The New Year!

Here we are again! In 2011 we increased 120% over 2010...but don't get too excited about it! 120 times nothing is still nothing. December 2011 was our biggest month in terms of sales; and the second week in January was our biggest single week ever. One of our successes has been organic produce; you asked for low-cost organics, and we listened. Since going 100% organic in the Fall, organic sales are up 400%. We have had to add a second fruit and veg delivery day. Another success has been the introduction of Indian frozen items, such as Jain Pizza, Aloo Paratas, chappatis and big samosas. While not organic, they do add a lot of variety to a vegetarian diet. We've also introduced the Uncle Harry's range of ayurvedic products. Our challenge now is to perfect our reordering and customer check-out procedures. Because we're a smaller store, we can only afford to buy products in smaller quantities and thus have to reorder frequently. Moving right along, in February we're going to introduce shopping carts. And finally...don't forget the vegan pet food, for your vegan pets!

Organic Produce Increase

We now receive one pallet of organic fruit and veg every Tuesday afternoon. The quantity we now regularly buy now enables us to sell at lower prices. We've surveyed our customers and they tell us they want more organic products. We've listened, and we're actively increasing our organic lines, and thinning our conventional product lines. But, 70% of our customers (most recent written survey) are vegetarian or vegan. For these clients, we need to keep a variety of important non-meat products, even if they are not available organic. We've done this, and will continue to do so. We're proud that we're the only totally vegetarian shop in the county; we don't sell any meat, fish or egg products.

Coping with growth

As you all must have noticed, we're growing. Some months are 300% up on the same month in 2010. This September will be our biggest month ever (a distinction formally held by March 2011). At the very least, 2011 will be double our 2010 sales. We project 2012 will double again. What this means to us managing the shop is we have to put in place the internal systems to handle the increased customer traffic and the higher order volumes. We're getting so much business we're scrambling to keep up. As my old Jewish grandmother used to say, "Irving, you should have such a problem!" She was a little near-sighted and never actually realized I wasn't Irving, and that I wasn't even Jewish. Anyway, after installing the new freezer/fridge, we'll have to paint the ceiling and put in more lighting. Then we'll remove and sell the existing True fridge and freezer. That room will then be turned into a stockroom and office (right now the office is behind the counter). After that we'll have to computerize the inventory and add a second cash register. Our family thanks all our loyal customers who have been rooting for us these past 18 months!