Enrobing a Delivery Van in Chocolate…?

My Beloved Chocophiles, 

So, just how does one go about enrobing a delivery van in chocolate? Mmmm….?

As a new business owner, I have had to make a whole lot of difficult decisions on where to spend my advertising $$s. Of course, I want my delivery van to serve in her functional capacity delivering chocolate deliciousness throughout the front range, but I also wanted her to serve simultaneously as a PL&C billboard on wheels! 

Sales people from all sorts of media venues have already begun to hit me up to advertise with them, but I know from my demo/psychographic research (Thank-you Dixie of DPL and Terzah of BPL!) that not all media venues will appeal to my people. Once again, my business plan has been key in creating budgets for my business that will be my navigation throughout the life of my business, but during the start-up phase, sticking to my budget is paramount!!! (Thank-you Tom of SCORE) Oh! There I go again, getting all preachy… 

A most enjoyable perk about this whole business endeavor is that I have been meeting other passionate souls that have found their paths and have also made their adventures into successful businesses. Working with these people is infectiously inspiring, indeed! 

One of these such kindred and passionate souls is Mark Johnson, owner and “Chief Shop Dog” of Husky Signs & Graphics Inc.  He shared with me how he was the kid in school that always doodled on all of his notebooks. From that, he has created a 20-year-old profitable business and he gets to do what he loves everyday! If that’s not success, than I surely don’t know what is!!! 

Husky Signs creates all kinds of signage and graphics in their micro-hanger/art studio sandwiched between the hot houses and squealing pigs (they are working hard to help clear their organic fields) of Cure Farm and Fred’s Propane. Don’t let the humble outside appearance of this galvanized barn fool you! Inside is a fantastical manifestation megalopolis of pop-visual stimuli and you can palpably feel the creative juices flowing!  

Eli Bates (luv him!) works as the lead designer for Mark.

Eli Bates, Designer Extraordinaire (the before shot)

What a talented man he is and truly a delight to work with! He possesses not only top notch designing skills, but he also has the communication skills to back it up – crucial when producing art for hire. I found it a smidge ironic that he resembles Duff Gold (Ace of Cakes) and proudly proclaimed how he, himself has decorated many a cake in his day. He fully understood from the very beginning that not all browns are equal and a rich chocolate brown is very tricky to reproduce with ink. 

As Eli, Mark and I brainstormed together about ideas on what my delivery van should look like. I stressed how the most important thing was to make my beloved PL&C delivery van consistent with my brand identity in addition to being so amazing, so gorgeous, so delicious, that people would feel compelled to lick her. Mark snickered when I said that, but I was serious! I want peoples’ mouths to water as they smile when we drive by! We talked about having a “scratch -n-sniff” chocolate panel, but Eli was concerned that he would be replacing it too often. 

Please, go to their website and just look at some of the other vehicle wraps they have created – unbelievable! Have you seen that cute Moe’s Bagel cream cheese cloud mobile driving around town? – delightful! Check out the one vehicle in particular that is a train (forth row down at the end on the right)… or is it a bus?!? Whooo!!!Whooo!!! Clackety-clack!!! Click on that! 

http://huskysigns.com/vehicle-wraps 

I tell you, some twenty odd years ago when I was still a pip-squeak, I worked briefly at Brighton Signs (Hi Don! Hi Glennis!). Signage has come such a very long way, indeed ! Craftsmanship is still priority one and technology has married well with this art. Paint that was once subject to fading quickly in UV light has almost entirely been replaced with plotters and printers and vinyl, oh, my! 

Mark has several other wonderful people that work for him including Jim, “Animal Control”, who is absolutely the most perky guy I have ever met. Every time I have called Husky Signs, Jim always makes me feel special – I love that kind of customer service! I think long after my project is complete, I will just call from time to time to chat with Big ‘Ol Burst O Sunshine Jim and feel a Husky hug! 

As with all successful businesses, it all comes down to terrific service and the people that provide it. Mark, Eli, Jim, Josh and Toby – you guys are the best!!! 

On Madame Chocolat’s piping bag scale of 1-5 Star Tips, Husky Signs & Graphics Inc gets *****+1/2 for superior customer service and an outrageously terrific product!!! 

Just look at our gorgeous delivery van – isn’t she a beauty? I am officially naming her, from this day forth, “Luscious” the PL&C Mobile. When the skies aren’t so grey and the weather is a little nicer, I will get a better photo of her… Oh, Eli and Husky Signs! Thank-you! She’s beautiful and I just want to kiss her… However, I will have to wait until the weather warms up because my lips would stick frozen to her side panel… Ha!

Look for us driving around town delivering chocolate in Luscious! Give us a smile and the peace sign! Oh! I’ll tell you what!!! Send us a photo of you kissing Luscious (and how to get a hold of you) and, if you allow us to post it, we will give you a certificate for a one-time, free half-dozen of our signature PL&C Champagne Truffletts redeemable in person only at our boutique at 805 Pearl Street once we open. You’ll have to send it as an attachment via our temporary contact page until we finish our website and update our Facebook. (We working on it!)

C’mon over to the chocolate side and taste the love! 

Thanks for letting me share a little silliness my friends… 

OO’s & XX’s, Sarah