Well, it’s just all happening at once. I shouldn’t be so surprised, since I’m the one who decided to put it all in motion. I have known we were going to close Downtowner since last Fall. Our sales numbers were down for pretty much all of 2023. I think I was just holding out hope that we would be able to climb out of it. By the time we made it to the end of June, I knew we were in trouble. Let’s be real - rents are high, labor is very expensive and you need to invest money into buying quality products. The number of people who want to shop in cute little shops are FAR outweighed by those who don’t.
When the idea came to us to sell the pies out of Downtowner, I naively thought it would something easy that we could do to get people into the shop. Before the pies, we had been selling, on average, 3 small cakes per day. So, I did some math and planned to do 12 slices of pie per day. My math was way off. On the first day, we sold those 12 slices in the first hour of business. And the people who came in for pie, didn’t really buy much else.
I did next, what drives my husband completely mad: I started to obsess about making pie. How many could I reasonably make in one night (the Darke Pines kitchen is not available during the day)? How would I transport them over to Downtowner (there’s no kitchen in Downtowner). I felt that if I could make and sell enough pies, we could at least make enough money to cover the rent and some part-time help. And that’s exactly what we did from September through Christmas. Each day we sold pies, we would sell out of them within one hour of opening. I was so proud - my little idea was working.
November, specifically, the week of Thanksgiving, is when I realized our pie dream was not working out so well. Leading up to taking pie orders, I committed to making fifteen pies every day for our online holiday shop - in addition to making the mini pies for walk-ins. Days 1-3 of that went great. Days 4-7 - I was crying in a heap of tears on my kitchen floor. Sleep deprived, covered in whipped cream, butter and chocolate cream. My husband, ever so patient and so supportive, came over and reminded me that I had not needed to take on so much responsibility. No amount of pie would keep Downtowner from closing. Our November number, while most of it was from pie sales, was still down by a whopping 40% from where we were in 2022.
After Thanksgiving, I decided to approach things a little differently. Just make the mini pies - two flavors, and offer them on the weekends only. Our part-time help couldn’t work December which meant I would need to work the counter during the day and make pies at night. I also greatly reduced the number of pies we offered in the online store. People were not happy with us, specifically me for that. If you are one of those people, I sincerely apologize. The first weekend in December, we sold out of pies in 13 minutes. I still couldn’t believe it!
Two weeks before Christmas, I decided to cater a 50th birthday party. They wanted 60 mini pies, in addition to appetizers and a full dinner. Until then, the most I had made at once was 50. I had (VERY FORTUNATELY!) found new part-time help who could work at Downtowner. That week, I made 100 pies. I came in the morning of the catering event and on my way out was completely surprised to see about 30 people lined up for pies. If you were in that line, I am ever so grateful. You gave us the encouragement to keep going that day
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As I head over to work at Downtowner for its last day, I am reflecting on the many lessons that tiny little space taught me. Because while it must be the smallest space I’ve ever worked in, it is the space where I have learned the most. Over the past few years, there’s been a lot of criticism in regards to why we can’t be open more than 4 days a week, why we are “always closed”, why can’t we serve sandwiches, be a coffee shop, why can’t we be online, why can’t we ship, why can’t we offer catering and be a pop up space, why can’t we be a bakery…I could go on. Small business owners can’t be everything to everyone. That was the hardest lesson I had to learn. I might still be learning it.
Working 24/7 to keep a little shop open - some days, most days, in fact, not one person would come in. I would close out the register at $0.00. Most of every one else’s ideas about what I should do were really good - but we were limited by the physical size of the space vs. a demand for products we could not make in the space, the cost of labor and by how much money we could reasonably invest into buying product to sell.
While a lot of people loved shopping at Downtowner for gifts and treats, unfortunately there wasn’t enough daily traffic to justify the rent and labor. When we limited our shop hours to weekends only, we received a lot of complaints for never being open. I felt that I was always letting folks down.
But really, we were limited by ourselves. Me. I was letting myself down. Every day, just sitting there - turning down catering jobs, not being able to cook - I held myself back - and used all of the excuses for why I was unhappy. Forget trying to please everyone else, I wasn’t able to do the sort work that I wanted to do every day. The work, that ultimately, people were lining up for. It really wasn’t until I saw that line for pie - that I understood what I needed to do.
I thank you -I thank each and every one of you who have ever stood in a line for a sandwich or a pie. You have stood in rain, cold, with newborn babies, new puppies, parents from out of town - you have no idea what that has meant to me. I will be forever thankful for the support and encouragement.
I can’t wait to share more, but the next step is to close up the little space that never could. The first step? Believing in myself. I wish that for everyone.
If I could add, don’t forget to shop small. It maintains places where we can visit - where we can take our parents and our babies. Neighborhoods thrive. A strong community is nourished. Relationships are built. In-person connection is vital to our mental health. Local jobs are created to give work and income to our neighbors, local makers and community. We have employed two teenagers in the past year. Both are honor students at McNair High School. Both will receive a lifetime of support and encouragement from me and my staff. Both know they have safe places to walk to with their friends, and, hopefully, community leaders they can trust and admire.
If one day, all of your purchases and packages have the same terrible logo on them, you will be missing out on what it is like to work with and support a small business owner. I deeply believe this to be true. I hope to see you soon over at Darke Pines.
Much love and best wishes for 2024.
Thank you for brightening Erie street with Downtowner the last couple of years. We’ve really appreciated your spot in the community. We are excited to see what you and Will do next, despite our sadness to see you depart.
Do not trouble your heart with the complaints of those who wanted more pies/hours from you. It is the luxury of the mediocre to stand in judgement of those who reach for greatness. Just keep going and have confidence in your journey! You have support and love all around you.
Warm wishes,
Your neighbor Dave
take a field trip up to Westwood in Bergen county. look for a little shop called Joes Craft Pies. Pick his brain (and eat his pie!) and open a little pie shop in JC because the city needs it!
Thank you for everything over at DPD! wishing you the best of luck with future endeavors! I just hope it’s pie related :)