BACC BUZZ - November 24th, 2009
The Bridgewater and Area Chamber of Commerce is pleased to bring you this bi-weekly newsletter featuring tips and pointers and news about our members. Please support Chamber members. If you would like your business information featured in an upcoming issue of our BACC BUZZ please contact me at bacc@eastlink.ca or call 543-4263
In This Issue...
News from our members:
Did you know that many of our members offer services and products that will make preparing for the upcoming Christmas season easier and less time consuming? Please take a look at the information provided below:
Bridgewater Pharmasave -
The Christmas Season is upon us and we at Bridgewater Pharmasave have been preparing all year to provide you with lots of gift giving ideas.
In our cosmetics department we always have trained staff available and throughout the year we offer complimentary gift wrapping and makeovers. We can even keep track of your favourite cosmetic items so you and your significant other don’t have to. With our Cosmetic Club loyalty cards our customers receive a stamp with every $25 purchase and after 10 stamps receive a $25 gift card to be used at the store, providing them with great value. Our customers can rely on our cosmetic staff to have great gift ideas, stocking stuffers and advice.
Our gift section has become a destination if you are looking for a unique item. We carry a wide range of Atlantic Canadian products including:
- Paderno kitchenware
- Acadian Maple butters, syrups, and coffees
- Atlantic Healing Hemp oils, seeds, and creams
- Van Dyk’s Blueberry Juice
For Christmas, our buyers have ensured that we have a wide range of ornaments, decorations, housewares, and seasonal linens to help you with your gift giving list.
Our knowledgeable Home Health Care staff are committed to helping customers meet their mobility and home care needs. Lift chairs, power chairs, wheelchairs, scooters, rollators, walkers, bathroom safety items, orthotics, and mastectomy protheses are just a few of the products in our department. We service many of the products we sell including the motorized scooters. New for this year are Acorn Stair Lifts which we sell and install. We have a registered nurse who provides in-store or in-home foot care by appointment. On the second Tuesday of every month (Senior’s Day) she also does blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol testing .
In the dispensary at Bridgewater Pharmasave, we have five pharmacists and several technicians working to serve you and your family with knowledge and efficiency. If you are involved in a service or community group that would like one of us to address a health-related topic to that group, give us a call. Have you ever thought you might benefit from a private consultation with your pharmacist to discuss your medication needs? Call us for details.At Bridgewater Pharmasave, we are committed to excellent customer service. Bridgewater Pharmasave is 100% locally owned and operated. We offer free in town prescription delivery Monday to Friday and have a regular Senior’s Day on the second Tuesday of every month when our customers over age 55 receive 10% off their purchases (some exclusions do apply). We are available every day of the year except for Christmas Day.
Watch for our local South Shore Gift Flyer featuring gift ideas and home health care products for the holiday season on sale from November 20 to December 24.
M & M Meat Shops - It's Your Party Too!
How many times have you missed the conversation, entered the room in the middle of a joke or stressed yourself out because you would not comprise on food quality, taste or presentation?
Entertaining is all about balance; balancing your time, resources, abilities and budget to create a memorable evening for family, friends or co-workers. You can’t do it all, nor should you. “Heck, it’s your party too.” When entertaining, focus on what you are good at and what you like to do, like cooking family favourites. Then let M&M Meat Shops do the rest this holiday season.
Whether you are looking for appetizers, main courses or desserts, you can always count on M&M to put quality and convenience first. Our product ingredients, attention to detail and inclusions are second to none.
This year impress your guests with our new Shrimp Party Pack, a 40-piece variety pack of 4 kinds of Asian-inspired hors d’oeuvres with savoury shrimp and vegetable fillings. Like mushrooms? Then try our Mushroom “Soufflettes” appetizer size miniature soufflés made with a medley of portobello, shiitake and white mushrooms mixed with shredded swiss and parmesan cheese all blended into a savoury airy pastry. With over 400 products to choose from you can be sure that we have something for everyone, every taste and every budget.
Shrimp Party Pak
Thinking take-out? Think M&M Chinese and choose from over 20 Asian inspired choices for hundreds of meal combinations. Or, think M&M Pizza and choose from thick, thin or ultra thin crust. It is far cheaper than delivery and hot and ready exactly when you want it.
Just relax. Parties for 6, 12, 25 or more are a snap when you use M&M Meat Shops’ family/party size meal trays. Choose from crowd-pleasing favourites like Lasagne, Stuffed Pasta Shells, Cabbage Rolls and more. Our meals will keep you out of the kitchen and put you back into the party.
Did you know that you could easily cut one of our slabs of dessert squares into 80 delicious bite size pieces? At $11.99 or less per tray this represents incredible value for your budget. Desserts are so easy at M&M. Choose Crème Brulee for an intimate dinner for two, Caramel Tiramisu Cake for an intimate gathering of family and friends or fill the table with a huge variety of cakes, pies, pastries and squares for that big social gathering.
Whatever products you choose and whatever party you are planning, simply come into our store for advice. We know our products, how to cook them, what they taste like and what works with what. It is the kind of down home advice that you would expect from a locally owned store.
Have a safe, stress free holiday season. We appreciate your business.
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To help you through your holiday shopping, enjoy a tasty meal at Arby's. Use the link below to get your coupon.
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Marketing ...Everything You Do To Promote Your Business by Barry Smith
The following items are a few of the standard tools that are used by business owners to promote their businesses.
- Business Cards – Never be without them. More information is not necessarily a good thing when designing your business card. Use a simple design, one that includes your business name, contact information, slogan and logo, and your business name (or your name). Pictures, titles, mailing addresses are often not required. Keep it simple and professional...make it the best quality you can afford.
- What do you do? Prepare an informative answer to that question. Your response should be approximately 30 seconds in length and it should encourage others to ask questions about the products and services that you offer.
- Referrals...Ask for them. When you do receive a referral, acknowledge it immediately. Thank the person making the referral...a card or a small gift is always appropriate.
- Give-away promotional items. Chose items that are appropriate to your business and that have value to your customers. Buying 500 pens with your name on them may not be the best use of your marketing dollars. Can you afford to purchase a high quality item or are you settling for what you can afford. For example cheap pens that don’t always work say a lot about the business giving them away.
- Do you have an up to date customer data base? Do you collect contact information from potential customers as well as current data on your existing customers? This list will give you the necessary information to make those important phone calls and visits when you are trying to develop new customers. Everyday provides opportunities to add to your contact list. Are you taking advantage of all those opportunities?
- You are always working. As much as we would like to have some down time and just go to the game or show there is always the chance you will meet a customer. The scruffy jeans with the stained t-shirt will probably not make the impression you want to leave with your customer. Neat, clean and businesslike is a must. Even after hours. Whenever you are out and about please dress the part of a successful business owner. This is the time to wear that jacket with the business logo. And always have your business cards. You never know when you will meet a potential customer.
- Technology. Take advantage of the convenience that technology offers. Your email address is most effective when it is simple and easy to remember or write down. How many times have you struggled with trying to write an email address with backslashes, hyphens and dots. Not every business needs a website. If you decide to have one, make it functional, and keep the information up to date.
- Telephone. Be professional in answering your phone. Don’t screen your calls. If you can’t take a call please have voice mail or an answering machine or service so people can leave a message. Return your calls promptly.
This is not a complete listing of the promotional tools available to you. In upcoming issues we will look at some tips on advertising as well as trade shows and other tools available.
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Information provided by Eric Shaw, Town of Bridgewater
What is Active Transportation (AT)?
Active Transportation, or AT, is human-powered transportation including walking, cycling, wheeling, in-line skating, skateboarding, cross country skiing, canoeing and kayaking. The most popular modes are walking and cycling.
Why is Active Transportation important?
Having a walkable and wheelable community is an important part of creating a healthy, vibrant and economically attractive community. Active Transportation has many economic, health, safety, social and environmental benefits.
Economic
- Pedestrian friendly areas improve access to retail areas and generate increased sales.
- AT infrastructure supports walking and biking, which attracts tourism and boosts the economy.
Health
- AT increases physical activity rates which, in turn, create healthier citizens.
- Healthy workers results in increased productivity, reduced sick days and injuries in the workplace.
Safety
- AT reduces traffic congestion and the hazards it creates for all people, including our youth and seniors.
- More eyes on the street helps reduce crime and creates a sense of personal and family security.
Social
- AT infrastructure contributes to social interaction outdoors and strong community identity.
Environment
- AT supports using non-polluting modes of transportation, which reduces the amount of Greenhouse Gas and other pollutants emitted into the air.
Communities who support AT…
- Have dedicated bicycle lanes and routes, and advocate for safely sharing the road with cyclists.
- Have an integrated network of pedestrian and cycling paths that are designed for efficient transportation as well as recreation.
- Provide and encourage parking for bicycles throughout the community.
- Favor community design that reduces the distances that people have to travel to get to work, retail areas, schools, and recreational/leisure pursuits.
What is Bridgewater doing to support AT?
- Adding new sidewalks, bicycle lanes, landscaping and signage;
- Changing public policy to make sure AT is a part of our community’s future;
- Developing partnerships with others and building capacity to work on AT;
- Supporting and promoting related community programs; and
- Developing new communication tools and promotional materials for all of our citizens.
What YOU can do to support AT!
- Choose alternative travel options that work for you and your family
- Encourage your employees and colleagues to use AT to get to and from work
- Develop a walk-to-work or bike-to-work program for your employees and colleagues
- Ask you employer to install a bicycle rack at your place of employment
- Tell us what other AT related improvements you’d like to see in Bridgewater
Contact info:
- http://www.bridgewater.ca/active-transportation
- Bridgewater Active Transportation Committee
c/o The Planning Department
Town of Bridgewater
60 Pleasant Street
Bridgewater, NS B4V 3X9