Minkies has for a long time been one of my favourite places to shop or ponder. It's housed in a simply delicious glass structure with a balanced mix of new and old fittings inside and out. It's adorable. Homemade brownies, excellent coffee and a small selection well chosen grocery / produce. I particularly love the 1/4 bottles of cellier de boal organic cider and prosecco - both perfect for a picnic basket. They've also one of my favourite oriental snacks - Kasugai Green Peas. . I love them, I love there catering and I love the way they have taken responsibility for the community they serve with petitions and farmers markets and an active hand.
Yet what strikes me is that Minkies needs some newness. It's going to be a tough decision to make but selling Byron Bay Cookies seems a little tired. I'm sure they are a top selling line and I'm sure they garner no complaints, Byron Bay make great cookies and when I first discovered them in Harvey Nichols a few years ago I was very impressed not only with the taste but the ethicality and branding too, yet there comes a point in the life of any product when it's ubiquity becomes a drawback.
I've seen these cookies recently in motorway service stations and coffee franchise trolleys at Excel Exhibition Centre. So think to yourself Minkies: are they still a product for the independent retailer? Do they shout to the customer 'shop with us... we are exciting!' After this take a look at the rest of the shelves and see if any could be replaced or dropped. There may be one or two more.
