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By Lee Egerstrom
Economic Development Fellow
[email protected] A company of artists in St. Paul is proving that making art objects can sustain a small business, that entrepreneurs can survive economic cycles, and that quality can still trump quantity in this age of big box stores and mass marketing. Deneen Pottery is a family owned business that has endured various trials and tribulations since 1972. It makes hand-thrown stoneware products for institutional and business customers who want to exhibit glaze engraved logos, which result from a trademark protected process that Deneen master potters invented. The biggest categories of Deneen's 2,700 customers are hospitality industry companies such as bed and breakfasts, country inns and golf courses. Right behind are college bookstores, corporations that want promotional items for products or their corporate image, and restaurants. Renaissance festivals and community events that appeal to tourists who may be collectors is another important but smaller category, and Deneen has a small number of retailers as customers who specialize in merchandise for tourists.

With the defeat of the Vikings to the New Orleans Saints yesterday night, the mood here in Minnesota is somber... This is why we, here at Deneen Pottery, will turn our attention to more positive things, like the new mug for the Innkeeping Conference & Trade Show hosted by PAII (Professional Association of Innkeepers International). We've been proudly making mugs for PAII and their Innkeeping Show since 1992, when JoAnn Bell first sent out a form letter seeking a 'handmade mug supplier' to provide an item to commemorate PAII's second biennial event. There is much more to this story that I will be reporting on in the weeks to come. We have been honored to produce a collectable mug for each conference since 1992 and are ready to unveil the tentative mock up for this years show in Austin, Texas. Working with Pat Hardy and JoAnn Bell was a joy for my father, Peter Deneen, and I an just as pleased to be working with the President and CEO of PAII today, Jay Karen. If you are an innkeeper and are curious about PAII, and the Innkeeping Show click here: www.innkeepingshow.com

Just before Thanksgiving Tammie, owner of The Coffee Cup located in Cameron, OK, was searching google for handmade mugs when she came across our website. "I looked at others but your product, professionalism, and website blew the others away."  Now we have her design ready for approval and we are eagerly looking forward to working on her first order of custom mugs!

It's a snowy COLD day here in Minnesota - single digit highs and -30º below at night with the wind chill. Sorting through the importance of Facebook, and finding relavent material and ideas to share on a blog can be TOUGH. A few weeks back when I figured that I'd like to use our Facebook page to showcase 'Innkeepers Mug Displays' I was given a tip by  Linda Hayes from the Inn at Riverbend in Pearlsburg, Virginia about her friend Selena. "You should get [a picture] from Selena at Bed and Breakfast on Tiffany Hill, her retail wall with your mugs is beautiful."
Original-of-Panorama.smWhat a setting -And the inside is even better!