Rowena's Uses Creative Staffing to Grow Cake Business

Rowena's, Inc., creator and producer of gourmet cakes and foods, located in Norfolk, Va., keeps costs down and profits up by using volunteers as temporary workers during its peak season. Nonprofit organizations walk away with $18,000 in contributions.

(PRWEB) February 14, 2004 --Rowena's Grows Despite a Down Economy Company Donates Over $18,000 to Charity.

Rowena's, Inc., Norfolk, Va., creator and producer of gourmet cakes and foods, announced today that during 2003 Rowena's overall sales rose 5 percent and online sales jumped a full 20%, according to spokesperson Joan Place, general manager. Consequently, Rowena's donated over $18,000 to charity during 2003.

"We were very pleased with Rowena's selling season," Place said. "Our increase is in line with what other retail trade and food services experienced in 2003. Coupling this sales increase with the cost savings we have derived as a result of improved production and delivery methods, we expect our profits to show a healthy increase for the year."

Sales from Rowena's website, http://www.rowenas.com , have grown steadily since the company put its entire color catalog online and added a shopping cart system. "Our customers tell us that they love the ease and convenience of shopping online with our secure ordering system, anytime of the day or night without having to bother mailing an order form or phoning in an order," said Place. Everything except the actual shipping is done automatically, so it provides significant cost savings to the company. It also means that Rowena's prints and mails fewer catalogs, another big savings for the business.

As is common for specialty food companies, Rowena's busiest mail-order time of the year is October through December. In fact, about 90% of its mail-order sales are made in the last quarter of the year. The interesting change is that since Rowena's website went live a couple of years ago, online sales have grown steadily, and these sales are not confined to the last quarter of the year. The company also operates a retail shop and tearoom year round, which keeps sales flowing steadily.

Over the years Rowena's has streamlined operations and implemented creative staffing methods to save money. Instead of hiring full- or part-time employees year round, the company hires over 100 temporary workers during its busiest season, which saves money for Rowena's and also improves the local economy. The rest of the year a staff of just 20 people handle all of the operations.

"Temporary workers are a wonderful solution for our short-term needs. And because we do this every year, many of our temps come back year after year," said Rowena Fullinwider, president and owner. "In fact, we now have two and three generations of temporary workers helping us each year."

The most creative staffing solution, however, is Rowena's use of volunteers from nonprofit organizations as temporary workers. This year Rowena's had over 20 organizations participate in the program. The volunteers work at Rowena's and the company, in turn, makes a contribution to the organization. It's a great fundraising tool for nonprofits.

"Over 20 groups split more than $18,000 in contributions this year," said Place. "One group--the Young Musicians of Virginia, a music program for home-schooled students--earned over $10,000 for their nonprofit this year. We love it because we get a quality workforce to help us in our peak season and they love it because it allows them to raise money for their organization."

This year Rowena's expanded the duties of the volunteers from working in the warehouse to assisting in the cake wrap division. "We were thrilled with how well they did," said Fullinwider, "and we're so glad we can help these groups."

Owner Rowena Fullinwider has always been a very active supporter of nonprofit and charitable organizations. In fact, that's how she got started in her company. Fullinwider made pound cakes and curd sauces and donated them to various charitable auctions. Everyone thought they were so delicious, she began to get more and more requests for these goodies and soon her friends were urging her to make her hobby into a business. Twenty years later she is still donating her time and money to charitable causes. "I love helping these groups," she says. And in these economic times, with less companies and individuals donating to charities, the organizations love the help, too.

Rowenas, Inc., creator and producer of gourmet cakes and foods 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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