Local Business Films Grand Opening for TLC Series

It's not a Dunwoody business but lots of Dunwoody moms and girls of all ages flock here for parties and "girl-time" fun.  It started as a cupcake bakery but it has become so much more.

Pink Pastry Parlor has been around for some time at the corner of Holcome Bridge and Spalding but is now located in Rivermont Plaza, down by the corner of Holcombe Bridge and Nesbit Ferry in Alpharetta.

Today's grand opening festivities were filmed by a production company for a TLC reality series, tentatively titled "Pink" that is slated to air in November, according to the producers on site.  Little girls from all over North DeKalb and North Fulton lined up to have their makeup done and explore the newly-expanded location.

Hint - there are now TWO pillow-fight and bounce-on-the-bed rooms.  And a baking class room, and a grownup girl/pink party room.  And lots more pink "hand" chairs for pedicures.  And a separate fashion show room.  And a HUGE movies-and-toys-for-the-really-little-girls room.

Production crew was everywhere and there was no ignoring them.  Their detachment is like the guards at Buckingham Palace:  they don't interact with anyone, even to smile or speak, and they don't visibly react  to anyone or anything aside from pointing the camera or boom.  That brings its own sense of intimidation, like Sasquatch the Sound Guy here.  I whispered that his testerone levels will eventually recover.  I thought I saw a tear in the corner of his eye.

The potential here is huge because they've expanded their clientele to include adults as well as children and teens.  It's ok to be a grown woman who likes to indulge the little girl inside (timely article from Knitternall here) and it's one more place where moms can get away from it all, even for just a couple of hours.  (Dunwoody MOMs South, St Brigid's Circle @ All Saints and Greater North Fulton Alumnae of Phi Mu, I'm talking to YOU!!!)



Go ahead.  Have a cupcake.


REQUIRED WEB GEEK REVIEW:

I'm a web geek so I have to give the website some commentary.
http://www.pinkpastryparlor.com/ was created by the store's owner with a commercially-available template and the latest version of WordPress.  WP has come a long way from "just a blog" to a growing powerhouse of content management.  It's not right for every project but I'm finding more and more opportunities to use it for clients.

They covered most of the bases:  social media links, video, consistent naviagation, easy-to-find contact information.  Beautiful layout to frame their information. 

But there's a couple of lessons to be learned too:
1.  NEVER put "coming soon" on a page.  Back in "the day" it was helpful to remind visitors to keep checking back but today it turns into an albatross.  Everyone (yours truly included) forgets to update the page with the "coming soon" content.
2.  NEVER (and I mean NEV-ER) launch a page or a blog without real information on it.  If you don't have anything to blog about (and they sure did today!) don't post it in your navigation bar.  If any of your content involves the words "Lorem ipsum" or "Hello World" you're not finished yet.  Make sure your blog sidebars promote only relevant links and content as well.  No one cares about wordpress.org. 

I'll have more to chat about in the "Opportunity" sense once the sugar buzz wears off!  When I hear about the series airing, I'll post it here.  Or, if someone else has details, post a comment.