Wow! We can't get over the responses. So far today, over 400 of you have responded. You people blow me away. We are so appreciative! I know a lot of you wanted to know what we learned, so here it goes:
1. The biggest complaint was that we left the band Journey off the 'Favorite 80's Tunes' poll. I think that says a lot! Man, we have a lot of Journey fans out there. "Don't...stop...beeeelievin'..." okay, I remember it too at dances after the football games. How did we ever leave Journey off the list?
2. Overall, everyone knows we're mint™. There were a few of you who still think of us as ohmint (because of our dumb URL--don't even ask me about that), but I think our new national ad campaign, product tags, paper hangtags, & my new tattooed sleeves with the word 'mint' all over them in Helvitica Sans should set the 21 people straight. The website says the word 'mint' over 200 times. After this post, probably 300. A tiny bit of you (less than 10) still think of us as Flying Circle, because you were customers before 2004 (yay! for you all, we love you!), & that's okay too, because that's our parent company. But the ONLY place the word 'ohmint' appears is on our URL. It's mint™, mint™, mint™!
3. Everyone, EVERYONE, is 100% pleased with shipping. No one clicked that they were unhappy. We're shipping online orders within 1 business day with our new processing system & the addition of Arthur, King of Shipping. (Update 2010: Now we have Chris, too!)
4. Who's going to Market? Lots of you. And we can't wait.
5. But there are some of you who can't go, and we're sad about that. We love meeting you all in person, catching up with you if we've known you forever or just talked to you throughout the year. Lots of people told us the expense of traveling & hotel cost was a factor this year, as well as the too-many-kids-to-leave-at-home-alone-with-your-husband thing. We totally get that. Remember the ice storm during Atlanta of '06? My husband, 3-year-old, & yellow lab did just fine with a toaster oven and a DVD player plugged into the generator. It's good for them; they both talk about the experience to this day. And maybe I wanted to burn my house down and build all over again once I saw the mess they'd created in my absence, but it was pure bonding for the two of them & I found some really great rugs on the 7th floor of Building 1 while I was stuck in Atlanta. Maybe we'll see you this summer in June (Dallas), July (Atlanta), or August (New York)? So sign your husband up for that babysitting course at your local high school and start looking for some hotel rooms now while we've got some months to prepare.
5. So what does everyone want to see from mint™ in the future? Well, we're not telling. That's like Top Secret. But we sure do appreciate all of the responses. Some of them surpised me, quite frankly. Apparently I'm going to need a pattern for spare tire covers. Just kidding. But seriously, we've got all sorts of new stuff on our Big Boards up in the Treehouse.
6. When you all are online, you all use the 'Shop' tab to look at new products & availability. That's great! We were afraid some of you were just using the drop-down list to order. As far as the open comments regarding the site, there were only 2 negative responses. Someone mentioned that the site was 'too fancy'--wha? Anyway, we're so pleased y'all love it as much as we do. Yay, Digett.com!
7. Biggest complaints? Not listing Journey (the band), not telling you all soon enough what styles might be phased out, and that we should have more 'boy' items. Guess what? No problem! We're on it! Anything being phased out always appears on the 'Sale' page--that's the best place to look. And of course we'll tell you if you ask--we don't hide anything! Also, some of you asked us to write more & blog more often. Okay, darnit! We're trying. Lauren, Arthur, and I are going to interview each other for upcoming blog entries very soon. We'd like to contact some of you to fill out interview forms--anyone interested? That would be so much fun.
But I do feel like I should mention something: As for those of you (and there were a few of you) who mentioned that you take orders from samples/old catalogs & do not carry even the minimum inventory, I have to say we have never recommended that as a business plan. Please don't advertise items on your website, in your storefront, or at Junior League shows if you don't have them to sell. Unless you love to jump out of planes or feed sharks from an underwater cage, it's just not as safe as carrying a teeny bit of inventory as backup. As much as I'd like to be Mary Kay, we just aren't set up to be mail-order--we hate to disappoint, as that may sometimes happen if shipping is delayed or if someone orders 1000 of our Cadet backpacks (ah-hem). We try to work with everyone--from franchise storefronts, big boutiques, to the smallest (and cutest) home-based businesses-- and to do that, we only require at the most a 2-per piece order as long as the total order meets $50. I think that's awfully reasonable.
8. Compliments? I know this sounds cheesy, but they warmed my heart. Totally awesome and inspiring. Thank you! Our most common: fun to work with, hilarious (stop encouraging me!), our business has a personal feel, we're like family, good quality items, low minimums, and our awesome website. Yay! Yes, we DO love working with you! Many of you said that was obvious. Someone (I will not mention names) even used expletives to try to capture her excitement. Love it! Do you know Lauren and I (Christi) personally email or talk to each and every one of you? Some of you even hang out with us at after-Market and exchange family Christmas cards. Someone (you know who you are) even sends me care packages when she can tell I need one. There are no reps, robots, or trained parrots at mint™. Not as far as I know, anyway. We do have chickens, though.
9. Favorite Song of the 80s? Probably THE most important question of the survey, right? Did you vote for it? It's...Girls Just Wanna Have Fun by Cyndi Lauper! #2 was Jessie's Girl (we saw it LIVE at Market in Atlanta in '04! Yes! Rick Springfield at Americasmart! Not kidding.) and then Abba's Dancing Queen came in at a close #3. And then, under Open Comments, we were BOMBARDED by insults for neglecting to add Journey to our listing. Jeez. How did we forget?
10. Favorite Christmas/Hanukkah memory? Hands down, it was either spending time with your grandparents or something about getting up early for Santa. There were some memories that were hilarious--'the rabbit coat drama' really touched a chord with me personally. Mine was about leather pants. This year I am really hoping it's not about a Wii.
11. This is where I thank all of you. Really, I'm overwhelmed. Lauren & I can't wait to see you next month in Atlanta and/or Dallas if you're coming. Thank you so much for your time, your continued loyalty, and for being fun customers & friends. Anyone who doesn't understand what I'm saying here is probably what we call 'difficult'. That's okay, too. You'll come around. It took me awhile, but I finally did.
Christi Chittim, m.d.*
*(mint™ director, ha ha.)
