Media
WHO
Founded by 5 women in home-based businesses, The Grapevine is a Victoria-based non-profit group in its 4th year of operation. The 400+ membership comprises approximately one-third entrepreneurs and two-thirds people who just want to support community, socialize, network and shop. It's free to join and fun to participate.
WHAT
Once a month founders choose a new local retail outlet as "best-of-the-bunch for the month" and present owners with a bouquet of grape-coloured balloons during a surprise visit by approximately 25 potential new customers.
Grapevine candidates must meet two or more of the following criteria:
- Be within their first year or two of operation
- Offer a unique product
- Provide exceptional customer service
- Be a hidden treasure (several "grapees" were hidden within industrial areas where most locals hadn't ventured)
- Be particularly passionate about their business
Ian & Alain of The Good Planet
WHY
To support new retailers struggling to get established in Victoria.
WHEN
We meet on the first Saturday of the month at 10:50 a.m. (To avoid holiday weekends we usually postpone the event to the 2nd Saturday of the month.)
WHERE
Grapevine members are advised by email of a meeting place only and the group then walks 2-3 blocks to the chosen business, thereby keeping the business location a secret until we walk through the door.
Grapevine members enroute to a "graping"
As of April 7, 2009...
- The Grapevine has "graped" 41 Victoria businesses
- Of the 41 businesses we have "graped" since October 2004, 38 are still in business
- Best of Both Worlds Imports ("graped" October 2005) reports that "10% of our new business is coming directly as a result of The Grapevine."
- Grapevine members range from 6-90 years of age.
- 3 expanded their business
- 2 relocated outside Victoria
- 2 now operate solely by website
- 4 sold but still operate under the original business name
- 3 went out of business
"Graped" business owners say...
"We had never experienced such a huge influx of new customers at once & were totally overwhelmed at the community spirit & generosity shown by The Grapevine." -
"Your `graping' of me was one of the best days I've had as a new business owner. If ever I'm feeling blue I recall that Saturday morning when you all trooped into my shop – instant smile!!" -
"You brought a great deal of sunshine to a quiet, rainy November day! Plenty had a wonderful Christmas season and the new year is off to a great start." -
Steven McNaughton, owner/operator of Pomodori's Market told the Times-Colonist that two shoplifters had stolen $400 worth of organic tea and coffee only a few days before The Grapevine's arrival. "I thought 'Holy Smokes, this is fantastic'. I was overwhelmed. I had no idea who they were. It was such good timing, considering what had happened ... it really showed me there's lots of good people out there."
(For detailed reports on each "graping", click on Best of the Bunch link)
Grapevine members say ...
"Grapevine founders don’t tell us where we are going but only where to meet. Then they lead us to the unsuspecting business. It's a lot of fun – sometimes there are new restaurants, delis, importers, drycleaners, etc. You are not obliged to go every time but I am sure your curiosity will get the better of you and you won’t miss any!" -
"This was my first graping event and I thoroughly enjoyed meeting new people, but mostly participating in an intimate community event with lots of warmth, heart and surprise-like spirit." -
"Continue your good work! I can't usually find time to join you on your graping, but I do enjoy hearing about it and have visited four of the places you've graped just because you've mentioned them and I was in that neighbourhood." -
Random Acts of Business Kindness
The Grapevine ready to boost awareness in city businesses
No sour grapes as business gets boost
If you've been graped, feel privileged
Grow Your Business and Have Fun With the Power of 'The Grapevine'
CanadaOne Magazine - Grapevine Helps Local Businesses Grow
Item #6: Would you like to get "graped"?
Inspired by my urging to get creative in promoting their business by being a positive force in the community, a group of four home-based business women in Victoria, British Columbia decided to do some out-of-the-box networking.
These four ladies, along with 25 of their friends now known as "The Grapevine", organize monthly surprise visits or"grapings" to new retail shops and cafes that they believe deserve encouragement. They choose small businesses that have been open for less than a year and offer unique products or services.
They arrive with a huge bouquet of purple helium balloons and declare the store to be "best of the bunch". Although their primary goal is to help other small businesses to succeed, their secondary goal is to raise their own business profiles in the community...and they've done that.
Their biggest frustration to date is that they've not been able to get the local media to cover or promote their monthly sojourns into the business community. This is where the significant leverage will be for an idea like this.
If you'd like further info as to how you could get a group together in your community to acknowledge and support local businesses, you can contact The Grapevine organizer, Barbara McDonell through her website at www.clutterqueen.ca.
Networking Venue Revues 2005
We are featuring a different networking venue each month to be compiled in our free new Directory of Victoria’s most popular places for business people to mingle in the next year. Would your organization like a review AND a listing in our resulting Directory? Click here to request information.
Organization: The Grapevine
Background:
Started by a group of 5 women Sarala Godine (Options for Health), Barbara McDonell (Clutter Queen Services), Sandra Tennent (Urban-life Healing), Debbie Yorke (Elder Connections, Ltd.), Sarah Flynn (Catalyst Problem Solving and Dispute Resolution Services, Ltd.) who are all sole proprietors of service related businesses.
They meet weekly to provide support for each other. They also share a great appreciation of other business operators - especially those with retail stores, cafes and other high-overhead ventures.
Last year a founding Grapevine member attended an event designed to generate enthusiasm for a well-deserved shop owned by a friend. That experience was so much fun that it inspired "The Grapevine" - making the idea a monthly event.
Last Months Graping:
April’s Grapevine crowd met at the Times Colonist Building and walked into SEVEN VALLEYS FINE FOOD & DELI at 2506 Douglas St. with an entourage of 16 people and a grape balloon bouquet - surprising owners Shahrokh & Nahid Golestani with the announcement that their establishment had been chosen the "Best of the Bunch" for April.
Lead Grape Sarala Godine has obviously scouted the deli ahead of time. She did a great job as host - pointing out interesting facts as she introduced the family and some of the store items to the crowd.
The Golestani’s family greeted customers with a warm smile and were eager to answer questions about their stock of imported ethnic & exotic foods from Mediterranean & Middle Eastern countries, as well as a variety of Kosher & Halal products.
They told us that when they moved to Victoria from Iran nine years ago, there weren’t any food stores specializing in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean products so they opened Seven Valleys two years later. They enjoyed pointing out that their customers include people who may not live in peace together in other countries but shop together in peace in their store.
Seven Valleys features an array of spices and herbs you may not find anywhere else in Victoria, canned and jarred delicacies, specialty breads, 5 different kinds of feta cheeses, pastries (including several Baklava choices), candies, chocolate, & even beauty products like henna for body painting.
Many people bought lunch from the hot food deli & raved about the falafels, beans, & eggplant dishes. One regular customer gave a few of us a show-&-tell tour of his favourite items, inspiring us to fill baskets with unusual purchases at very reasonable prices. Shah Golestani even graciously served us complimentary cookies & cardamom tea in specialguilded cups!
Next Meeting Place:
Once a month "The Grapevine" surprises a business with a visiting delegation of 20-30 or more people who are only told the category of the company and a nearby meeting location which will be walking distance to the chosen establishment.
The next meeting will be Sat May 7 at 11:00 am For more information and to register contact Debbie Yorke 383-1980 dcyorke@shaw.ca This is a free event. Make sure you ask to be on the data base to receive notices of future ‘Grapings’
Insider Info:
This is not a traditional business networking event. One woman was even surprised we were reviewing it. This is one you go to for you. This is one you do for fun on a Saturday afternoon. This is one that gives you something to talk about that is more fun than the usual at your next networking event.
This is one you do to just support local small business...
If you’ve been graped, feel privileged
Planning for the next Grape affair are Sandra Tennant
(bottom row left) and Sarala Godine. On the top
row are fellow Victoria Grapevine organizers
(left) Kelly Hewkin, Debbie Yorke and Barbara McDonnell.
Getting graped is great business experience. It means having a couple of dozen absolute strangers carrying huge purple balloons suddenly and unexpectedly show up at your shop door early in the morning, and shower you with praise for having started a retail business.
Since it began last year, eight businesses have been stormed by what is known as the Victoria Grapevine.
The founders are a group of enthusiastic women with home-based businesses and who have been meeting weekly for the past couple of years to swap stories and support each other.
Because people who have storefront businesses have extra expenses not common to home based operations, the women wanted to give them a boost - and set up the Grapevine.
After secretly selecting a business to be graped, the women e-mail about 200 friends and business contacts to let them know a graping is about to take place, but without disclosing the name of the chosen store.
Then the grapers meet – usually about two dozen of them - and are told the name and address, and the party is - underway.
As home-based business owners, Grapevine founders have a special appreciation for what it takes to be successful in Victoria's retail business world, says Sarala Godine, one of the group's founders.
Graping is a feel-good monthly adventure, where deserving business owners are pleasantly surprised with a rush of unexpected community support, personal acknowledgment and genuine appreciation.
It's also a perfect networking tool for everybody involved, say businesswomen Godine www.optionsforhealth.ca, Barbara McDonell www.clutterqueen.ca, Debbie Yorke www.victoriaelderconnections.com, Sandra Tennent www.urban-healing.com, and Kelly Hewkin www.IntuitiveGraphicDesign.com.
"It's a feel-good, win-win experience where people come together to support Victoria's retail community through random acts of kindness," say the founders.
"Guests" as those attending a grape are called, "learn about each business and its products and/or services in a brief, informal introduction and then shop, socialize and network with other like-minded people."
The Grapevine www.wegrape.com is always looking for new people join the graping group.
Once on the e-mail list, it's simple, says Godine. "Approximately two weeks before our scheduled event, we will send an e-mail invitation that includes the category of business and a nearby meeting place," she said.
"We will meet there, then walk a short distance as a group to an unsuspecting business where they’ll be presented with a bouquet of balloons and proclaimed best-of-the-bunch."
Grow Your Business and Have Fun With the Power of 'The Grapevine'
by Joe Gracia, May 11, 2006
Today's Power Tip Article:
How do you get the word out about your business and at the same time help do
the same for other worthwhile small businesses in your community?
You do it -- through 'The Grapevine.'
This week we're sharing an outside-the-box marketing strategy called 'The Grapevine.'
It's an ideal Give to Get approach to growing your business that also helps
other businesses as well as your community.
Barbara McDonell from Victoria, BC, Canada submitted this rare gem. She shares
tips and information so you too can begin growing 'The Grapevine' in your community.
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Barbara McDonell Shares Her Story:
Hi Joe,
I've found your newsletter immensely valuable since I started my professional
organizing business.
I'd like to tell you about the non-profit group that 5 small home-based biz
women in Victoria, BC, Canada created using an out-of-the-box marketing technique.
We call it 'The Grapevine' because it's all about word-of-mouth advertising
being 'passed down the grapevine' in a random act of kindness.
Directed toward high overhead retail outlets, once a month we e-mail about
400 friends and business colleagues to invite them to participate in a fun,
free graping event.
An average of 25 people attend, arriving at a designated meeting place close
to the site. But until we walk in the door, neither they--nor the shop owner
--know where we are going.
We then walk a couple of blocks to the secret location with our group of potential
new customers. A large bouquet of purple balloons with our biz cards attached
is presented to the surprised owner, we explain what The Grapevine is, introduce
founders, and invite owners to tell what makes their store/products special.
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For about an hour, participants socialize, network, browse and shop, supporting
community while being introduced to a new store and its products.
Founders choose businesses that provide exceptional customer service and offer
something unique.
Sometimes they are jewels situated off the beaten track that need to be brought
to customers' attention.
Usually they are less than a year old. Since November, 2004, we have 'graped'
17 retail outlets, delis, cafes and restaurants.
As small business operators, we also hoped to gain our own share of the market
place through this project. Indeed, as participants got to know and trust us,
they are now requesting our services.
Our long-term vision is to see Grapevine branches all across Canada and the
U.S.A. We therefore invite other-city businesses to visit wegrape.com for photos,
details, and free start-up information for those interested in seeding their
own Grapevine off-shoots.
Barbara McDonell - Victoria, BC, Canada
Clutter Queen Services - www.clutterqueen.ca
The Grapvine - www.wegrape.com
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Joe's Response:
Wow! Congratulations to you, Barbara, and your founding partners.
'The Grapevine' is a terrific concept for spreading the word about not one,
but many businesses at the same time.
Not only are you providing a wonderful and refreshing service by recognizing
worthy small businesses in your community, but you are also organizing a networking
activity to spread the word about your member's businesses, in a fun and creative
way.
Everyone wins.
Thanks so much for sharing this terrific concept with us today.
Joe Gracia
Give to Get Marketing
http://www.givetogetmarketing.com
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Reprint Permission:
Copyright 2006 by Joe Gracia of Give to Get Marketing.
http://www.givetogetmarketing.com/
Visit Joe's Give to Get Marketing Website for more original content like this.
Reprinting this article is permitted with this footer included.
Grapevine Helps Local Businesses Grow
by Julie King, September 2006
Pushing back against massive retailers and a "bigger is better" attitude, five women in Victoria, B.C. have formed an unusual networking group that celebrates the "hidden treasures" tucked away in cities across Canada.
The Grapevine started by women on a mission to boost a friend's sagging business morale while also meeting the challenge issued by Canadian marketing guru Donald Cooper to create out-of-the-box marketing and incorporate a Random Act of Kindness.
Since its inception the group has "Graped" 14 businesses that have included artists, handcrafted gifts, organic wholesale foods, new and used mystery books, a nursery, delicatessen, cafes, furniture store and even an earth friendly cleaner.
The Grapevine has grown to an email list with 400 members and each month 25-30 people will arrive at a secret location to celebrate a local retailer. They are now looking to add Grapevine chapters in other cities. To learn more about this new phenomenon we spoke with Barbara McDonell, one of the five founding members.
| CO: | Who was behind the launch of The Grapevine? | |
| BM: | The group was founded by five women in home-based service businesses:
Barbara McDonell, Clutter Queen Services; Sarala Godine, Options for
Health, Debbie Yorke, Elder Connections Ltd.; Sandra Tennent, Urban-life
Healing; and Kelly Hewkin, Intuitive Graphic Design. Initially we were inspired by Sarala's participation in a delegation to boost a friend's sagging business morale. But our desire was also to meet the challenge of Canadian marketing guru Donald Cooper (www.donaldcooper.com) to create out-of-the-box marketing and incorporate a Random Act of Kindness. |
|
| CO: | How do you select the businesses you are going to "Grape"? | |
| BM: |
|
|
| CO: | Describe your first visit to a local business | |
| BM: | Our first graping was to Granola Groovy Eco-store* on October 30,
2004. We emailed Grapevine members with a nearby meeting place only.
Participants did not know our destination and the business owners had
no clue that we were coming! (Participants love the surprise element
of Grapevine events and often try to trick us into divulging our secret
destination). Just as Granola Groovy opened for business that morning,
26 excited folks filed into the store and handed the owners a big bouquet
of purple helium balloons, announcing "Congratulations, you've
just been chosen the best of the bunch for the month!" Owners Ian and Alain said they "were gob-smacked" and later reported: "We have never experienced such a huge influx of new customers all at once and we were totally overwhelmed at the community spirit and generosity shown by Grapevine participants." Attendants mixed and mingled, made new friends, discovered and bought new products, giving Granola Groovy its best income day since opening. Even two years later, 'passing the word down the grapevine' continues to happen as owners report that occasionally first-time customers mention that they heard about the store through The Grapevine. After each event we email our 400 members with a report, which then becomes a permanent web page for the company under "Best of the Bunch" (www.wegrape.com). Those who cannot attend check out the graped establishments on their own, telling owners that "The Grapevine sent me". |
|
| CO: | How has your group evolved from your first outing? | |
| BM: | Our email list is growing by leaps and bounds. Many of the business
owners we have graped now join us in graping other businesses. We recently added a draw each month for a $25 gift certificate from one of the previously graped businesses. This allows us to give establishments a little added promotion and keeps the business in the minds of participants who love the potential of winning a prize as well as having such a good time. |
|
| CO: | What plans do you have for the future? | |
| BM: | Our goal is to seed other-city Grapevine groups across Canada and the U.S. – and perhaps eventually even worldwide. By accessing our website at , interested business owners outside Victoria can click on a link to receive a free how-to package by email. |
| Author Information |
Julie King is the co-founder and publisher of CanadaOne.com®