Day – with a sharp focus on the time just ahead of Thanksgiving until Easter.

That makes September to April / May a really bad time of year to start figuring out how to produce, package and sell chocolates. But it also means that from May to August is the ideal time to get started in the chocolate business.

While it’s so how you’d have to mail a box of chocolates with a spoon for the recipient to enjoy it, you’re faced with an abundance of time to learn new skills and put them into action.

There is time to review suppliers (and push them on prices), time to master the recipes (or did you already know how to make 20+ pound batches of caramel, fudge and butterkrunch?), and time to look at what other places are doing – and get more than your fill of free samples – at trade shows.

Chocolate is a passion and now is the time you can breath life into that passion. We can help.

Oh fine, watch the Dunkin Donuts commercial – but then give us a call.

 

Thanks to Peter Peterson for the CC picture at the top.

 

 

“Cambridge – to the extreme”

Here we go again with a major newspaper singing our praises. This time around it’s Alison Lobron’s astute op-ed at The Boston Globe. In just a few months, she heard and about and experienced the magical force that is living in Great Barrington, and we’d venture to say nearly all of the Berkshires.

Join Alison, take part in her summer writing courses (you’ll be busy in the winter, sorry) and start getting into the habit of hugging the waitstaff – hell, if hugs are you’re game then what could be better than being the person handing out chocolate? We’re sure you’ll be able to hear as many stories about natural childbirth, as well as art, pottery, farming, brewing and granola as you’re interested in.

People will love you….and hug you, too.

P.S. Alison, ever thought of getting into the candy business? You know, just in case the writing lessons don’t work out. Let us know. And keep on waving – we’re in the CCHOC van.

Thanks to specksinsd for the CC photo!

Mothers’ Day – yeah, you forgot

Not to worry, if it weren’t for the pile of merchandising junk mail and reminders that pile up the day after Easter, we’d have forgotten about Mothers’ Day, too.  That’s why we were trying to be polite last time with the little newsletter.

But to be honest, we know it slipped your mind and we were just trying to be polite.

The good news is there’s still time to get in an order of Truffles and act all cool about it.

And if it gets there late, we’re willing to take the blame – but only if your order before noon!

Thanks to flood for the CC picture