November/December 2007 December 07, 2007 CONVENTION 2007 RE-CAP First, we’d like to thank all of you that made the effort to attend our Convention. We love spending time with you and presenting ideas, tools and tips that we are positive will enhance your Kilwin’s shoppe. It is incredibly rewarding to see you there, ready to learn and to lead. Our theme this year was Every Customer, Every Time. It’s a theme we certainly make every effort to practice in regards to you, and we desire, in turn, that you practice that customer-oriented focus in your stores. We’ve received a lot of great feedback from those in attendance, and are already beginning our preparations for next year’s Convention. It’s exciting for us to comb through our resources, searching for those perfect jewels to set before you. For us, it’s about you. We appreciate all the hard work that you’ve put into making our name synonymous with Quality and Excellent Customer Service, and we are working diligently to be the best Franchise of the Best Confectionery and Ice Cream You Will Ever Enjoy! For highlights of the presentations, please visit www.kilwins.com/franchisesite, and view Convention 2007 under the FAQ tab. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sales Achievement Sales achievement awards were given to stores that experienced a sales increase over the previous 12 months. Top 2007 Sales Increase: Ludington, MI 24% Sales Increases of 1 to 11% Charleston, SC Hilton Head, SC Fort Myers Beach, FL Blowing Rock#2, NC Saugatuck #2, MI Blowing Rock #1, NC Las Olas—Ft. Lauderdale, Big Rapids, MI, St. Joseph, MI Highlands, NC Sales Increases of 12 to 21% LaGrange, IL Wilmington, NC Gatlinburg, TN Fort Collins, CO Saugatuck, MI Congratulations to all of you, and keep up the good work in 2008! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Years of Service The following stores celebrated anniversaries in 2007: Petoskey, Meredith Brown 25 Years Big Rapids, Brian & Carlleen Rose 25 Years Cheboygan, Dar & Chuck Maziasz 25 Years Mt. Pleasant, Linda Elliott 15 Years Boyne City, Gayle Harbaugh 10 Years St. Augustine, Jerry & Lisa Dallaire 10 Years Coral Springs, Dan Bruck 5 Years ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Advocacy Award Recipients The Advocacy Awards are based on the number of potential Franchisee leads a store generates. 2007 was a fantastic year for leads generated by YOU— thanks for all you do to help keep Kilwin’s going strong! #1—Blowing Rock #1, Bill and Cathy Williamson #2—Las Olas—Fort Lauderdale, Bonnie and Michael Sibner #3—Delray Beach, Bill and Alison Whitworth Tie #4—Naples, Joe and Sue Marinaro #4—Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, Rick and Jan Becker, Janet and Vince Deni Tie #5—Wilmington, Bill and Cathy Williamson, Jeff Brandon #5—Saugatuck, Dan and Julie Scarbrough #6—Petoskey, Meredith Brown #7—Stuart, Bill and Leah Moore #8—Hilton Head, Rick and Michelle Cheadle #9—Jacksonville, (St. John’s Town Center), Dana and Vance Stallings #10—Cary, Luis and Kristen Hernandez ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PANAMA CITY BEACH - MARC & YVONNE BERKOWITZ Missing convention also meant missing the opportunity to meet Marc & Yvonne Berkowitz, whose Panama City Beach Kilwin’s is slated to open in February of 2008. Yvonne grew up on the South Shore of Long Island, NY, and has worked in the service industries since she was 14. Her family had a restaurant that she worked until the age of 21, before working in a bank for a couple years. She is currently a flight attendant for American Airlines, where she has been for twenty years! Marc grew up in Ohio, where his family had a funeral business. He attended college in South Florida, and has worked in a managerial position for a multi-national corporation in the funeral industry. Currently, he runs a construction company that specializes in mausoleums. He has two children ages 22 and 20. Marc and Yvonne have been married for thirteen years, and when they have time they enjoy traveling—especially on their motorcycle. It was great to get to know them at Convention—they stayed an extra week for training, and are an excellent addition to our family of shoppes! Welcome! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lake Worth & Hollywood, Florida We can’t go without mentioning having met Raafat Ibrahim—Raffy—at Convention. He and his wife, Maria Matias, will be joining us for training in January 2008 for the two stores they plan to open in Florida next year. We’ll write more after training, as we are very much looking forward to meeting the rest of his family. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A Must Share We received a lovely letter from a Kilwin’s devoté and wanted to share an excerpt of his letter to us: Here are a few other reasons why I am so fond of chocolate: Chocolate also is the perfect mix of sugar and fat to turn on almost every appetite-triggering nerve chemical in the brain. The sugar in chocolate sparks the release of a nerve chemical called serotonin and might lower another nerve chemical called NPY; the end result is a sense of well-being. The sweet taste also releases endorphins in the brain, giving us an immediate euphoric rush. The fat in chocolate enhances flavor and aroma and satisfies another nerve chemical called galanin, thus curbing our cravings for fat. Researchers have found that chocolate, particularly dark chocolate and cocoa, contain antioxidants that may help reduce the risk of heart disease. Chocolate also contains potassium, magnesium and calcium. Although the cocoa butter in chocolate is high in saturated fat, a third of that fat comes from stearic cid, which doesn't raise LDL (the bad cholesterol) and instead is converted in the liver to oleic acid, a heart-healthy fat. Cocoa butter melts at 97°F. That’s right, just below body temperature. So it actually does melt in your mouth. Finally, chocolate releases the same chemical in our bodies as when we fall in love… Thank you, Josh—we couldn’t have said it better ourselves! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Our E-Version of the newsletter contains many more pictures of shoppe owners, new stores, and products! If you would like to receive the PDF version of the Confection Connection, please e-mail newsletter@kilwins.com, and we'll add you to our list of E-Version recipients! Happy Holidays!