Website back on track

Our Honest2Goodness website is now being developed by X-Communications, a small Dublin-based IT company, whose roots are in the near-by Trinity College Campus. We are targetting the date of the 8th of June for Phase 1 of the website, which is pretty aggressive, considering all that has to be done. When they are available, we'll put up some screen-shots so that the shape of the emerging site can be seen by all. Comments and feedback on what should be included into the future will be very welcome.

Tipping point

In the past week, we have reached a tipping point in our plans for the market in Glasnevin. In one 24-hour period, having had a period of uncertainty, we have achieved a critical mass of stallholders who have committed to joining us in the weekly food market day. We are delighted that so many people have placed their trust in committing effort and resource on their part to be part of our venture, and in so doing have given us the best chance for success on launch day. So, we will be able to offer lots of fresh fruit and vegetables, sourced primarily from local producers, fresh meat, chicken and fish, freshly baked breads, muffins and scones, artisan cheeses, and even someone who will be sourcing great kitchen utensils and cookware. Not forgetting wine of course!

Progress - one step forward, one step back...

We have made tremendous progress with the physical location for the market, and the renovation of the rest of the building. Before and after photos will be published shortly - I am waiting for the rain to stop to photograph the outside of the building! On other fronts, we received a major set-back, both on a business and personal front. Our good friend Selwyn, who was working with us on developing our website, died very suddenly two weeks ago. So, while we are hoping to be able to utilise the work he had done and be able to attribute it to him, it has of course, set us back in our timeframes. (See my other blog at http://thetastingroomfoodwineblog.blogspot.com/ for a bit more about what happened).

The next steps are to get the approval of the Environmental Health people, and that application for registration has just gone to them. Many more decisions await over the next few weeks, not just for us, but for the many stall holders who have expressed an interest, want to see the location, have to decide if it'll work for them and so forth. We are of course determined to make the market a success - not least because we will have our own stalls there selling produce that we are prepared to stand over as representing our motto - 'quality starts at the point of origin'.

The new wine imports are starting to sell well - great quality wines at affordable prices! Once we get the online sales facility up and running (part of the aforementioned website), that'll really give people the opportunity to see what we have to offer!

If you are planning on visiting either the Bloom Festival in May, or A Taste of Dublin in June, we'll be there to tell people all about our plans and how they are progressing...

Renovation works have started

Plans to renovate the building to accommodate our various enterprises have started in earnest. Last week, the roof was inspected, cleaned and repaired to give us back a fully-sealed premises - we hope! This week work on plumbing, electrical installations and general cleaning out is starting this morning. The plan for the Environmental Health people is taking shape, and will go into them in the next day or so. My former project planning experience has kicked back in, and the project plan is fairly well developed - have to get to review and finish that off this week, as I know by experience that once things get into active mode, the time for thoughtful planning shrinks to a tiny dot far on the horizon!

Hope to have a prototype of the website available in the next day or so... we are very anxious to get our online wine sales up and running now that we have a broad enough range of wines to entice even the most economically challenged customer...

H2G Website

Had a meeting this morning to discuss our website for Honest2Goodness. It will be one of the most important parts of our new venture, as we want to fully utilise the internet to complement our activities on food and wine to creat the interest, and then to sustain it into the future. I am really excited about bringing it all together!

At the beginning...

Our plans to start up a new farmer's market are taking shape. Our location will be in Glasnevin, just outside Dublin city centre, on the northside, equi-distant from the centre of the city and the M50 motorway. We plan on having the market up and running by the end of June 2009. This afternoon, the project plan is being drawn up - there are a lot of threads to stay on top of!

Interest so far from potential stall-holders and from potential customers has been very positive. Lots to be done though before we are up and running - the part of the building where we will be running the market is being renovated, and while we are doing that, we are also taking the opportunity to set up our wine tasting room, and making some running repairs to other parts of the building as well. We are planning a new website, which will be an important part of how we do our business, and of course there are all the food safety regulations to be negotiated. Fun times ahead!

Contact us for further information.