We Did What in 2009???

2009 was a rollercoaster ride for us at Bigwag, and every year I like to write a post to reflect on the conclusion of one year with the bakery as we look forward to the next year. I usually do this in July, but I think we will be so busy in July I should take advantage of some extra time in January. 2009 was a fantastic year for us, and I hope it was for you as well.

If you recall this time last year, there was a peanut butter scare, and we introduced "Yappie Hour" to NWA for the first time. While we did not use any peanut products from PCA, many people still steered away from our soft bites and peanut barkers. Don't know that I blame them - never hurts to be too cautious. We've got some fantastic Yappie Hours planned for the next few months, as we will be repeating the ever popular Mardi Gras Yappie Hour, as well as some new ones like International Dog Biscuit Appreciation Day. These are fun events that you will be sure you do not want to miss.

In March we introduced our "Next Top Product" campaign, which we let our employees pick what they thought would be the next top product for 2009, and then we carried them in the store. Brandi won, but it was so exciting we have been adding new products to the store lineup ever since. If you recall what the store looked like in 2008 I doubt you would even recognize it now. We have seen the largest product expansion in 2009, and we are almost to the point we don't have any more room to add anything else - but we're still going to try. We'll be looking at some party supplies, more toys, and even more cool new products. We've taken the position that most of our products solves a problem. Bored dogs, aggressive chewers, itchy-scratchies,  chews up collars, special dietary needs, cannot stand to be fashionably out of place - I think you are getting the picture. We also look for as many companies that believe in their products so well they offer a guarantee.

2009 also saw us enter the world of Twitter for the business for the first time. We love our twitter followers. In my opinion the next generation of Twitter will be Foursquare. Whats really cool about Foursquare is that it combines a community like Twitter with a competitive element and a smart phone, and allows us to easily track your tags (times you have been in the store) for something like a customer loyalty reward program (hint hint). Plus, Foursquare integrates with Twitter and Facebook so that it broadcasts to all of your friends and networks what you are up to. This is still emerging, but I am sure this will catch on like wild fire soon.

During 2009 we also hit our 3 Years in Business Mark! We throw a killer Birthday Party at the end of July, if you have never come out for the fun. We cook hot dogs and burgers, make up "Barkday Cakes" for dogs and people, and take up the entire side parking lot with our business friends, all through out the day giving away prizes in "let's make a deal" style games, contests, and raffles. We'll be doing this again this year - don't miss out!

We also had the distinguished honor of being names one of Southern Living's Top 5 favorite Pet Stores. We were also featured on Ben at Work - Dog Bakery as well as named as one of KNWA's favorites of 2009 - Ben at Work - 2009 Year in Review - probably because he actually ate dog cake and spit it back out, but hey, it was fun. We did warn him. Jeff Mores and the Daily Record also posted a wonderful article about us just before our 3rd birthday party.  We were also named one of Google's favorite places, and the NWAKC gave us their award of excellence for continued service to the canine community in 2009. So many accolades this year - not sure how we can top it all. Thank you to everyone of loves and supports us!

We also (finally) joined the Rogers Chamber of Commerce. It's kind of a funny story really. We have some great customers who work at the Chamber, and they sent in one of their new sales reps to hit us up (they've been through several and we have managed to resist each one) with the pitch that the girls spend enough in our store that we "need" to buy a membership. We couldn't really argue that point, so we did.

We also saw the passing of a great lady and friend - Rozanne Lovell. One thing we were never prepared for when we went into business was the loss of customers from loss of their pets. Customers we would see every week, and then we wouldn't see them for a year until they got a new puppy and would bring them in. During three years we have grown accustomed to that, but this was the first person we lost. It's amazing how much all of our customers and their dogs feel like family to us.

Thank you to everyone! 2009 was our best year yet, and we are looking forward to an even brighter 2010!