Checkin In On Minimus.biz

We've been receiving a lot of great feedback on our blog. Thank you to all those out there who've written in to us. A quick update on Minimus.biz itself...

• We continue to fill up our new 10,000 sq. ft. warehouse with people and products. It is a fun place to work... I'd reveal who won this week's paper-basketball toss competition, but that might be giving up too much inside information.
• We have many exciting new products in our lineup (I just ate one with my lunch).
• We continue to make site modifications and enhancements based on customer feedback and feedback from our own employees. For instance, we just switched over to shipping USPS for our international shipments versus FedEx, which we still use for all other shipments (except P.O. boxes and military, both of which must go via USPS).
• We continue to receive regular mentions in the press. Earlier this month, we were recommended in columns in both USAToday.com and MarketWatch. There is a partial list of press mentions on the right column of the blog.
• We have many exciting new projects in the works. Look for them in the coming months!
• Okay, okay, so this blog entry was kind of boring... no coupons... I'll see what I can do :)

Barry's Barbeque Kit

From our Director of Operations, Barry Maultasch:

Well, it has finally stopped raining here in sunny Southern California. The hills have stopped moving, and the sage grass is growing, as we get ready for our fire season. With that, my wife sent me into the backyard to get ready for our own fire season and clean the 'beast,' I mean, the barbecue. I got to thinking about what we could offer to help simplify our customers’ summer BBQ shindigs - whether it is a company picnic, church picnic, 4th of July picnic, or just a plain old backyard BBQ with good friends.

So, I went to the boss and said, "let me put together a Bar-B-Que condiment kit for all our friends and make their lives a lot easier." He looked at me with that quizzical look he has whenever we " Okay, maybe it didn't happen exactly that way, but it makes for a better story.

So here it is... Barry’s Bar-B-Que Condiment Kit:

1 Plastic fork
1 Plastic spoon
1 Plastic knife
1 Napkin (you're probably going to need more of these if your barbecue is like mine)
2 Ketchup packets
2 Mustard packets
1 Mayo packet
1 Heinz chopped onion packet
1 Heinz sweet relish packet
2 Salt packets
2 Pepper packets
1 Moist towelette
...all in one convenient little bag.

...and all for $.99 each.

We have many other products that will enhance any back yard bar-b-que or organization outing. Why not give everyone a Bug Button to keep the critters away while they're eating?

Happy Grilling!

Barry Maultasch, Director of Operations

From the Minimus Lunchroom - Tuna

Ok, who brings (or should be bringing) lunch to work? How many times have you been in a hurry in the morning (Um, yeah, I’m never in a hurry…this is about you) so you grab your can of tuna as you are rushing out the door, figuring you’ll make your lunch in the kitchen at work. Armed with your can of tuna, you sprint to your car, or the bus, or the train. You are ¾ of the way to work and realize "OHHH NOOO! I don’t have a can opener!" …and your teeth just aren't that sharp.

You are probably bringing lunch because either you are too busy to leave for lunch, or you are trying to save money. In either event, you don’t want to have to waste the time and/or money by bothering your co-workers (and if one of them has one, don't you find that a little odd?), or having to go to the store during the short time you do allow yourself for a midday break.

I have a solution for you... Starkist Premium chunk light tuna in water in a pouch. This great product comes in a foil pouch which is already drained for you (which also alleviates that metal taste experience when you eat canned tuna). It comes in a 3 oz single serving which has ninety calories, no carbohydrates, and twenty-one grams of protein with only one gram of fat.

While you are checking out the tuna, peruse the condiments: Miracle Whip, mayonnaise packets and relish. I used to be a Miracle Whip girl, but I’m beginning to like mayo just as much. Don’t stop there... we have crackers to complete your lunch feast.

Happy snacking,

Jennifer Forman
Purchasing Director
Minimus.biz

FLOSS ADDICTS: Travel Size Floss

This entry is courtesy of Jennifer Forman, our Purchasing Director:

"I don’t know about you, but I cannot stand having anything caught in my teeth and that is why I always carry floss. In what I like to call my pre-Minimus days, I would carry around a GIANT container of floss. When I first came on board, and was perusing our warehouse looking at all the cute items we carry, I came across an item that had my name written all over it -- well, not really -- it had Wisdom Floss printed on it. Now, I have Wisdom Floss in my purse, my desk drawer, my nightstand, my coffee table and the locations just keep growing. If you are a Floss fanatic like me, you will appreciate this tiny replica. Try it -- we’ll even give you 5% off. Use the coupon code FLOSS at checkout. It'll be good until the end of May."

Categories: Products

I'll Pick It Up On the Trail

Over the past couple of weeks there were a couple of orders that have come in that caught my eye. The customers wrote in the special instructions to have their order held for them for expected arrival on a certain date. We've done this before for people traveling to hotels where they've had their items sent on to a hotel for pickup on their arrival (talk about ways to save space while flying). However, we've never done it for a case like this... for hikers on the Appalachian Trail. Apparently, there is a place where packages can be held for hikers and given to them when they arrive -- sort of like a resupply depot. Call me crazy, but I found this fascinating. People were sending our stuff to their hiker friends for them to pickup and resupply in the middle of their trek. While I knew we've been getting a lot of backpackers as customers to our e-store, this was a fun and curious example.

GUEST BLOGGER: Guest Coffee

Our graphic designer we work with, Robyn Shrater Seemann, wrote a blog entry for us (FYI: she has a freelance graphic design company at www.rs2studio.com):

"Neither my husband nor I are coffee drinkers. We don’t own a coffee maker - which is fine because I wouldn’t even know how to brew coffee anyway. When we have guests over, though, I like to be able to offer them coffee or tea after dinner. This used to mean I’d keep a small jar of instant coffee in the cupboard, which after sitting there for so long with no one drinking it (I soon learned that real coffee drinkers won’t touch the instant stuff) it would go stale. I hated to keep throwing those jars away with only a few teaspoons missing.


So you can imagine my delight to find Folger’s Coffee Singles on Minimus.biz. It’s REAL coffee that brews in individual pouches just like tea bags. They come in both decaf and regular. I always keep a few of each handy, and my guests love that they can have real, fresh coffee when they come over. In fact, many of my coffee-drinking friends have started stocking up on them, too. They find that they are great for when they are traveling or for when they are home and just don’t feel like making a whole pot of coffee."

Categories: Products, Customers

Bringing Coffee to the Troops

Minimus.biz had an interesting press release today about a soldier in Iraq who had an idea to setup a coffee house for the troops. He contacted his Soldiers' Angels donor, who found a fellow volunteer with a connection to The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf®, who generously donated 11 pallets of coffee. Minimus.biz then brought in friends from the FBI office in Los Angeles to do their community service project boxing up the coffee. While much of the coffee has already been shipped to Iraq, a lot of it is waiting to be sent out via donations to Soldiers' Angels. Read the full story on the press release.

Employee Testimonial: Crystal Light On the Go

From Jennifer Forman, our Purchasing Director:

"Being a person that doesn’t like to drink plain water, and therefore don’t take in my daily requirement of H2O, I have been a devoted Crystal Light user since it’s inception. I was so tired of carrying a gallon of water around with me just so I could have Crystal Light flavored water. The supermarket I go to only stocks the large tubs that make 2 quarts (2 tubs to a gallon). When I joined the Minimus team, low and behold, I was excited to find Crystal Light On the Go tubes that can be poured into a smaller bottle of water (20 oz) thus eliminating the need to tote around such a large container. They come in three flavors: lemonade, peach tea and raspberry ice. All three flavors are delicious and now I always meet my daily intake of water."

Jennifer Forman
Purchasing Director
Minimus.biz

Categories: Products