No Semi-Truck Parking Allowed.

It would be absurd to suggest that we discuss anything this week but Thanksgiving, no?  Because let's be real here...baking over a thousand pies in three days is seriously a topic to discuss extensively. Today someone asked me how many pies we've made so far and put in the freezer for next week.

And the answer would be, well...none.  Because that's not how this works.  (That's not how any of this works.)

One of the more surprising things about last year's Thanksgiving pickup process was the number of new customers who stopped by and was disappointed to find that we were pre-order only for the holiday.  And then most sighed and asked if we thought we would be getting another truck of pies in soon or if we had anything left in the freezer that could be defrosted.  TRUE STORY.

(As a side note, if I would have had a semi-truck full of pies scheduled to roll in, I probably wouldn't have been covered in cocoa and crying.  Just saying.)

But that expectation certainly wasn't the fault of the customer...it was more the learning curve for our first year in business and our lack of marketing dollars to spread the message that we bake each pie at PJP Buttonwood.  Like right there, in those 1,000 square feet, with the people you seeing standing there.  Every day (and well, all day) this time of year.  Which means that if you are picking up pie next Wednesday, we will probably start it around 1 am Wednesday morning.  Or maybe you'll get one that has just come out of the oven.  (I love it when that happens.)

In order to prevent people from spending time in line next week to find out that we are pre-order pickup only, Jeanne is working on some great signage for the windows of Spare Space.  And in one our biggest moves (and perhaps one of my favorite this year), we've secured a few college men to serve as Pie Bouncers (Pie Ambassadors?  Pie Support?).  They will basically be present outside our doors to make sure the line is moving smoothly and that questions are answered promptly.  This should prevent anyone waiting in line to buy extra pies that we don't have...but also easily sign up for the Pie Standby list for no-shows and extras at 5:30 pm on Wednesday.

They may even be able to help a bit with parking concerns.  At least I can tell them not to expect a semi-truck.