Mainebiz

V O L . X X I I N O. V I M A R C H 2 1 , 2 0 1 6 36 Downeast in Calais and Eastport and Tradewinds Marketplace. Till mainly starts off her wholesale accounts with her bestseller, peppermint patties. Currently, in a given month, she is producing 300 to 500 packages of pat- ties. e process is labor-intensive. One batch equals about 105 patties. It takes about two hours to scoop, roll, fl atten and then dip individually by hand. All of which adds to the store's appeal. Small town appeal, universal taste "When you've got a small town like Lubec, every business is important," says John Sutherland, the town's administra- tor. "When [visitors] are downtown or on the waterfront, the fact that they've got a chocolate shop like Bayside Chocolates, it invites them to come in and explore." Ruth Cash-Smith, a business adviser at e Women's Business Center at CEI: Rural Maine, provided Till with assistance in setting up the business. She cites Bayside Chocolates as an example of the "crucial role" small businesses play in rural areas, "providing us with essen- tial goods and services that make our small rural communities livable." Till got assistance of another kind when a representative of a Los Angeles marketing fi rm called WOW! Creations Media emailed her one day, asking if she wanted to have her pep- permint patties included in celebrity gift bags associated with Bobby Flay's shows on the Food Network. Wow! Creations specializes in creating celeb- rity and VIP gift bags for Hollywood award shows, sport events and the like. Till donated 175 patties to gift bags for participants in the SCI Mountain Challenge at the Sunday River Ski Resort last September, and to Campobello Fogfest in late July, so she thinks the rep might have sampled the patties at one or the other event. Till received the email Nov. 27. She learned the relationship required her to pay a small fee to participate, and had the potential for at least some exposure. "I thought, 'How can I pass this up?'" she recalls. In less than a week, she made 50 patties for 50 bags, over- nighting them to New York City. She doubts the exposure had a direct impact on sales. And when WOW! Creations contacted her again about participating in the Academy Awards, she initially turned them down. "But they came back and said, 'We'll give you a price break,'" she says. " ey felt our patties were that good. And the Oscars are their biggest event. So it's a chance a new business owner like me has to take." Mark Harris, a principal at WOW! Creations, said Bayside was discov- ered by one of its national sales peo- ple, leading to the Bobby Flay event. "Bayside Chocolates mailed us a few samples at that time and, after sampling them, I just fell in love with them and found them to be the best peppermint patty out there, hands down. Placing them in our annual Oscar gift bag was a no-brainer," said Harris. "We love the fact that they are created by a small-town business. We love the packaging, love the name. On top of that, they truly are the best." Till connected with the Acadia Centennial several months ago, during a Downeast & Acadia Regional Tourism symposium, where both she and Friends of Acadia had display tables. "I knew when I saw them that I wanted to be part of the centennial," she says. "I sent in an application and got in. We have their offi cial stickers for every box of our peppermint patties, and we'll donate 5% of those sales to Friends of Acadia, and we're on their website. Right now I'm contacting businesses in Bar Harbor about carrying our patties." Going where the people are Now she's aiming for better retail expo- sure that will make Bayside Chocolates a truly year-round business with poten- tial for sales and employee growth. Up to now, she's been operating on her own, with some help from family last summer during busy storefront hours. When asked, she agrees that, in terms of tourist traffi c, there might be some advertising advantage to being in the nation's easternmost town. Still, she says, "What I've learned is that Bayside Chocolates needs to go to where the people are. We need to be where people are seeing — and order- ing — our products year-round." To that end, she's considering a possible relocation that could not be divulged at press time. Still, she reveals, "I'm excited about growing my business. at means look- ing for every opportunity to increase Bayside's visibility. Lubec is a great town, but I have to tap into markets where I can have customers all year long. For my business, which is my life, to succeed, and for Eugene's chocolates to continue, right now I am depend- ing on wholesale marketing to take us where we need to be." L a U r i e S C H r e i b e r , a w r i t e r b a s e d i n B a s s H a r b o r, c a n b e r e a c h e d a t e D i T o r i a l @ m a i n e b i z . b i z 162 Main St., Freeport, ME • (207) 865-9377 info@harraseeketinn.com • harraseeketinn.com Professional Facilities With A Personal Touch Freeport, Maine's Premier Meeting Space and Hotel » C O N T I N U E D F RO M P R E V I O U S PA G E

• Cover