Tuesday, July 27, 2004
Fully Executed Lease
I just received my two copies of the fully executed lease documents. There's definitely no turning back now :)
Monday, July 26, 2004
Notice to Vacate Issued
I heard back from our leasing manager for the mall and found out that the letter that gives the current tenant 30 days to vacate the property has been sent. This means that we will get the space by the end of August. It's sort of tough for the current tenant, but I think they may want to get out of the lease. Their store isn't doing well by my account. I've never seen more than one or two people order anything from them, while directly accross the corridor, another specialty food place is hopping.
During this month, I hope to have the construction drawings done and back to the mall's offices, and be part of the way through permitting with Hotel and Restaurants and the city. If all goes well, a date of November 1 is still feasable.
During this month, I hope to have the construction drawings done and back to the mall's offices, and be part of the way through permitting with Hotel and Restaurants and the city. If all goes well, a date of November 1 is still feasable.
Architect Hired
After speaking with Mike Sanchez from MS Architects, Inc. in Ft. Lauderdale, I decided to retain his firm for the construction drawings and final details for our first store. It turns out that even without knowing it ahead of time, I've hired another University of Florida Alum. Mike heads a smaller firm, but I was impressed with his commitment. I asked him to review our plans at about 12:45 PM on Thursday and to have a rough estimate of costs by the end of the day. Mike called me back at about 8:30 that night and he had an estimate that was in the ballpark of what I've been getting.
Thursday, July 22, 2004
Architects and More Contractors
I received the "approved as noted" set of drawings back from the landlord and I've been trying to hire an architect to complete the plans for construction. The letter that accompanied the prints from the landlord stated that I had to revise the plans with the comments that were made and resubmit within 14 days - and there were plenty of comments. Some not so serious, but others seemed fairly bad. Of note were some that called for changing some of the material finishes the Chippery designer chose. The one that sticks in my mind is the disapproval of the floring selection. I could work on incorporating these changes myself, but it would take me way too long, and I would still have to find an architect to sign and seal the construction drawings so I'm looking for a local architect with experience working in this particular mall.
Coincidentally, I received a call from a representative of a local company called StoreTech. These guys have been in the retail construction business for more than 20 years and have a fairly strong portfolio. This firm would be able to take the job from begining to end and only farm out the electrical and mechanical work. I met with the rep and found that they have done work in Wellington Green, almost directly below my space. After speaking with the rep and the owner, they were willing to find an architect to work on the plans for construction and permitting. I made some modifications to their contract and one of those changes required that they check back with the architect. Unfortunately, I've lost a day because it appears the architect has not responded. In the mean time, I've interviewed another local architect that I'm willing to give the work to if these guys can't respond by tomorrow morning.
Coincidentally, I received a call from a representative of a local company called StoreTech. These guys have been in the retail construction business for more than 20 years and have a fairly strong portfolio. This firm would be able to take the job from begining to end and only farm out the electrical and mechanical work. I met with the rep and found that they have done work in Wellington Green, almost directly below my space. After speaking with the rep and the owner, they were willing to find an architect to work on the plans for construction and permitting. I made some modifications to their contract and one of those changes required that they check back with the architect. Unfortunately, I've lost a day because it appears the architect has not responded. In the mean time, I've interviewed another local architect that I'm willing to give the work to if these guys can't respond by tomorrow morning.
Monday, July 19, 2004
General Contractor
I met with the second of several prospective general contractors for the build out of our first store on Sunday. This gentleman is currently in the lead to get the job. He has plenty of experience working in the mall (he's built out several food operations in this particular mall including the McDonalds and a salad place), he lives in the same city, and he has contacts in the building department that may prove helpful. We sat and talked about the plans for a bit and then he took me on a tour of the path I'll have to take to get the machine in to the store and cases of bagged chips out of the mall. We then stood in front of the space trying to stay out of sight of the current tenants and discussed what he felt would be the harder parts of the job. The good news is that his rough estimate on the amount of time needed for the project is half the time I've alloted for the work. He feels it can be done in one month if all the materials are ordered and everything is on hand.
Wednesday, July 14, 2004
One Crate Later
Preliminary Design Package Submitted
After staying up until after 3AM and getting up at 8 to continue working on the initial drawing package for the mall, I managed to finally submit the first set of prints to the facilities coordinator today. I shouldn't of had to twiddle with the drawings at all, but unfortunately the drawings that I received from the designer weren't ready to be submitted. It makes me wonder if the designer even took a look at the design criteria for the mall.
Monday, July 12, 2004
Loss of Data
Nothing is quite as bad as losing data! In the past 24 hours I've lost every piece of digital information I had for the Chippery and the covered call site. This includes business plan, financial projections, digital copies of contracts, web site source code and other documents, etc.
The first to go was my USB drive. I use this to take the working copies of important documents from computer to computer. I'm not sure if It fell out of my pocket when I pulled my keys out somewhere or if it just fell off the top of the desk or something, but I've looked everywhere and can't find it. To make matters worse, we had a power failure at home yesterday and afterwards, my computer is booting straight into an XP Blue Screen. I've run all of the manufacturer's hardware diagnostic utilities (which didn't find anything) and left it running the old CHKDSK /r from the Windows Recovery Console to see if anything works. I'm usually pretty good about backing up my jumpdrive to the computer, but I don't remember when the last time I did a full back up was. We'll see if anything comes back to life.
Update
I was able to recover my home PC's drive and most of the data in it. Unfortunately, no business plan to be found. The financial spreadsheet that I had on that PC are also very old. Argh!!!
The first to go was my USB drive. I use this to take the working copies of important documents from computer to computer. I'm not sure if It fell out of my pocket when I pulled my keys out somewhere or if it just fell off the top of the desk or something, but I've looked everywhere and can't find it. To make matters worse, we had a power failure at home yesterday and afterwards, my computer is booting straight into an XP Blue Screen. I've run all of the manufacturer's hardware diagnostic utilities (which didn't find anything) and left it running the old CHKDSK /r from the Windows Recovery Console to see if anything works. I'm usually pretty good about backing up my jumpdrive to the computer, but I don't remember when the last time I did a full back up was. We'll see if anything comes back to life.
Update
I was able to recover my home PC's drive and most of the data in it. Unfortunately, no business plan to be found. The financial spreadsheet that I had on that PC are also very old. Argh!!!
Thursday, July 08, 2004
Store Design Update
The process has been a little slower than I expected, but it seems we're on our way to getting the final store design drawings within the next day or so.
As you can see, we have made some considerable changes in the layout. For starters, the first column and the bulkhead that it supported are now gone. This clears the way for a much more unobstructed view of the operations end of the store. This will be a glass wall from about 9" or so off the floor to the bottom of the bulkhead sitting 8' high. The centerpiece of this part of the store is the chip cooker which will be placed approximately 2' from the glass wall. Unfortunately, we're going to have to place the machine facing into the store to be able to have the chips flow in the direction of the counter. This means we won't be able to show the actual frying process, but my guess is that that won't be too bad. Seeing the oil may remind some people that these things are fryed and could end up costing a couple of sales.
On either side of the cooker, we'll have stainless posts that hold signs that explain the process and say that the chips are 100% natural, have no trans fats, no cholesterol or msg, and are cooked in non-hydrogenated sunflower oil. There will also be several chip trees (a pole with a bunch of bowls extending out of it) to the right and behind the cooker and open cases of raw potatoes, sweet potatoes, plantains, yucca, tarro and whatever else we'll be making displayed in this side of the space.
On the other side of the store, we'll feature a chip theater where the chips are seasoned, bagged and served to our customers along with the cash wrap area. The far right hand side (bottom portion of the plan above) will also be a glass wall with additional signage post. The space to the right of the cash wrap is open to the customer and will feature a wall of bagged chips and additional merchandise. The counter behind the chip theater holds the beverage fountain and a floor-standing glass-door merchandiser that will have bottled water, Snapple juice drinks and teas and containers of our various dips.
As you can see, we have made some considerable changes in the layout. For starters, the first column and the bulkhead that it supported are now gone. This clears the way for a much more unobstructed view of the operations end of the store. This will be a glass wall from about 9" or so off the floor to the bottom of the bulkhead sitting 8' high. The centerpiece of this part of the store is the chip cooker which will be placed approximately 2' from the glass wall. Unfortunately, we're going to have to place the machine facing into the store to be able to have the chips flow in the direction of the counter. This means we won't be able to show the actual frying process, but my guess is that that won't be too bad. Seeing the oil may remind some people that these things are fryed and could end up costing a couple of sales.
On either side of the cooker, we'll have stainless posts that hold signs that explain the process and say that the chips are 100% natural, have no trans fats, no cholesterol or msg, and are cooked in non-hydrogenated sunflower oil. There will also be several chip trees (a pole with a bunch of bowls extending out of it) to the right and behind the cooker and open cases of raw potatoes, sweet potatoes, plantains, yucca, tarro and whatever else we'll be making displayed in this side of the space.
On the other side of the store, we'll feature a chip theater where the chips are seasoned, bagged and served to our customers along with the cash wrap area. The far right hand side (bottom portion of the plan above) will also be a glass wall with additional signage post. The space to the right of the cash wrap is open to the customer and will feature a wall of bagged chips and additional merchandise. The counter behind the chip theater holds the beverage fountain and a floor-standing glass-door merchandiser that will have bottled water, Snapple juice drinks and teas and containers of our various dips.
Wednesday, July 07, 2004
Draper Dissed Me
Well, I can let go of all that pent up nervousness I had waiting to see if Tim Draper would pick me out of the pack to present the ScribeCenter idea to him. The contest I wrote about several posts ago is now over and I wasn't selected to pitch. The actual finalists seemed fairly wacky. You can read all about the results in this Times (registration required, try BugMeNot) article. In the end, the winners were... Oh, who cares... it wasn't me.
What I did find very interesting is the mention that there may be an Apprentice-like show coming out of this deal. It seems that Tim has been approached to take part in a show that would blend American Idol with The Apprentice which conceivable would put would-be entrepreneurs up against a panel of judges, one of which would be Tim Draper, to see who would get funding for their idea. I love it! I'm gonna put it in TiVo right now!
The New York Times: An Investor's 'Gong Show' for Billion-Dollar Dreamers
What I did find very interesting is the mention that there may be an Apprentice-like show coming out of this deal. It seems that Tim has been approached to take part in a show that would blend American Idol with The Apprentice which conceivable would put would-be entrepreneurs up against a panel of judges, one of which would be Tim Draper, to see who would get funding for their idea. I love it! I'm gonna put it in TiVo right now!
The New York Times: An Investor's 'Gong Show' for Billion-Dollar Dreamers
It is doubtful that any of Mr. Draper's Sand Hill rivals will mimic his contests anytime soon. But Tristen Langley, Mr. Draper's assistant, said television might be interested.
"We've been approached by one of the major networks to turn this into a TV show," Ms. Langley said. "It could be like 'The Apprentice,' but it might be more of a panel show, like 'American Idol,' where Tim is one of the judges."
Ms. Langley added, "Tim's attitude is, if a network says this is a good idea and they want it, he'll do it."
Mr. Draper said it was premature to discuss the possibility that he might become Silicon Valley's equivalent of Donald Trump. He did allow, though, that a presence on television would be good for business.
"A broader reach would guarantee a strong, strong deal flow" from around the world, Mr. Draper said.
"We've been approached by one of the major networks to turn this into a TV show," Ms. Langley said. "It could be like 'The Apprentice,' but it might be more of a panel show, like 'American Idol,' where Tim is one of the judges."
Ms. Langley added, "Tim's attitude is, if a network says this is a good idea and they want it, he'll do it."
Mr. Draper said it was premature to discuss the possibility that he might become Silicon Valley's equivalent of Donald Trump. He did allow, though, that a presence on television would be good for business.
"A broader reach would guarantee a strong, strong deal flow" from around the world, Mr. Draper said.
Quick Service Restaurant Credit Card Processing
After having taken care of the credit card processing system for the Covered Call Pro site, a web site that operates on a card-not-present scenario, I figured the discount fees that I would get as a quick service restaurant would be lower. It turns out that on a percentage of sale basis, it's higher than I thought it would be.
I met with a rep from SunTrust Merchant Services last week to discuss what they offer and it seems that we'll be facing somewhere between 2.75% and 3.0% discount for Visa and Mastercard without a per-transaction fee. This would be using their new QSR plan that doesn't require a signature for sales under $20. The whole idea of a per-transaction fee that is somewhere in the $0.20 - $0.30 range is ridiculous. Assuming a 3% discount rate, for an average sale of $5.00, I would have to pay $0.15 ($5 * 0.03) plus the transaction fee of $0.25 for a total of $0.40 or 8% of my sale price! That may not seem like a lot, but it's higher than most franchises require as their royalty!
It also bugs me that the rate is flexible. Why does it matter to the credit card companies what the average sale is? If my tickets ended up being closer to $20 or $40 or even $100, what difference would it make on the processing side? I'll be shopping these services around before settling on a processor.
I met with a rep from SunTrust Merchant Services last week to discuss what they offer and it seems that we'll be facing somewhere between 2.75% and 3.0% discount for Visa and Mastercard without a per-transaction fee. This would be using their new QSR plan that doesn't require a signature for sales under $20. The whole idea of a per-transaction fee that is somewhere in the $0.20 - $0.30 range is ridiculous. Assuming a 3% discount rate, for an average sale of $5.00, I would have to pay $0.15 ($5 * 0.03) plus the transaction fee of $0.25 for a total of $0.40 or 8% of my sale price! That may not seem like a lot, but it's higher than most franchises require as their royalty!
It also bugs me that the rate is flexible. Why does it matter to the credit card companies what the average sale is? If my tickets ended up being closer to $20 or $40 or even $100, what difference would it make on the processing side? I'll be shopping these services around before settling on a processor.
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