LAGUNA NIGUEL, Calif., May 31, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Costco Wholesale Corporation, (Nasdaq:COST), which operates nearly 500 membership warehouses worldwide, and had sales approaching $60 billion last year, features Donna B's Gourmet Cookies and Bakery Boutique, with stores in Laguna Niguel and Irvine, California, on the cover of its June issue of The Costco Connection. The publication reaches approximately 48 million Costco members and their families.
For Donna Billman, who incorporated the business in 1993, and weathered the challenges virtually all new small companies face, the cover photo and the audience it has reached represents the company's most significant international exposure to date.
The road to that accomplishment took many interesting turns. Initially, she sold cookie dough which, as the magazine "today's women of south orange county" noted in a recent feature article, "...was the beginning of Donna Billman's (Donna B's) cookie empire."
For months after its official start, the publication notes, "the company struggled...A critical turning point...occurred when Donna began marketing herself and the cookies. She attended local business functions, school events, civic activities, and various business networking meetings all across OC. Dubbed the 'Cookie Lady,' Donna pitched her cookies to businesses as gifts, and promoted her cookie dough to organizations as a fundraising vehicle. Her efforts have paid off.
"Using her 12 cookie varieties as the centerpiece of every gift, Donna B's has carved a niche in fulfilling corporate gift orders all across the nation. Her bakery ships and delivers thousands of themed and custom printed cookie boxes, crates, platters and tins every year.
"In addition," the magazine reported, "every year more and more schools, churches and other organizations sign up to sell Donna B's Frozen Gourmet Cookie Dough to raise money for their special purposes...Donna is especially proud of this facet of her business because her cookie dough is what helped her achieve financial security when she struggled as a single mother."
Selling her products on the Internet has also driven sales, Ms. Billman says. Today, http://www.DonnaB.com generates more than 20% of her company's cookie gift business.
"DonnaB.com was initially intended to function as an online catalog, which it does nicely, but we've been pleasantly surprised with its performance as an e-store," she notes.
Over the last 10 years, Donna B's has continued to grow, offering gourmet cookies, brownie and cookie dough, as well as decorated cakes. A staff of trained pastry chefs decorates all occasion and wedding cakes.
Continued requests nationwide for the company's products have prompted it to consider franchising. "I've gotten the business to the point where the formula can be duplicated," Ms. Billman says.
In its June cover story, the Costco publication notes that caterers are a unique blend of talent and passion. It describes the $16 billion world of catering as "...an industry calling for equal parts entrepreneurial spirit, endless energy, a strong desire to please people, a good poker face in stressful situations, and a well stocked bag of tricks...Caterers are the ones behind that great wedding feast, the memorable birthday party and other special events. And they're definitely a special breed..."
Donna Billman agrees. As she reports in the Costco feature story, "Satisfied clients and happy guests make for a successful catering business because word-of-mouth marketing is the single most effective marketing strategy in the industry."