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I ran across this quaint little Market Square while working for the Chamber of Commerce. I feel in love with the charming little courtyard of old nostalgic buildings and quaint little businesses. While still working full-time, I opened one of the six little buildings as my own Country Cottage and filled it with items unique to Arizona – crafts, homemade fudge and my own Moula Roses. Country Cottage was charming, but the traffic was slow. I then assessed my background experience in detail: I did have some experience in the food industry. I had met with many restaurant owners in my Chamber career and visited behind-the-scene restaurant operations. I was pleased many times when I brought dishes to share at the office and my co-workers raved at the food, especially my fudge, banana bread and Grandma's cinnamon rolls. The Phoenix Chamber presented me a certificate that read, "Lynda Halls most likely to replace Betty Crocker". Suddenly my head was spinning with ideas and worries too. I lost a lot of sleep. WHAT WAS I THINKING? There was too much to do. Could I have the café in my current location? It was tiny with a very small kitchen area. We discussed the possibilities and I wasn't about to give up. I found a good mentor, developed a marketing plan and looked forward to giving back and helping the Chandler business community grow. We closed the Cottage and began remodeling the kitchen area. It was a lot of work and with the support of my husband, a finish carpenter, it came together. As I worked on putting everything together, the 18 years of the love for Chamber work was still in my blood and especially in my heart. I began sharing a marketing idea with family and business friends which included the subject of the chairs that I needed for my customers to sit on. Why couldn't I promote businesses by putting their business name and contact information on the chairs? Better yet, have each business paint their own chair to promote their own particular business using their own logo and business colors. And these businesses would become officially and affectionately known as Country Cottage Café CHAIRHOLDERS™. Each Chairholder™ was invited to a private party to pick up their business chair with a three week window to paint their chair and get it ready for our grand opening. We served our Chairholders™ the new menu dessert creations to get their feedback as we developed the menu. We conducted our first Chairholder™ meeting, with local media coverage, to present the finished chairs to the Country Cottage Café and served our new menu sandwiches and Grandmas baked beans. As a special thank you, each Chairholder™ owner receives special discounts on any purchases from Café or Gift Shop. I began watching cooking shows whenever I could spare a moment. One day, a critic from New York gave some important essentials for being a successful restaurant owner:
Finally, in December of 2006, after weeks of brainstorming, planning, budgeting, remodeling, cooking, hiring, training and advertising and with the great support of family, friends, neighbors and the business community, we opened our doors. It has been an honor to host your birthdays and anniversaries and meetings and meals and a joy to share our hospitality and home cooking with you. Lynda Halls |
Country Cottage Café began in the Spring of 2005 as Country Cottage located in Old Town Market Square – a historic part of downtown Chandler, Arizona.