And that true story is told by Joshua and it goes like this:

“Just as we were unpacking your delicious shipment at the front counter (we call it the ‘front counter’ but it’s by the back door), our friend Philip (long-time customer) came in to buy Christmas gifts for his (prodigous) family.  He was immediately entranced by the mugs, and selected 8 as stocking-stuffers.”

So the very first day that EIGHTH day books had their mugs for sale they sold EIGHT… How Cool!

Eighth Day books first opened in September of 1988 and is far from being a super chain, “we’re selective, offering an eccentric community of books based on this principle: If a book – be it literary, scientific, historical, or theological – sheds light on ultimate questions n an excellent way, then it’s a worthy candidate for our catalog” said Warren.

This catalog of books was the connection that brought our handmade mugs into Warren’s sights, as they supply another customer of Deneen Pottery called Agia Sophia in Colorado Springs, CO. On a past trip to Agia Sophia Warren noticed their display of mugs and bought one to bring back to Wichita. “We’ve had mugs before, years ago, and were looking for someone to do a new series.” With our handmade quality Warren said that “[Deneen Pottery] perfectly fit he bill.”

From a independent coffee shop in Colorado, to an amazing book shop in Kansas – We are appreciate the small connections that bring stories like this to our family business.

Thank you for reading our blog.

Niles

P.s. I thought it best to return to that quote that I first found as Warren so kindly explained where it cam from. “St. Justin Martyr in his Second Apology (paraphrased a bit): that which is true, is ours.”

What a fun treat to have find that Deneen Pottery made the front page of the local news for the Billings Gazette! It’s all about the timing and I was luck enough to get in just as the staff photographer was grabbing shots of the set up at the Plaza. I believe there was more of a story with some of the other vendors, but I guess when you have handmade mugs that looks this good, who needs a story? Just Kidding.

In all honesty this was a successful show and we met up with some new ranches that were excited about finding mugs that are handmade in the USA. One friend rancher actually said to me, “I really like you mugs, they are so much nicer than most of the crap that have, and our guests do buy them.” When I jotted that note down the rancher, who will remain nameless, said it would be ok if I used his words – Thanks Barry.

Looking forward to getting all the artwork and orders finalized over the next week!

A big thank you to the DRA for hosting another fantastic show!

Thanks for reading our blog ~ Niles Deneen

By Lee Egerstrom
Economic Development Fellow
lee.egerstrom@mn2020.org

A company of artists in St. Paul is proving that making art objects can sustain a small business, that entrepreneurs can survive economic cycles, and that quality can still trump quantity in this age of big box stores and mass marketing.

Deneen Pottery is a family owned business that has endured various trials and tribulations since 1972. It makes hand-thrown stoneware products for institutional and business customers who want to exhibit glaze engraved logos, which result from a trademark protected process that Deneen master potters invented.

The biggest categories of Deneen’s 2,700 customers are hospitality industry companies such as bed and breakfasts, country inns and golf courses. Right behind are college bookstores, corporations that want promotional items for products or their corporate image, and restaurants. Renaissance festivals and community events that appeal to tourists who may be collectors is another important but smaller category, and Deneen has a small number of retailers as customers who specialize in merchandise for tourists.

Coffee and tea mugs are the largest selling pottery products. Each is an art piece, shaped and fired by 24 pairs of hands from clay and the potter’s wheel on through to packaging and shipping, and each is especially popular with collectors.

That became evident during the end-of-semester and holiday break season at Century College, the community college and technical school in White Bear Lake. Students were buying, returning and swapping textbooks in the Century College bookstore and picking up gifts for the holiday season that proudly showed the college’s logo.

Minnesota’s liberal arts and community colleges are special customers for the pottery works, said Peter Deneen, founder and president. About 30 of Deneen Pottery’s 200 academic customers are Minnesota college bookstores, he said, and most are private NCAA Division III schools or public community colleges.

“No licensing problems with big conferences,” he said. “The bookstores make their own purchasing decisions. This eliminates a lot of complications and paperwork.”

The University of St. Thomas has a special place in the Deneen family’s hearts, said both Peter and his son Niles, the vice president for marketing. In discussing an order for the St. Thomas Bookstore a few years back, [bookstore manager, Tony Erickson] alerted them to a scheduled tri-state trade show for college bookstores at a St. Paul hotel.

Northfield has become an important center for Deneen Pottery from such networking contacts. Both Carlton College and St. Olaf College are steady customers for high quality stoneware.

Century College is among institutional customers that learned about Deneen products from the bookstore fair, said Jill Hanson, who purchases for the bookstore. Most of the retail customers for the upscale mugs and ceramics are faculty and staff, she said. The make especially popular gift items for important visitors and guest speakers on campus.

Jeanine Riley at St. Thomas said the St. Paul campus bookstore has high-quality mugs and some vases on hand for visitors, faculty and staff shoppers. Students tend to buy less expensive mugs with “St. Thomas Mom” or similar logos, she said.

But parents, faculty and staff “go upscale,” either for themselves or for gifts, Riley added. “We see parents buying these when they brings their students to school, and homecoming is big with alumni sales and graduation is also good for sales.

“These are emotional items,” she said.

Information about Deneen products, the artistic processes involved, and a directory of upscale inns and bed and breakfasts where personalized mugs are sold as collectibles can be found at www.deneenpottery.com.

Minnesota 2020 promotes Minnesota made and sold products each year through the online Minnesota Gift Guide. Research shows that returns to the Minnesota and community economies are far greater from Minnesota made and sold products than derived from local markups of other non-local retail sales.

Deneen Pottery is a local manufacturer. What economists call “upstream,” “downstream” and value-added benefits from Deneen are more evident than at most retail establishments.

Key ingredients at a pottery factory involve clay. Deneen gets most of it clay supplies from two Twin Cities firms – Minnesota Clay in Edina and Continental Clay, Minneapolis. Packaging supplies are mostly local, and the community benefits from the 25 jobs this small business generates.

A base of Minnesota customers, such as the colleges and such companies as Pillsbury, General Mills and Land O’Lakes, benefit in various ways from the products sold or used for promotions.

Deneen Pottery started as Cloth & Clay Inc. in 1972. It moved to different sites in St. Paul over the years, filed for bankruptcy, had its assets sold to a holding company, and then came back as Deneen Pottery but in its original form in 1992 when the holding company shut down its operating unit.

Four former potters are now following their own dreams and have started pottery companies in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Local and state economic development professionals and policy makers would get mixed messages about how to help entrepreneurs like the Deneen family. The city of St. Paul helped with finding factory space and the federal Small Business Administration did help their company financially in an earlier form that didn’t succeed.

But the company is back, still in St. Paul, strictly operating on cash flow. Market growth of new customers has helped it weather the current recession despite 10 to 15 percent sales reductions at many of its repeat customers.

Looking back, Peter Deneen said the company has constantly confronted the two universal problems for entrepreneurs – access to capital and marketing plans. Without the latter, a company can’t handle the capital it does access, he said.

In the end, he added, what makes both problems manageable is having products that people want. That becomes apparent in the bookstores at Century College and St. Thomas.

We’ve been proudly making mugs for PAII and their Innkeeping Show since 1992, when JoAnn Bell first sent out a form letter seeking a ‘handmade mug supplier’ to provide an item to commemorate PAII’s second biennial event. There is much more to this story that I will be reporting on in the weeks to come.

We have been honored to produce a collectable mug for each conference since 1992 and are ready to unveil the tentative mock up for this years show in Austin, Texas. Working with Pat Hardy and JoAnn Bell was a joy for my father, Peter Deneen, and I an just as pleased to be working with the President and CEO of PAII today, Jay Karen.

If you are an innkeeper and are curious about PAII, and the Innkeeping Show click here: www.innkeepingshow.com

Now for a brief introduction – This new mug style, which is being designed just for PAII, is going to be called the Small Abby. Still in the design phase the Small Abby will hold approximetly 10 oz. and will be about 4 inches tall. The color that we will be using for this inaugural run will be solid chocolate, a perfect western color. The image here pictures the mug in one of our other 33 solid glazes – Fieldstone.

Thank you for reading our blog – Stay warm and savor a warm mug in your hands when you can.

Hope to see you at the PAII conference!

Niles Deneen, VP-Marketing

Because we are having some difficulties in sending Tammie’s ‘Art Approval’ to her I’ve decided to post it here, on our blog. Nice to tackle the small problems first thing on a Monday morning.

Also it is kinda neat to show what a design looks like before we make it into clay… The logo that we are using can also been seen on Tammie’s new website that is days away from launching – You can see the homepage here: www.poteaucoffeecup.com

We got a few inches of fresh snow last night, can’t wait to get my x-country skis on this afternoon!

Thanks for reading our blog!

Niles Deneen – VP, Marketing

Sorting through the importance of Facebook, and finding relavent material and ideas to share on a blog can be TOUGH. A few weeks back when I figured that I’d like to use our Facebook page to showcase ‘Innkeepers Mug Displays’ I was given a tip by  Linda Hayes from the Inn at Riverbend in Pearlsburg, Virginia about her friend Selena. “You should get [a picture] from Selena at Bed and Breakfast on Tiffany Hill, her retail wall with your mugs is beautiful.”

After thanking Linda I got a hold of Selena and we opened a dialog about her mugs, the display, and her Inn… Lucky timing, as a professional photographer was scheduled to come out to take pictures later that week! Amazing ‘professional’ images would soon be available, which got me to thinking that facebook might be, too, small of a stage.

As we continued talking Selena and I thought that we could come up with a small ‘article’ that we could incorporate the images… The natural next step was to do a Q&A. As we are both busy we didn’t conduct the interview on the phone, instead we took advantage of emailing.

I’m hoping that the information, and images will be helpful for other innkeepers, fans of B&B’s, and those that love our handmade stoneware mugs! Without further ado:

Q. What is your favorite thing about your Handmade Mugs?       A. They are a great reflection of the Bed and Breakfast on Tiffany Hill! Our slogan is Casual Elegance filled with Southern Hospitality and the Deneen Mugs fit the slogan!

Q. Do you use the mugs to serve coffee and/or tea?      A. I have to tell you a little secret on how I sell the mugs so effectively… Upstairs on both sides of the B&B, I have Keurig coffee makers. Guests love making their own coffee, hot chocolate and tea without having to come downstairs.

Q. Can you think of a story or comment to share about your mugs?     A. One of my guests is collecting 12… 2 at a time! Another guest posted a review on BedandBreakfast.com and included a comment about purchasing a mug: “…Ms. Einwechter was delightful, knowledgeable, and making guests’ stays a great experience is her priority. Don’t leave without a mug!”

Q. Where did you first hear about Deneen Pottery?     A. Over the years, I have visited B&B’s myself and [had] seen [Deneen Pottery mugs]. Then when I started going to the PAII conferences, I received one as an attendee. I use that collection for myself in the kitchen and guests comment on the different ones. Then, my mentor Linda Hayes of the Inn at RIverbend stsrongly recommended that I order the mugs at last year’s [Innkeeper] conference. As a newly constructed B&B with many things on my purchase list, I am glad that I made the decision to order them! Guests love them! And it brands my property!

Summing up, Deneen Pottery mugs, Casual Elegance, Southern Hospitality, Keurig, and Guests are turning out to be a very successful thing for both Selena and Deneen Pottery! We love making mugs for Innkeepers, and are just tickled when we get to hear that guests love them too.

Thanks for reading our blog!

Niles Deneen, VP, Marketing

* On a side Linda and Selena reconnected at the PAII conference in Myrtle Beach after 30+ years from when they graduated from high school together… And today they are both happily running successful Bed and Breakfasts!

I am really excited to hear how these new introductions go, but with the shipping time to Oregon we are going to have to wait until after this weekend. Chuck, Debbie and I were all hoping that this order of round belly mugs would arrive earlier…

Thanks for reading our blog!

Niles Deneen

Option 1 - An classic example of 'backfill'

Option 2 - A traditional design.

We recently received one such email from a wonderful customer in Vermont that first contacted us in May, ‘visionkeeper’ of Peace of Mind Emporium Julie White RN:

“We are Vermont’s Premier Stress Reduction Store and Wellness Center created by Nurses. Our name, Peace of Mind Emporium, and lovely buildings and grounds, draw people in who are looking for an oasis from their stress – filled lives. They often remark that they want to take a piece of Peace of Mind home with them after visiting in our store…”

“In honor of our 15th anniversary we were looking for a new logo item, not a tschatkees you find in the personalization catalogs, or the business ID catalogs. We accidentally came across a Deneen Pottery mug when visiting a nearby Vermont Inn, and were impressed. Our artistic staffer, Brenna Flanagan, worked closely with Niles and designer Teena, to create our look…”

Originally We thought that an image of the sign would work and we came up with this version:

It became clear that this design wouldn’t be it so we went back to the drawing board with the idea to “… capture the lovely building and gardens on the logo. We wanted to squeeze as much as we could into the logo and [Teena] did just that.” Working from a photograph and taking a bit of artistic license to remove the roofline and replace it with heavenly clouds we came up with this version:

“We love the luscious rich color palette and mug styles. We placed our order and waited with excitement for the results. We were thrilled. We choose the colors used in our logo and the results were terrific!”

“We began selling the mugs at our 15th anniversary sale. Customers were thrilled to see our wonderful building and logo on the mugs. They were delighted to find the mugs MADE in the USA! They proudly bought mugs for gifts and one of each color for themselves. We set a breakfast table (even though we are NOT an Inn) and love watching customers stop and look at the table as they walk by. We now can offer customers a way to begin every morning with ‘Peace of Mind’. We Accompany the display mugs on the table with daily meditation books, affirmation calanders, wellness CDS, green and herbal teas, and Peace of Mind body card products.”

“Congratulations Deneen Pottery on customer service, and a tremendously well-made and exquisite mug. We are glad to be your customer and sell your delightful mugs. Here’s to many more orders (and colors) in the future!” Julie White RN and Brenna Flanagan

We are proud to post this blog and hope that all who are in need of reducing stress will visit Peace of Mind Emporiums new website by clicking here!

Thanks for reading our blog,

Niles Deneen

]]> http://www.deneenpottery.com/blog/2009/10/peace-of-mind/feed/ 1 http://www.deneenpottery.com/blog/2009/09/something-special-for-the-holidays/ http://www.deneenpottery.com/blog/2009/09/something-special-for-the-holidays/#comments Thu, 24 Sep 2009 18:05:53 +0000 Niles Deneen http://www.deneenpottery.com/blog/?p=287 In the throws of summer we begin to prepare for the holidays… It’s crazy to have to think down the road 4 months, but when it comes to making handmade stoneware everything takes time!

In August we send out an email to all of our customers offering a free set-up for anyone that hasn’t ordered our ornaments, or 5 additional free ornaments to those that have ordered them in the past. We started doing this about 3 years ago and with that first special I received an email from Emily Hoche-Mong the Innkeeper at the Goose & Turrets:

“One Christmas season I gave all guests a handmade ornament from Deneen Pottery with my Goose & Turrets logo. One guest, a young lady from Australia, began to cry, and she flung her arms around my neck and said, “You are just so sweet, that’s the only present I’ve gotten this Christmas.” I will never forget that experience nor that Deneen Pottery was a part of it.

Here is what that ornament looks like:

Real ornaments are threaded with golden string, and depending on the graphics can incorporate a solid glaze color. below is an actual image of one of the ornaments that we are currently making for Valerie Larrea, the Innkeeper and Owner of Abbington Green B&B. When I was talking with Valerie last week about her re-order she said that she loves giving them out around the holidays… “Giving away an ornament to guests upon departure is such a nice thing… An unexpected and truly appreciated feeling. It is my hope to remembered, and that my act of kindness will lead into a story, to others, about the stay.” It really is the small things in life that can have the most impact and are what we truly remember.

From small to large properties keeping your name in front of your guests and customers through giving is a wonderful way to embrace the spirit of the holidays. We are thrilled this year to beginning a tradition with the Bar Harbor Inn, in Bar Harbor Maine:

Deneen Pottery will be making an ornament that will feature a different building on the grounds of the Bar Harbor Inn. The first year is pictured above and features the Main House. We aren’t sure who is going to be the lucky reciepients of these handmade keepsakes, or what the next year’s ornament will feature, but we are proud to be a part of this tradition!

Each ornament is made by hand, pressed from a white stoneware clay body that is specifically engineered for our company. From beginning to end each ornament will be touched by 12 pairs of hands, fired twice, and finished off with golden thread. Like all of the stoneware mugs that we make, these ornaments are lead and cadimum free. Clarity and detail, memories and kindness, love what you do and do what you love!

If you are curious about the special, or have any questions, give me a call! Thanks for reading today’s blog.

Niles Deneen - VP, Marketing

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