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One of many oldest chocolate retailers in New York Metropolis, Aigner Goodies has been serving chocolate treats and different sweets for 93 years. When Rachel Kellner and her husband Mark Libertini purchased and took over the shop in 2015, they needed to navigate the right way to protect the shop’s id whereas additionally maintaining it thrilling for future generations.
Mark is a pastry chef and restaurateur, however as a former social employee, Rachel had no expertise within the meals business. Fairly than seeing her untraditional background as a mismatch, she used it to carry a brand new perspective to the shop.
“Enterprise is de facto all about networking. It is all about constructing relationships, and I really like doing that,” Rachel mentioned. “As a therapist, that is your function. A therapist-client relationship relies on the belief and security that you simply construct along with your shopper.”
Whereas the possession is completely different, a lot of Aigner Goodies is similar. Mark and Rachel use the entire identical recipes as the unique house owners so prospects eat the identical traditional sweets they’ve been for years.
By way of evolving the shop, Rachel modified the branding, up to date the web site, and constructed a stronger on-line presence. She’s additionally single-handedly grown media relationships and written press releases.
“I constructed these relationships, and now it is to the purpose the place I will actually textual content my media contacts and say, ‘Hey, that is what is going on on,’ and I will pitch them tales,” Rachel mentioned. “There are such a lot of horrible issues occurring on the planet that the information could not go on in the event that they did not have some lighthearted items, so we’re all the time capable of present that.”
Whereas Rachel continues to broaden Aigner Goodies’s presence on-line and capitalize on media protection, she nonetheless thinks the shop’s energy lies within the in-person expertise for purchasers. She prioritizes coaching her employees and treats them like household, which comes throughout of their interactions with prospects.
For Yelp Neighborhood Supervisor Samantha B., the in-person expertise will all the time be preferable to ordering Aigner Goodies on-line. She loves coming into the shop because of the relationships the employees has constructed together with her over time.
“I am a folks particular person to start with, so it is all the time very nice to only stroll right into a brick and mortar and see a smiling face.” Samantha mentioned. “We received so comfy through the pandemic simply sitting behind a display screen, however I am simply not that particular person.”
Along with treating all walk-ins as valued prospects, Aigner Goodies engages the neighborhood by ceaselessly giving again to native charities and organizations, such because the Queens Heart for Progress and a neighborhood hospital.
Rachel sees these efforts as a technique to mix her social work background together with her new expertise within the meals business. Through the pandemic, the store donated chocolate totalling round $30,000 in worth. Now, Rachel units a donation price range and selects native organizations whose values align together with her enterprise.
“We have been gifted this unimaginable alternative to run this enterprise, to hold on a convention, and it is my husband and my social duty to unfold pleasure,” Rachel mentioned. “We have actually taken that on in each means that we are able to, and we simply attempt to discover methods to try this.”
Different inventive methods to interact the neighborhood from Aigner Goodies embrace:
- Host neighborhood occasions. Aigner Goodies ceaselessly hosts fundraisers with native colleges and organizations. Internet hosting these occasions is an effective way to lift consciousness for each your corporation and causes you care about.
- Rent local people members. Rachel ceaselessly hires college students from native excessive colleges and companions with native universities to offer faculty college students internship alternatives. By providing jobs {and professional} improvement alternatives, you’ll be able to develop your small enterprise’s ties to the neighborhood.
- Deal with prospects like household. As a longstanding enterprise, employees at Aigner Goodies make sure that previous and new prospects alike really feel welcomed. Prioritizing customer support helps each buyer really feel like a valued a part of the neighborhood and creates loyal patrons.
Take heed to the episode beneath to listen to immediately from Rachel and Samantha, and subscribe to Behind the Assessment for extra from new enterprise house owners and reviewers each Thursday.
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