We recently connected with Victoria K. Armstrong and have shared our conversation below.
Victoria K. , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. One of the toughest things about entrepreneurship is that there is almost always unexpected problems that come up – problems that you often can’t read about in advance, can’t prepare for, etc. Have you had such and experience and if so, can you tell us the story of one of those unexpected problems you’ve encountered?
In 2019, we were growing at an exciting rate. We’d opened our business in an underground, speak-easy style location originally and had just moved to a prime spot on the city’s historic downtown walking mall. Growth was good, customers were excited that we were there, and we were hiring. Then, 2020 brought about some completely unforeseeable changes. Food and beverage operations were disproportionately impacted by the COVID crisis, and I would be lying if I didn’t say that I had a moment of panic when I learned that there was to be a shutdown of restaurants and bars in VA (eventually leading to crippling capacity restrictions). In June of 2020, we reported just under $4,000 in revenue. We were not sure how to make ends meet under our operating model at the time, but we had an idea that revisited a time of crisis from America’s past. Our family sat at the dining table and created by hand booklets of coupons good for future purchases. We called them beverage bonds, and local artists supported our efforts by donating work to decorate the coupons themselves. Our daughter, just 8 at the time, helped us cut and bind the booklets. We used multi-colored paper for printing, and we created something really unique–a project that truly raised enough money to keep the lights on. We raised $10,000 dollars and received more than $10,000 in donations from guests that just wanted to help us get through. The project was an enormous time commitment, but we were so very humbled to have had the support of our community.
Victoria K. , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
The Hideaway Café was established to serve as a community social hub for the vibrant downtown area of historic Winchester, VA. Owner and general manager, Victoria Kidd, founded the business in 2015, working to use over 25 years of experience in customer service, marketing, and operations management to create a truly unique casual dining experience in Winchester’s historic downtown pedestrian area. Victoria’s earlier involvement as a social justice activist afforded an opportunity to discern the need for a community organizing hub and safe, social space incomparable to anything else in the area. As an activist, there was often a need for meeting space, fundraising partnerships, and even just a place to find information about what was going on in the community related to a particular area of advocacy. She built the business to provide that social space and organizing hub, and it has grown into a respected operation in the region.
Core services and sales activities supporting Hideaway’s mission include: the sale of food and beverage offerings in the café’s dining room and through third-party delivery partners; catering (both offsite setups and packaged to-go/boxed offerings) and private bookings; brewing gear, training, coffee/tea retail available at the café’s physical location and online; and a growing line of subscription boxes for coffee and tea aficionados.
The café’s business philosophy invites guests to enjoy an experience beyond a cup of coffee or a breakfast sandwich. Bright lighting, comfortable seating, and a fun, inviting atmosphere complement a fast-casual style of service using quality ingredients and deploying a mindfulness for plating and satisfaction-focused service.
How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?
We have a number of ways we stay in touch with clients. First, we maintain a database of customer information, sending out regular correspondence though several channels. We have a “snail mail” newsletter for folks who like to do business the old fashioned way, but it allows us a chance to periodically send samples and other goodies direct to the customer to remind them we are here. We also have a VIP customer loyalty program to engage with our top-tier program and regular email communications to cast the widest net possible. Our social media pages are active as well.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
Hideaway is the community’s cafe. We have established ourself as a community partner with a number of individual entities and nonprofits in the region. We are, essentially, always raising funds for something, somewhere, and we have raised and donated over $60,000 in cash and in-kind donations for charity since opening. In addition to donating about $3,000 in products annually for raffle baskets and support of community events, we actively have a position in our little cafe called “Charitable Giving Coordinator.” This individual is charged with proactively seeking ways we can support area charities, increased our global impact, and continually raise the bar in terms of what people can expect for community-oriented businesses. We are known for things like our annual food drive that provides about a half-ton of shelf-stable goods for the local food pantry and like our profit sharing days where we carve out funds to support needs. This coming year we are really excited to launch an entirely new program as an independent initiative. We are starting a local giving circle that affords those who have supported our programs in the past a means to increase their impact dramatically. The giving circle will ask individuals to donate a fixed amount monthly depending on affordable tiers. Those amounts will be combined to provide even grater impact to area charities, and all circle members will have a chance to help determine where the money goes through democratized voting arrangements. We feel that this is the appropriate next step for our giving program. We have independently done everything from helping a local autistic girl afford her service animal to (most recently) finding a note to Santa in our “letters to Santa” box that led us to raise almost $1,000 to provide a local family meals, clothing, and toys at Christmas. People trust us to do what’s right.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.hideawaycafeva.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheHideawayCafeVA
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