Hi Bill and Nancy! Wow, great job with the new website! It looks very professional. I'm quite impressed. I'll be stopping by the store over break to say hello. Hopefully we'll bump into each other. Happy thanksgiving!

-Evan

Wow! This is the coolest website ever! Great job!

Thanks mom! I think its really cool and I'm glad you do too.

Check out the gift section. With JJ's expert help, we got the pictures of the gift bags and boxes out there. One of these days I'm going to get that cafe section working also.

I sure wish you put a Loafers in Hermitage,PA! Love all your items-especially the chicken salad and your soups! By the way I wish you sold the chicken salad by the pound or less! The best in 2008!

Thanks Debbie. I'm really glad to hear you like our stuff. Selling some of our cafe offerings "by the pound" is something we've considered but there are more issues with moving toward a deli-type business than meet the eye. Maybe someday but for now we've got our hands full doing the from-scratch bakery thing with cafe offerings.

Thanks again for your business and your encouragement and we wish all the best for you in 2008 as well.

Just discovered Loafers - and I'm hooked. So far have tried the Pumpkin Bread, Rustic French Bread and the Wedding Soup. I'll definitely be back to try more.

Bless you Anonymous! We'll keep trying hard so you won't be let down as you try the hundred other things we have to offer.

I am a huge fan of Loafers, have been for 8 year or so. I used to frequent the Fox Chapel location, but have since moved and now go to Cranberry or Wexford nearly every day. Two suggestions:
1. I know people vary on this, but I think you could provide much less salad dressing with your salads. I typically use 1/5 of what is provided, so even if I'm on the low side, I think you could safely cut it in half. I noticed that the Wexford store uses smaller cups/lids than Cranberry. Even that smaller one is more than enough, but switching to that smaller one everywhere might be a good start (trying to save you a few pennies, too).

2. Would you consider a frequent salad club, or soup? The full-sized salads actually cost more than a sandwich or choose two, but there is no "reward" for buying those! Soup of course is less expensive so I would understand if you had to reach a higher threshold before getting a free one, but then again the cost is lower, too, so maybe it's a wash. Perhaps just a general dollar amount reward would make it easier so you wouldn't need to have separate punch cards for each.
Thank you for providing a fantastic, healthy, delicious place to eat in Pgh.

loafers lover,

Thanks so much for your input. You're right, the salad dressing quantity is a VERY individual thing. Even with what we believe is generous portions, we have people ask for multiples. The dressings aren't inexpensive either. Reducing the size, even just a bit, would save much more than pennies! Perhaps we could do so and simply let those who want more request it.

The reward cards issue actually requires more time and space than I have available here but I'll try to hit the high points of my thinking on it. Contrary to what many people believe, any foods business is extemely low margin and ours is not an exception. If we offered the reward card on everything we sold, there wouldn't be enough margin in the entire business to make it financially viable. When we started offering salads they were priced lower than our sandwiches. The salads most people seek today are more sophisticated than our first offering but much more expensive to both the customer and to us. Unfortunately, our margin on salads, which was already modest, has further decreased.

Encouraging sandwich sales by offering the reward card for sandwiches is also another way of highlighting our main product - specialty bread. We believe that when people buy and enjoy a sandwich on one of specialty breads, there is a cross-over sales effect on the bread itself. Therefore, even though our overall margin on sandwiches is reduced by the cards, we see increased sales of both sandwiches AND bread.

I know this is much more business stuff than you would like to hear but it is the reality of the foods business. We Americans are very blessed (or perhaps spoiled) to spend such a small percentage of our income on food. Unfortunately that is starting to change and that change will accelerate rapidly over the next few months. Watch the prices in grocery stores. Since the first of the year, we (at Loafers) are experiencing price increases on many of our main ingredients from 50 to 75%. This will certainly "roll through" to all of us in the near future.

You can thank your green friends for most of this one. This country desparately needs alternative fuel sources but ethanol is not the right one. It is horribly inefficient as a fuel in general but the way it has impacted the grain market is jacking the price of everything grown on a farm.

Sorry for going on and on ... and on.

I am a huge Loafers fan. I have been going to the Cranberry location for as long it's been around because it is closer to where I live. I love halapanyo cornbread and we get it every Thursday! This morning, I stopped in at 11 to get a cinnamon roll and I REALLY wanted to warm it up but there was no microwave! I was sad so maybe a microwave would be a great addition to me and others. Hey, it could help business!

Thanks,
Helpful Harry

Dear Helpful Harry,

I would like us to have a microwave at Cranberry as well. I was working at Cranberry several days last week and was lamenting the lack of one one day. I agree, they are great for warming cinnamon rolls and sometimes I like to pop a sandwich in there also.

The reason we don't have one there is strictly a counter space issue. Let me see if we can work something out.

Thanks much for the comment and thanks even more for being a huge fan!

Hey Bill,
When are you going to expand to Orlando. I have a craving for some sunflower bread. Cant wait to get back to Pittsburgh and have lunch at Loafers
Dan

Have you considered a location in Hermitage, PA? I tell everyone who will be near any of your 4 locations to stop and eat there! Your food is fantastic! Loafer's breads are the best,pies are outstanding and the cinammon rolls just like grandma baked! I have totally enjoyed everything I have eaten in or taken home from Loafer's.
So consider branching out(New Castle would be another great location!). Also your employee's are wonderful!