It’s not very often that we get orders from our friends in the north.  We generally ship using UPS, and due to the customs brokerage fees that apply when shipping to Canada, many prospective customers find it too expensive to order.  Even ordering the minimum number of mugs can result in a fee upwards of fifty Canadian dollars in addition to the normal shipping rates.  However, one customer recently found a way to avoid the costs, and we wanted to share that story with you just in case you’re reading this in Canada and have always wanted to offer your very own handmade stoneware mugs at your bed & breakfast, inn or restaurant.

Lynn Ferguson and Michael McClacherty, owners of the Bee & Thistle Guest House in Vancouver, used a shipping address in Washington.  Well, we were curious so that we thought we’d ask them how they did that exactly. It turns out that it’s very easy to do, and it can save customers lots of money.

“We were amazed how easy it is to have a U.S. address,” Lynn says.  “There are several mailbox places in Blaine, for example, that are right across the border from us.”  Lynn told us that the service she uses only charges them $10 annually to receive their parcels along with a minimal fee if they receive a large package.

“When they receive something for us, they immediately email us, and they are quite willing to hold it until we can get down there to pick it up,” she says.  Both Lynn & Michael first heard about us and met us earlier this year at an industry conference in Portland, Oregon.  Lynn says that she met several other bed & breakfast owners who were already loyal customers.

“One woman mentioned that she has numerous guests who collect them in different colors each year they visit,” she says.  

When we first began designing the medallion for Bee & Thistle Guest House, Lynn provided us with the graphic below, and we worked directly from that.

Teena, our art director, was able to duplicate it exactly as you can see on the first proof that we sent Lynn and Michael to approve.  However, Lynn had something different in mind and gave Teena the creative license to depart from her usual logo and design something fresh and exciting for the mugs.

“We love what she did with her revision of the logo,” Lynn says.  “She was very responsive to our feedback, and we so much appreciated that she really heard our concerns, and the adjustments she made were perfect.”  Here at Deneen Pottery, we take great pride in our custom handmade stoneware mugs, and we want your artwork to reflect the image you want to convey to your customers.  With that in mind, we’re not ready to put the medallions on the mugs until you say the artwork is approved.  We can generally duplicate your logo or a photo of your property, but we’re happy to make changes to that as well in order to make you, the customer, happy.

Within a matter of weeks after receiving their first shipment, Lynn emailed me to order 50 more mugs!  She says that they had sold quite a few and were almost out of the light teal with cinnamon white mugs.  Lynn also mentioned that she had given several mugs away to repeat guests and to a former guest who referred friends to Bee & Thistle Guest House.  She says that she gave one to each of her employees as well.

“We gave one to each of our staff because we want them to feel a part of our guest house,” she says. While we understand that some of our customers are hesitant to give the mugs away, there are occasions when it’s nice and maybe even wise to do so.  Oftentimes, the return on your investment goes much further than you know.

And, as for the shipping rates to Canada, we are always looking for new ways to provide our products to more people.  We have recently learned that shipping the mugs using the U.S. Postal Service provides more affordable rates to Canada than by using UPS.  So, even if you don’t have access to a mailbox in the states, you still have the option to offer beautiful handmade stoneware mugs from Deneen Pottery at your property. It’s such great news that Niles has been singing O Canada for a week straight! Now, if only we could get him to stop.

Thanks for reading our blog!
Heath Croft
Director of Communications

Teena says that she considers herself one step above a tourist because of all the research she has done on sea turtles, but even she was not allowed to touch them. The hatchlings have bacteria on their bodies that are good for them but harmful to humans. Once a nest has hatched, excavators wait three days to allow the able-bodied turtles enough time to make their journey into the ocean.  After three days, they go and rescue the “runts” from the nest and assist them in getting into the water.  Without the dutiful volunteers, these smallest of sea turtles would likely perish in the nest.

For 28 years, Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch has been educating the public on the importance of conserving the sea turtle’s habitat. With more than 80 volunteers, 100 percent of the shoreline is monitored at dawn each day from May through October. Since its beginning, the Turtle Watch has protected more than 3000 nests and has seen over 215,000 hatchlings make their way into the water.

And, now back to the matter of handmade stoneware mugs. As it turns out, the Island Turtle Watch had a few items with its logo on them, but there were no handmade stoneware mugs from Deneen Pottery.  Prior to Teena’s departure to Florida, we sent Suzi a couple of sample mugs to look at, and Teena even took more with her on the trip.

It turns out that Teena returned to St. Paul with more than just fond memories and an even greater love for sea turtles.  She came back with an order for 50 mugs!  Using an original design that was made specifically for the Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch, Teena was able to create artwork for the special mugs which included the website address. It’s another one of the ways that our mugs make powerful marketing tools.

For the first order, Suzi decided on the Round Belly, our most popular signature style mug.  The color she chose was wisteria with plum white, a perfect choice for the serenity of the island.  Before the mugs were even shipped, Teena snapped a photo of them and sent it off to Suzi who then posted it on the Turtle Watch’s Facebook page.  Education Director Glenn Wiseman said, “Those mugs are way cooler than I ever imagined. I may buy the first 50 myself!!”  Well, you can guess what happened next – there was such a positive reception to our mugs that Suzi decided to place a second order immediately!

The second order is already in production. She’s getting 100 mugs this time just to be on the safe side. And, she’s added a second color this time around – sage with burgundy white.  We always think it’s important to try a new color on a reorder even when it’s placed before the first order arrives! So, in the end, Teena got to see the turtles. We got a new customer. And, the Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch gets a beautiful mug that will serve them well in raising awareness for the sea turtles. We call that a WIN-WIN-WIN situation!

For more on the Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch, please visit www.islandturtlewatch.com

Thank you for reading our blog!
Heath Croft
Deneen Pottery

Like most businesses and cycles there are good times and, well, some not-so-good times. Over the last 18 years that we have been vendor members of Paii, we have seen some high highs and some lows… Ever since Jay Karen became president, things have slowly but steadily started to change. Change takes time, but in just a few short years with Jay focusing on the innkeeping industry and as president of Paii, amazing things have started happening, and the Charleston Innkeepers Conference is proof.

We met more new customers, and wrote more orders for existing customers that we have in at least 6 years. “This is the best conference in a long time”, Peter Deneen mentioned after the closing. Peter also said that “more innkeepers increased their orders for our handmade stoneware mugs, and that shows that Jay is doing a great job.” We heard that the attendance was up by 20% over last year! Also the overall mood of all that we talked to was of positivity, filled with renewed hope, excitement for Paii, and the innkeeping industry as a whole.

Since we have many orders for our custom handmade stoneware mugs to enter, approvals to send off and new customers to set up and request artwork from, I am keeping this entry short. Here is one picture from our booth from left to right: Matthew Carroll (Inn at Irish Hollow), Texas Teena, Niles Deneen, Martha Winter, and Mary Deneen.

If any innkeepers have more picture from the conference please email them to me… I forgot my camera and failed to take our my iPhone to capture the day.

Back to work for the family that loves making mugs -Thanks for reading our blog!

Sincerly,
Niles Deneen – VP, Marketing

P.S. Jay is not alone in his efforts and we have to thank all the members of the Paii staff and the board – THANK YOU!!!

I’m happy to report that the duty isn’t significant, and the design that we were able to create fits her property amazingly well. The first order was shipped in December of last year and by September Judy placed a re-order. As the season was beginning to wind down we didn’t think that the mugs would be needed until spring.

From an email Judy wrote on October 18th, “I’m so glad you called and are sending the mugs early.  As I told you on the phone, my guests are buying the mugs off the table, washing them and putting them in their suitcase ever since I ran out of mugs to sell.” This is the perfect result when you collaborate and come up with a handmade mug and custom design that truly ‘fit’!

“I absolutely cannot believe that everybody doesn’t stock these in their B&B. I never expected to make money from them.  I just wanted to have beautiful mugs on my table and to be able to gift some of my special guests.  I was able to do that without cost and made a profit as well. We are sold out!  I can’t believe it!”

Making hand-thrown mugs for lovely innkeepers, and working within an industry where customer service sets you apart, can bring the best rewards!!! Those rewards, and the reaching impact that we can have on our customers and guests becomes clear when you receive “…a lovely note from one of my guests telling me that every time she has coffee in the mug she thinks of all the past guests that have had happy breakfast conversations over it.”

When our handmade stoneware mugs can have that kind of impact, not only on our wonderful innkeeping customers, on the guests of innkeepers, it really shows that we are doing a good, heck, even a great job! We have a very talented staff of craftspeople, a family that believes in making handmade pottery, and wonderful customers to work with.

If you would like more information on our handmade mugs for your B&B just give us a call or request a catalog from the menu bar on the left.

Thank you for reading our blog!

Niles Deneen – VP, Marketing

The rewards of working for a family business, especially one that makes things, like Handmade Stoneware Mugs, are many. One such perk is being connected to the act of creating functional, durable, and safe mugs that people use. Our work is validated when our pieces move into homes of real people and the mugs are used each and every day.

Another awesome benefits is when a real person that bought a mug writes us an an email – Saying good things about our mugs. This does not happen everyday, and when it does we like to talk about it. When I say talk, I mean post a blog, or a testimonial, or put a word on our facebook page.

Well, today was one of those such days, and received one such email from Angela:

She was also kind enough to take this picture!

Now Angela has 3 beautiful handmade mugs in her home that are safe to use, and will remind her of her time at both the Sunrise Landing and the Meadow Creek B&B. Thanks to the fact that every Deneen Pottery mug is free from lead and cadmium, Angela will live a long life and will enjoy these mugs for a very long time!

Thank you, Angela, for supporting our family business and for staying with, and buying mugs from, both of these properties.

Also, thank all of you for reading our blog.

Niles Deneen

I’ve been waiting to find the next Innkeeper to interview and after hearing from Katherine Brown of Bloomsbury located in Camden, SC earlier this week I knew she would be perfect. In October of lat year we first talked about her property and our mugs and a few weeks later we combined a photograph of her property, and a drawing, by Randall Peterson, into this beautiful creation by Teena our Art Director.

At the start of the week I received a sorta tap-on-the-shoulder email that, more or less, hit me over the head and prompted me to see if Katherine would want to be the second official participant of  our Innkeeper Q&A.

“Good morning Niles – this is where you can share a ‘great laugh’ with everyone at Deneen Pottery!  When we ordered mugs a few short months ago, it was primarily because I like them–I wanted to try them on our breakfast table.

As it would never have occurred to me to buy a mug (with some logo) when I was traveling — I rather dismissed when you said how well they sell.   OK – I need to place an order.   Quit laughing and tell me what you need.”

I don’t mind being dismissed especially when I get to hear about it – That’s why this statement is also on our testimonials page… It helps to look back at positive statements when you are having a rough day – And I figure if I keep stacking up the positive things that have been said, more will KNOW that we ARE the best at making Custom Stoneware Coffee Mugs!

Enough of the blog blabbing here – Time to get to the Questions and Answers.

Q.) Where did you first hear about Deneen Pottery? Deneen Pottery mugs have been around the B&B industry for years.  I do not really recall when or where I first heard about them…most likely from an innkeeper when Bruce and I were visiting an inn who featured the mug.  We love upscale B&Bs — upscale B&Bs are where travelers find the mugs.  So, we have encountered them often in our travels (CO to VA, TX to NH)…long before we decided to be innkeepers…long before we decided to feature Deneen Pottery at Bloomsbury.

Q. Do you use the mugs to serve coffee and/or tea? Yes, we use them for both coffee and tea…primarily for coffee.  We use them in our Bloomsbury gourmet breakfast service and whenever a guest requests a hot drink when not a breakfast.

Q.) What is your favorite thing about your mugs? This is not a fair question…there is no one favorite thing:  Favorite things:  great size with great handle size, beautiful glaze options and wonderful branding of Bloomsbury, keeps hot drinks hot, dishwasher friendly, and our guests love them!

Q.) Can you think of a story or comment  to share about your mugs? My Favorite Mug As a young female lieutenant assigned to an all male Air Force Field Maintenance Unit, I chose a gracefully unique coffee cup from which to consume some of the worst coffee ever brewed (or should I say rebrewed).  Through 25 years of serving our great Nation, I followed my tradition of using a “pretty” cup.  When we opened Bloomsbury Inn in 2005, I continued to use a cup unique to all the others in the house.  Yes, cup as in cup and saucer — never a mug.   With the arrival of Deneen Pottery mugs at Bloomsbury, I decided I should try them.  Well as I write, my Royal Crown Darby cup and saucer are well-displayed in the kitchen, and my coffee sits before me in a Deneen Pottery mug. (PS…no Niles, I did not make this up as a good “story” for the interview…it is oh so true!)

Just as Katherine has served our country for the Air Force , our mugs are now serving her and the guests of Bloomsbury! I do feel sorry for the Royal Crown Darby cup and saucer, much the same as I feel for Winnie the Pooh, but new relationship has emerged and that brings me joy… Much the same way that Katherine now enjoys coffee from her handmade, hand-thrown, made in the USA  – Custom stoneware mug. While what we do may not be on the cutting edge of technology, or will save the world, we do bring a moment of peace and joy when you stop to savor your first sip of the day.

Thank you Katherine – We wish you the best of luck, this season!

Thanks for reading our blog!

Niles Deneen – VP Marketing

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, 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 in 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 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.”

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.

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!

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

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