Rowena's Staffs Up for Holidays

Rowena's, a specialty gourmet foods company in Norfolk, Va., increases its staff from 20 to 125 to handle the holiday rush. The company is seeing a 40 percent increase on its Internet orders.

(PRWEB) December 12, 2003 --During the rush of the holiday season Rowena's, Inc., a gourmet cakes and specialty foods company located in the historic Ghent area of Norfolk, Va. at 758 West 22nd Street, creates, packs and ships so many goodies that the company's daily routine must change. This means longer hours for everyone, and many more workers. In fact, the company staffs up from 20 year-round employees to about 125 for the season.

"We do 90 percent of our business in the fourth quarter of the year," said Rowena J. Fullinwider, founder and president of Rowena's. "So we need to staff up, and make room for everyone. We also need a larger shipping area and packaging storage."

This means that Rowena's Tearoom must be closed each year during the month of December in order to make room for all the extra activity. It is now closed and will reopen January 2, 2004.

Catalog sales, telephone orders and in-store sales continue to make up the lion's share of Rowena's sales, but an increasing number of customers now place their cake orders through Rowena's secure shopping cart at http://www.rowenas.com/poundcake/ . Besides cakes, Rowena's website is filled with beautiful, full-color pictures of everything the company offers, including the cookbook that owner Rowena Fullinwider recently co-authored with two others, "Celebrate Virginia!"

"Rowena's Almond Pound Cake is still our all-time best seller," said Fullinwider, "but our smaller items, like the Baby Bundts and our Almond Star Shaped Cake, are becoming very popular with our corporate customers."

"Our corporate customers especially like using the Internet to place their orders, and we are seeing more online sales lately from individuals. In fact, we've seen an increase of about 40 percent every year on our Internet orders," said Joan Place, general manager at Rowena's. "And this year is no exception. Our customers love the convenience of buying our products anytime of the day or night."

Beginning in January Rowenas Tearoom will again be open to the public and available for private parties. "Be sure to put January 2nd on your calendar, bring a guest and join us for lunch," says Fullinwider. "Its the perfect place to unwind after the hectic holidays."

When it reopens on January 2, hours for Rowena's Tearoom will be Monday through Friday from 11:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m., Saturday, 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Reservations are requested.

Rowenas, Inc., located at 758 West 21st Street, Norfolk, Va 23517, has been in operation since 1983. It is now housed in a 15,000-square-foot facility containing a retail store, an elegant tearoom, offices, two warehouses and spacious kitchens. After 20 years in business, the company employs 20 people full time and up to 125 seasonally. Rowenas wholesale line of products can be found in over 2,000 gourmet and gift shops and catalogs across the United States, and to a limited extent, in Canada and Europe. The companys full-color retail mail order catalog is distributed to an ever-growing customer list throughout the world. For more information, call 757-627-8699 or 800-627-8699, or email Cameron@rowenas.com. Visit Rowenas on the web at http://www.rowenas.com .

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