MM Day 10

I'm back and ready to let you know where I have been.... ( I really didn't want to let the world know that I left my kids home alone... I know some of you might have planned a party at the Barnes if you knew we were gone! hahaha)

Early Thursday morning John and I flew out to Chicago. He had some meetings with Direct Buy for Sunburst Shutters. So, I decided to go along. I love Chicago and I was anxious to see Yumz. More to come on that soon... Matt Thelander (He runs the Chicago area Sunburst Shutters) picked us up and took us to the meeting in Merrirville, Indiana. It was a bit of a drive... We had some time before the meeting, so we saw the Albanese Candy Factory and decided to check it out... Oh my, I was in heaven! I've never seen such a big candy store in all my life. I pulled out my camera and the battery was dead!!! ugh. I took a few pics with my phone. This picture doesn't even show you 1/4 of the candy!



The guys went to their meeting and I headed to the mall to kill time. They had a great meeting! We will soon sell Sunburst Shutters in Direct Buy. They were excited.

We drove back to Matt's house in Crystal Lake, west of Chicago. Then we finally got to see Yumz. Some of you know that John has helped open a frozen yogurt shop in Crystal Lake, IL. He never got to see the finished store opened until this weekend. For those of you who have no idea what I am talking about, here is the story. About a year and half ago Matt was in Las Vegas and So. Cal and he loved all the self serve frozen yogurt shops and thought it would be fun to open one is his town. There are very few in the Midwest. Like less than 10 in all of Chicago. We have about 8 in a 2 mile radius of our house! So, Matt asked John to help him. He needed some marketing and design brains and Matt has the business brains. John has spent many night hours researching, designing and marketing this store. They had a lot of hiccups along the way, but it finally opened Thanksgiving weekend. We had planned to open late summer, but it didn't happen. The delays were worth it because we ended up with a better location! We are right in front of a movie theater! John spent about 2 weeks in November out there working on the store. He had to head home for Thanksgiving and missed the big grand opening! It's been killing John to be so far away and not see it all done. Matt sends him a text every night telling him how the numbers are. So far it has been amazing! We expected a very slow start since we opened in the dead of winter. It has totally surprised us how busy we are! John picked out everything from the lights, tile, garbage cans, wall boards, spoons, bowls, toppings table, chairs, tables, decorations, uniforms, sinks, bathroom fixtures and etc. He worked with a graphic designer who designed their logo and all their signage. So much goes into opening a restaurant!

Here it is....

John watching how it all works!

A few of the employees... I was so impressed with all the ones I met and worked with!

One of the t-shirts...

The machines...

The entry...

The seating area...

The topping bar...

The restrooms... aren't the signs on the door cute! The heads are swirls! Good thinking Aaron! Aaron is our amazing graphic designer.

close-up of couches...

t-shirts for sale...

Everyone loves these chairs! Way comfy!

John trying to get the perfect cup to photograph...