The Dirt - July 2014

Hola! A belated “Happy Independence Day” to all of our partners.  I hope everyone enjoyed summer sunshine, great food, fireworks and well-deserved rest and relaxation with family and friends. Leading up to the 4th of July, Dos Gringos made the most of a unique opportunity to boost awareness of the floral industry and help showcase the incredible impact fresh flowers, especially Sunflowers, can make on people.  We were proud to feature our Sunflowers for the first time ever in a display booth inside the Flower Pavilion at the five-week San Diego County Fair.  Against the backdrop of a 1960’s Beatles theme – Fab Fair – we surrounded a bright, red, mint condition Volkswagen bus, with 1,000 stems of beautiful Sunflowers, which we refreshed each week.  It packed a punch for the 1,457,130 visits the Fair recorded for this year. “We were delighted with the great impact this exhibit had on our guests,” said Betty Patterson del Sol, Flower Show Coordinator.  “The Sunflowers may be following the sun but our guests were facing the Sunflowers.  Thank you for adding so much to the 2014 Fab Fair.  You added a “WOW” factor and put a smile on a lot of faces.”   Anyone who is familiar with Dos Gringos knows our vision:  flowers on every tabletop, smiles on millions of faces.  I’m pleased to introduce a recent initiative that brings us closer to achieving this goal.  This week, after months of ideation and product development, we launched an expanded Collection that gives customers an easy, affordable way to enjoy Sunflowers and fresh greens seasons after season, 365 a year.   Originally designed and developed as a promotion for holidays and special occasions, our Mason Jar Collection provides “affordable luxury” year-round.  Simple, fuss-free arrangements with fun names like;Wagon Wheel, Color Pop, and  Autumn Afternoon are big on pretty and easy on price.  Our available access to incorporating interesting California greens and fillers into our arrangements will guarantee combinations you won’t see elsewhere.   With a lot of help from Rachel Larsen, a Marketing major at San Diego State and a DG summer intern, our Marketing Team is rolling out a new catalog, flyers, sell sheets, email blasts and “How-To” videos to support this expanded line.  Our Business Development Team will also be making the Mason Jar collection part of upcoming client conversations. As we continue to be your experts on Sunflower knowledge and product, we would love to hear your feedback.  Please take some time and tell us what you think of our new collection and how it works for you! Together we can take the DG Mason Jar Collection to the next level and continue to drive flower sales higher.  ______________________________________

The Dirt - June 2014

Hola! Holy June already!  We are half way through the year and Dos Gringos is diving head first into summer. School is ending, graduations are taking place, and summer projects are underway.   This summer's theme is “Road Work Ahead.”  Some of us will hit the road to visit customers.  Some of us will work on filling in the pot holes from heavy Spring and Mother’s Day traffic.  Some of us will hit the road to recharge our battery.  And some of us will do all three! ______________________________________

The Dirt - May 2014

Hola, Happy Mother’s Day to all of the moms out there who are CEO and President of… EVERYTHING! If recent orders and shipments are any indication, you are indeed a popular, well-loved bunch. We broke our own record for largest number of bouquets produced in a day on May 1 (133,132 bouquets.) And well over one million bouquets will go out our doors before end of day Thursday, May 8.  With your help, Dos Gringos is living its vision to bring smiles to millions, and this month those millions include many moms! We continue to enjoy a strong sales lift from our fun, price-friendly Mason Jar arrangements. This year’s addition of the BAM (yes, this is short for Big A** Mason Jars… sorry Mom) arrangement offers even more choice and variety. This product is a great example of DG’s ability to create a new offering, test it adequately, and bring it to market in a seamless, successful way. Our Mason jars pack well, travel well, maintain hydration, and WOW recipients. Nice. Once we complete trying to execute Mother’s Day as beautifully as you expect and deserve, we’ll evaluate spring season performance overall to identify and prioritize opportunities – and then we’ll jump straight into Sunflower season. Weddings, graduations, reunions, and a general desire to enjoy time outdoors give us all kinds of venues to strut our stuff and our expertise with Sunflower color, size, and texture. Added production and capacity from DG East in Miami means you won’t find Sunflowers fresher or faster anywhere else. Our move this spring to a fresh flower bar code inventory system should help keep costs in line, and additional summer projects will look at what’s working and what needs work. As always, please reach out to me directly if there’s something you’d like us to consider. Here’s to a strong spring finish and a terrific start to summer. Go flowers! This month we feature long-term teammate, Jenny Butterfass, who celebrated her 10 year anniversary with D.G. this week. _____________________________________ Q.  Wow, 10 years. What have you been up to these last 10 years on the personal side?  A.  As far as life events.. I got married after the first few years of working at Dos Gringos.  We had a son who is now 8 and recently bought a home in Oceanside. As far as things I’ve been doing- I love being outside and like to travel to the Eastern Sierra, explore the Desert areas like Joshua Tree and Anza Borrego near San Diego and the CA Coast.   Q.  How has dg changed in 10 years from your perspective? A.  I’d say the main thing is growth in all departments. We’ve had to become larger to support the demand for our flowers and greens. Even though we are larger, we’ve still retained our culture and in fact it seems stronger now than it was when I started. I love the little fun elements of working here like being able to have our meetings in a bean bag or being able to take a pet to work. ( I’ll never forget when Joan brought her parrot in and she was flying around the sales office.) Q.  Favorite part of your role? A.  Innovation   Q.  Favorite flower? A.  Narcissus (the scent reminds me of my Grandma)   Q.  Favorite memory year 1? A.  The energy in the office. We were all crammed into one room and literally on top of each other so it was fun hearing everyone on the phone in the morning. I miss talking daily to clients like we used to-I find buyers prefer to do more business via email these days so there is less of that one on one. Also loved doing my daily cooler walks to get ready to call our wholesalers. -We had a smaller cooler back then and it was packed full of fun local items like Calendulas, KPaws, Riceflower, Yarrow and local short run seasonal items.   Q.  Favorite memory year 10? A.  I love seeing items on the line being produced after our process of innovation, planning and presenting. When you see something go from an idea- to a design sample-  to offer- to booking- to a client PO and then see it on the production line, and then see it live in stores, it really becomes your baby. You can’t wait to see how it does for the customer in sell through. (Especially the crazy ideas and believe me I am the queen of the crazy idea.) I also remember all of the great people that I’ve worked with through the years and teammates I work with now- Dos Gringos is a fun and innovative place to work. Each day’s quality really comes down to who you surround yourself with and their attitudes and energy.   Q.  What are you most excited about looking into the future? A.  I’m excited about our team and what we can do moving forward. Truly- I see such amazing recipes and execution on the production line.  What we can do for our clients overall sales is really unlimited if they want to innovate and grow with us.  ______________________________________

The Dirt - April 2014

That peaceful, easy Spring Break feeling is…gone! After a brief lull – a calm before the storm, if you will – we are all systems go in anticipation of Administrative Professional's Week (April 20-26), Easter (April 20), and Mother’s Day (May 11). Don’t miss our “Just a Little Something” selection and the always popular Mason Jar arrangements. Both are a perfect token of appreciation and springtime joy for any of these celebrations. Our seven-day staggered work schedule is fully in play thanks to the testing and tweaking we did throughout the first quarter of the year. We are confident this strategic, client-focused move will make a difference in the service and freshness.  Dos Gringos will continue to deliver. We are truly at your service almost all the time! Those of you who endured an unusually long and relentless winter will welcome the softer, lighter, brighter colors of spring and summer, and Dos Gringos will not disappoint. Lilies, Ranunculus, Sunflowers – including an awesome pastel-y Sunbeam and some Gypsy Dianthus are taking center stage right now and stealing the show. Meanwhile, our Dos Gringos East plant in Miami reports that we’re all planted up to harvest Sunflowers galore without interruption from May until November. This is another direct response to client feedback, and I’m thrilled that our valued partners in the eastern part of the country will have even fresher, equally gorgeous Suns of all kinds for a sustained period of time. This signature item continues to set Dos Gringos apart, and we intend to remain the provider of choice. Special thanks to our seed partners and to Master Grower, Todd Thornton for making this growth spurt possible. As busy as we’re getting, we want to be well. After our “Biggest Winner” team challenge wraps in April, efforts and events continue throughout Q2 to help Team Members balance hard work with healthy habits – so we can continue to put the best team on the field for you and can loose a few pounds! Happy Spring to all! Let the floral season begin! ______________________________________

The Dirt - March 2014

Dia Dhuit, I’m deviating from my usual Spanish greeting this month to show off my Gaelic (which I don’t speak.)  However, being part Irish, I love this time of the year!  It’s a great time for all of us here at DG to get our inner GreenGo on! Now that the dust has settled on Valentine’s Day it’s full speed ahead for the rest of the Spring Season.  The team is busy prepping for St. Patty’s Day, Admin's Day, Easter/Passover, and Mother’s Day orders.   We will be full speed ahead from now until the middle of May.  Although, we’d like to rely on a little luck of the Irish to make these holidays go smoothly, we know that smart, disciplined preparation and good, old fashioned hard work will be the key ingredients to making our own luck.  The Irish have a saying, “You’ve got to do your own growing no matter how tall your father is.”  This holds true of flowers just as it does for people.  There has been a lot of press about the California drought, however we are in good shape as far as water goes.  Our Sunflowers are getting all the H2Q they need.  They are growing tall and looking beautiful for the rest of March. We are pleased to announce that Team Sun showed up in full force for the 4th annual Finish Chelsea’s Run.  We had 65 Team Members run/walk in this important 5K fundraiser.  Our donation of over 2,000 Sunflowers helped contribute $2,219  to the Sunflower Scholarship Fund.  See more about this on the following link. Read More > This month we feature our “Special Projects Person” Suzy Long.  It is with mixed emotions that I bring this interview to you as Suzy is retiring after 7 years with Dos Gringos.  Suzy has done great things for Dos Gringos and she will be missed.  Learn more about Suzy below. Q.  How did you happen to come out of retirement 7 years go to join the DG Team? A.  I have always enjoyed working with flowers and, after retiring from a 26 year career in banking, I was really looking to find some outlet that would allow me to be creative.  Ironically, my local Garden Club came on a tour of Dos Gringos.  Later a call came to the club that Dos Gringos was looking for a person who wanted to work on some of their projects on a part time basis.  I applied, was hired and the rest is, as they say, history. Q.  What does a “Special Projects” person do? A.  In addition to producing grocery store bouquets, Dos Gringos also supports local charities through our flowers.  I handled many Gala events, Meals on Wheels volunteer events as well as designing bouquets for our ecommerce division and seeing them through the peak times and many other tasks too.  It was always a busy day! Q.  What was your most challenging task? A.  For me, It was learning how to balance the acquisition of product needed, especially for larger projects. Q.  What was the most rewarding part of your time at DG? A.  It was most definitely the opportunity to use my creative side.  Dos Gringos allowed me to execute new ideas and concepts with every project.  It was great fun. Q.  What’s the biggest opportunity Dos Gringos has in front of them?  A.  Dos Gringos’ has unlimited opportunities they just need to keep growing! Q.  What are you looking forward to most about retirement?  A.  My husband Les, and I love to travel and we intend to step up our travel schedule.  This year we have trips planned to the Bordeaux region of France, Holland, Germany, Ohio and New York City.   ______________________________________ I’m looking forward to having Joan Donahue Saunders' World Famous Irish Stew at the office on March 17th.  Come join us if you are in the neighborhood. ______________________________________ ________________________________