Tuesdays Are In!

Ah, Tuesdays!

They’re not Mondays . . . .which is surely in their favor, but sort of the most awkward of all the days of the week. Monday knows it’s despised, and has learned to deal. Wednesdays present a bit of optimism . . . hump day: get past this one and we nearly there. Thursdays, well, you can see the weekend from your house. You might even go out, your mood improves just because another weekend is nearly close at hand. And Fridays? By far the most popular kid on the block: TGIF, all those upbeat songs, things to do, places to be and people to see. Everyone LUVs Fridays. And then there’s Saturday and Sunday, no need to even discuss.

But then there’s that Jan Brady day: Tuesday. Awkward forever. Until now.

You know, Tuesday from a Local perspective is sort of THE day. If you are a big believer in supporting Local businesses, there’s really no better day than Tuesday. Business is typically slower on Tuesday, so it’s the perfect day to GO Local. And, many businesses already have promotions and, I believe, MORE will going forward. I’ve been reminded of that this past week as I consider that two weeks from today we’ll make Totally LOCAL Tuesday a weekly event. As I’ve been out and about this past week I noticed that Bagel King, the Locally owned restaurant business which had a $5 toward $10 purchase on ILUVWinterPark.com last week promotes ‘Tornado Tuesdays’, in which you can purchase 18 bagels for the price of a dozen. Then, today on facebook I noticed Park Avenue business Tuni celebrating ‘Shoesday Tuesday’. (And I LUVed it!) Yes, Tuesday is finally coming into its own, out of puberty and into young adulthood, ready to party. And it only took, what, a few million years? Something like that. Congrats, Tuesday!

Today there was to be a new promotion on ILUVWinterPark.com but in the end we couldn't pull it all together in time. Watch for it instead on Thursday. But for now, there's a portion we need to go ahead and share . . . . it's about taking something YOU may no longer need or want to donating it to others who will truly cherish it, it may mean the difference between having shoes and having none. Leisa Lovely Designs is taking in donations of good condition shoes for a Local charity which provides shoes to kids who, in some cases, have NONE. It's an easy one . . . do some spring cleaning -- middle of summer version -- and then drop off the shoes at Leisa Lovely Designs and she'll do the rest. You get more space and you help a great cause. Local doing good . . . yep, Local does it!

It’s amazing just how many new people I connect with and things I find out about ON facebook. Today I received a new friend request from a Local individual starting Florida’s first “picobrewery”, with a focus on educating people about craft beer and the art of home brewing. It will be located on Winter Park Road in the Audubon Park area, which seems perfect for the concept. I’m looking forward to hearing more and sharing it in the near future. You can sign up for updates, as well, on their webpage: www.winterparkbeerco.com.

Today and tomorrow are authentic German cuisine days at Bistro on Park Avenue. Dishes tomorrow include a Bavarian take on Goulash, plus Wienerschnitzel and Jaegerschnitzel. If you think I’m exaggerating when I say authentic, I am NOT! Erika, one of the new owners, is German and Hugo, her husband, is from Switzerland. When it comes to Deutschland dishes, they know what they’re talking about. LUVer of ethnic food, as I am, I think it’s awesome to have another regularly available on Park Avenue. Also, next week should see the official opening of Bistro’s new Loft Shop also. Haven’t heard about this? Well, remember how when you’d go into Bistro there was this Loft area above you always wondered about? Well, like that backroom, the space is now going to be used . . . . it’s like they’ve added on! Seriously. Erika previously owned and operated ‘Absolute Décor’ on Park Avenue (where Peter Millar is now). I’ve seen the first shipments and there are some wonderful hand-painted heart ornaments and owls in the mix . . . two items you might guess I’d LUV! Watch this space, my I LUV Winter Park pages on facebook or the Bistro page for updates.

Speaking of Bistro, while I was at Bark in the Park this weekend with Judy Sarullo – see column on-line tomorrow and in The Observer print editions on Thursday – they were so pumped about the new LUV My Rate concept they want to have some PRBJ gathering at The Bistro. I’m also happy to report I’m picking up a number of new credit card processing statements tomorrow for new analysis comparisons and there are more to come. This is LOCAL doing good for LOCAL and I guarantee we save you money, or I donate $300 to Pet Rescue by Judy in your name. LOCAL may not always be your best price, but it IS here. Then you get the great decal for your window, me as your new marketing employee and we’ll be doing more and more Local-focused networking type efforts as we go forward. LOCAL does it!

And REMEMBER, ILUVWinterPark.com is a FREE promotional website for use by any Local business . . . Winter Park and immediate surrounding communities. My thing is NOT the 50 – 60 – 80 or more OFF! I’m about promoting LOCAL . . . . and that means we can do something related to price OR we can simply promote what you are doing which makes YOU different. That ‘P’ which is Price is only ONE of the ‘p’s in the original five Ps of marketing and some say there are new ones. We do NOT have to focus on PRICE! Let’s get creative. Hey, you’re Local. . . . you’ve already got a big advantage of others. Why sell yourself SHORT?!

On that note, I’ve got a new Local business which specializes in rentals of vintage cars. Vintage everything is huge right now, and the idea of standing out with something UNIQUE and old school sounds intriguing to me. I was asked to run a co-promotion possibility by area restaurants and have spoken with a few, but thought I’d also mention it here. The business is DejaVu Transportation, and you can check them out here: www.dejavutransportation.com. Cool website and cool cars! If you’re interested in discussing such a cross promotion, please contact me at [email protected] and just mention DejaVu in the subject line. Check out their website at:www.dejavutransportation.com.

Lastly but certainly NOT least . . . tonight’s Give A Dog A Home is about Cord and his brothers and sisters. Cord is a CUTE pup! Pet Rescue by Judy calls him Cord the Film Academy Puppy, likewise for all his siblings: Sade, Clip, Reel, Flash, Zoom and Pix! They all came from Local animal control and they are cutie pies! You can see more info on all the Film Academy Pups on the Pet Rescue by Judy website. And, if you can’t use a new pup, consider making a donation . . . they need blankets, kitty litter, dog food and money!