Upper Crust

Cookie was thinking.

Pinny could tell she was thinking. She always moved her body to the same pose whenever she was in deep thought mode as he called it. A hoof went under her chin. She leaned on something (in this case, it was the counter top) and her eyes stared up at the ceiling as she searched for a vacant and non-distracting place to park them whilst she retreated into her mind.

He always liked to leave her for a minute or two pondering. Only a customer or Pinny saying something would pull her from being transfixed on her thoughts. No customers were forthcoming, so Pinny decided to break the silence.

“Go on, what’s on your mind?” he queried.

He watched as Cookie’s eyes slowly came down from staring at the ceiling back to ground level, he was waiting to hear what she had to say.

“We need something new.” she said.

“That’s a little vague dear, what do you mean something new?” he asked.

“For the bakery. I mean something new to keep customers coming.” she carried on.

“Well, it might be an idea when we do get to dropping the sugar content. When are we doing that, by the way?” he asked. Now might be a good time to bring up the subject again. It wasn’t hard to imagine Pinny’s disappointment when the query was swiftly ignored.

“No I mean like deals, maybe some sort of gimmick thing to keep customers returning.” she said.

“Well, we have a strong customer base already that do keep coming back. What makes you think they might stop?” he asked. “Plus I don’t like the use of the word gimmick. That’s not the sort of thing we do.”

“I’m just thinking about the future really. Like you say, the sugar won’t keep them coming forever Pinny. I dunno though, this isn’t really my area of expertise. Do you have any thoughts?” Cookie asked him.

“Hmm…” Like Cookie, Pinny had his own thinking pose. Except he’d sit on his flank and rest his head more on his hoof than Cookie did. After a moment he stood up. “I can only think of two things. Special deals. Like customers have a stamp card and for every ten things they buy, they can choose a freebie. Or we end up spending money and buy something for the bakery like you suggested. Either way, it’s going to cost us money. Is now the time to be spending or taking cuts?”

“Like I say, I was just thinking about the future Pinny. It’s best to be prepared.” Cookie said.

“Okay, well I can’t argue with that. So what would you prefer to do? A deal means we don’t buy anything but we’d lose money on goods we had to give away free. Some sort of new thing for the bakery means investment but might make us more money in the long run.”

“Hmmm…” Cookie started to think again.

“Can I make a suggestion?” A third voice now entered the conversation. Doughy had just been listening up until now as he had a few customers to serve, but they had since left.

“Huh, well I hadn’t considered a third option. What are you thinking Doughy?” Pinny said.

“Well, I think ponies really know you for your innovation in tackling issues with customers. Why my job exists, for example.” he started to say. “One of the things that always get mentioned, especially by the fatties, is that unless they’re a Unicorn the traditional style bags that you put your baking in for customers to take away aren’t exactly hoof friendly.” he said. He could see Pinny was listening so he carried on. “What if you came up with a bag that was bigger and more suited to those ponies? You could fit more in, it would save you costs on buying hundreds of paper bags. Like, a reusable bag? And if they bought one from you they’d get a small discount on their purchases to encourage buying it. Say it cost ten bits but they’d get one bit off every purchase? In ten visits the bag has paid for itself for them and you’ve made ten sales that more than covers the cost for you. Everypony wins.”

Pinny was rather impressed. It was such a simple idea. Cookie had even come out of her thoughts to listen to what Doughy had to say.

“That is a good idea Doughy. I suppose it would need a bit of investment to make it work but in the long run we’re going to profit and it’s another way to keep customers coming back. What made you think of it?” Pinny asked.

“Like I said, often the ponies at the hatch here complain about the bags you give them. It seemed obvious to suggest something new and easy for them to use.” he remarked, turning back to help a new customer who had just arrived.

“Well it’s an option.” Pinny said to Cookie.

“I think it’s clever, since it was his idea maybe we can add him to the design as the mascot. Really push it on the fact that our youngest employee came up with the idea? Then he’d get the credit he deserves for it as well.” Cookie said. Pinny smiled, it was so like her to make sure that Doughy wasn’t just cast aside for his contribution.

“Well if that’s what you want. I suppose it somewhat combines the discount idea into a product anyway. Best of both worlds.” Pinny replied.

“We’ll need some time to approach a company to design it.” Cookie said.

“I’m sure we can find one. Manehattan has thousands of shops like grocery stores with reusable bags. In fact, why don’t we just approach the supplier of ours and ask who the company is. We might just be able to approach them and ask.” Pinny mused.

“Alright. Doughy?” Cookie asked, watching the young stallion turn to face them from the hatch. “We think it's a wonderful idea, actually we’d like to use it. How would you feel if we promoted them using you, since it was your idea?”

“Sure, call them Dough Bags haha. You get my name in and it could be a pun on dough balls.” he chuckled. Then he saw their faces light up. “Wait, that was a joke. I wasn’t being serious.”

“Um, for a joke it’s actually pretty good…” Cookie started to say.

“Dough Bags it is I guess.” Doughy said, just shrugging. He had to turn away again as there was a tap at the hatch.

“Despite the fact that was a joke that’s probably the best name I could come up with. We can think about it though.” he said to Cookie. “Anyway, does that satisfy your craving for something new?” he asked.

“Well, it puts my mind at ease knowing we’re going to have something in the works that makes us unique beyond the sugar. Plus like Doughy said, It’ll be good for the customers like Clipsy.” Cookie replied.

It was a fair point. At a few points, even Pinny had noticed it. Like Doughy had said, it was no problem for a Unicorn to simply levitate a bag. Pegasi and Earth ponies had a little more difficulty trying to hold them in their hooves as well as walk. His mind was already thinking about some sort of saddle bag style design. But he’d leave that up to the designers to suggest what might be best if he and Cookie laid out the idea to them.

As per anything, they just needed the time to do it. First thing to do was to contact their own bag supplier. Of course, not every customer was going to invest in a new reusable bag, they’d still need traditional paper ones. But saving costs on having to buy less of them would help a great deal. As soon as the day was over, he’d head down to their offices.