Customer FEEDBACK needed!!

I need feedback from you!! The festival is a growing event, and each
year the growing number of attendees has necessitated expansion and
improvement of several areas at the festival. I would love to hear
from our customers and hear how we can improve the festival experience
for YOU. We value our customers and we want to make your experience at
our farm a wonderful time. Preparing our family farm for the festival
each year takes a small army. We try to do everything we can to
accommodate everyone! Several areas have been congested in the past:

Parking – Parking 2,000-4,000 customers per day at the festival is
always a bottleneck area. We are currently making improvements this
year. We are expanding our available parking space, we are ordering
more gravel than ever before, and we are improving our parking staff.
We will have two tractors and an ATV shuttling customers to and from
the parking area at all times. We offer handicapped parking spots very
near the Sugarhouse. Please keep in mind that we have no control over
the weather, but we will do everything that we can to help you. From a
customer’s point of view, what would make your parking experience
better?

Parking area. 

Food – The restaurant at the farm is another bottleneck area. During
breakfast and lunch rush, and all day during beautiful weather, lines
form and people have to wait in line to purchase meals. This year, we
are offering two alternatives to dining in the restaurant; a food
truck serving old recipe Italian food (pizza, sausage and pepper
sandwiches, pasta) and a sandwich shop (pork sandwiches, possibly
burgers and hot dogs). Both locations will also serve bottled water,
canned soft drinks, and chips. The food truck and sandwich booth will
be located near the vendor area. We believe that this will be a great
alternative for people who do not wish to wait in line to purchase a
meal. I know that I couldn’t wait in line for too long with Mason
without having a meltdown!! We would love to keep expanding our food
options, but most food trucks or food vendors require a very large
amount of electricity, something we do not have the capability to
offer at this time. If you have a self-contained, licensed, insured
food business, please contact us!!  From a customer’s point of view,
what can we improve?

Customers patiently waiting in line to purchase meals.

Sugarstore – The Sugarstore is my baby. I manage the store and take
great pride in how much it has improved over the years. Those who have
attended the festival for a long time will remember when we only had
one section of the store – about 200 square feet. For a long time, our
“cash register” was a cardboard box. Now we have expanded to over 900
square feet, we have three cash registers and we accept debit and
credit cards. This year, we have reconfigured the store to allow a
better flow of customers. We have removed the three cotton candy bins
which were positioned in the center of each section and thanks to
Nic’s dad, we have a brand new cotton candy bin!! If you are familiar
with the layout of the store, we have moved the t-shirt display to
another location, and in its original spot, we have installed one
large cotton candy bin. Doing this opens up a HUGE amount of floor
space in the store. This will allow more customers to comfortably be
in the store at one time. We have also built additional shelving to
separate the check-out lines from the shopping area. We have had
problems in the past where the check-out lines back up into the
shopping area, blocking off the shopping area so customers making
purchases have difficulty navigating the store. Hopefully our
improvements this year will create a better shopping experience for
everyone.

Old t-shirt display area....

Replaced with a new cotton candy bin!!

The small cotton candy bins in the center of each section have been removed, opening up a lot of floor space. 

So…Let’s hear it!!! What can we improve? How can we make your festival
experience better? What are we doing well? You can comment or send us an email at sugrbush@wcrtc.net