Cheeky Gregory's Coffee in New York
Gregorys Coffee in New York are very cheeky. When they saw my Starbucks mug they pointed it out to me, and then after I left, I noticed the cheeky buggers had put a Gregory's sticker on my mug. Outrageous. Love it! Good for them. How can your company breed that kind of brand-pride amongst its employees?
They're the yin to Starbucks yang. They've effectively looked at the flaws in Starbucks business and out-Starbucked them. Here's the main things I've noticed.
Walk-in Experience
Starbucks: Long line. Wait, kick heels, feel slightly neglected.
Gregory's: Long line, but crazy fast service. Within 5 seconds of walking in the door someone has taken my order. Definitely not feeling at all neglected here, and the people are a little more perky and happy, and enjoying the busy-ness.
Coffee
Starbucks: Consistently good.
Gregorys: Consistently great!
Look n Feel
Starbucks: Green and brown. Armchairs, wood chairs.
Gregorys: Gray, dark purple, black, bright lights. Benches and steel chairs. Not necessarily better, just a contrast to Starbucks.
Baristas
Starbucks: Sometimes a little tired.
Gregorys: They seem a bit more involved, fun and irreverant.
Food
Starbucks: Caged, refrigerated and packaged.
Gregorys: Fresh baked, not packaged or refrigerated. The one on 46th Avenue and 5th even has a bakery in the back...
Here's an example of how Gregory's one-ups employee morale. Over Valentines they ran a promotion. Bring in a Valentines card or gift for the baristas, and get a free coffee. Showing the love. Nice!
Gregorys tagline is we 'see coffee differently.' I think they do.
Round The World Trip
On Sat 27th Oct Irena and I flew to Dubai for our 2nd honeymoon. We took a desert tour where we blazed over dunes and then dined under the stars while watching belly dancing and nearly having our fingers chewed off by a falcon. The highlight was sitting at the Mango Tree Thai restaurant looking out at the Dubai Fountains and up at the Burj Dubai. Later we took a tour up the Burj.
Then Irena left back to Malta, and I flew on to Sydney on Friday 2nd Nov, to speak at iDate Australia. The highlight was seeing 'School For Wives' at the Opera House, and hiking over the top of the Harbor Bridge. Tanya (CEO, Dating Factory) and I won our bet on the Melbourne Cup.
On Mon 12th Nov I flew to Vancouver to fly my mother back to the UK. My highlight was flying next to the pilot of a seaplane from Vancouver to Victoria.
On Wed 21st Nov mum and I flew back to the UK. I met up with Irena and we attended my nephews wedding at Hemswell Court. It was picture perfect.
Then on Tue 27th Nov Irena and I flew to Moscow to study AnastasiaDate. An amazing company. Our highlight was going to the Bolshoi theater and touring the Kremlin Armory where we managed to snap this shot of a 700 year old crown. ...I finally landed back in Malta on Sat 8th December.
Malta Hike, With Czech Hiking Club
Yup! There's a Czech hiking club in Malta. I took a trek out with them to the NW of the island and we had a BBQ on the beach.
Mopeds
We like to take the VFR800 out for our date nights, and park it in Paceville. This was a particularly nice line up of bikes. Our bike has 96hp which I put to good use on occasion. The gold Hyabusa has twice that. Nutters! Especially nuts in Malta!
Biscuit Heaven
Irena's home made biscuits were a hit over Xmas.
Moscow's Lego Man
At Moscow airport you can find this lego man with a hole in his sock.
Red Square
After seeing richard and tammy get married, and settling mum back into England, Irena and I took off for Moscow for a couple of weeks.
Richard And Tammy
Nephew Richard and Tammy's wedding in the UK. A very special occasion. Mum, Irena and I were all able to attend.
Mum, Repatriating At 80
Mum, at 80, emigrating her back from Canada to England. The journey went smoothly but I had a full load of luggage to lug for mum.
Sydney Opera House
Prior to iDate Sydney I paid the Opera House a visit to see School For Wives. Originally the play was a French poem by Moliere from the 1660's. Excellent, and a unique experience!
Dubai Honeymoon
"Thumb or finger, thumb or finger?" This falcon was seriously contemplating removing a digit!
Apparently, I was conceived in Dubai. My dad lived in Abu Dhabi for 25 years. If I'd been born there and stayed in UAE perhaps Irena and I would look like this?
Prior to our wedding we went on a 'pre-honeymoon' to Venice, but didn't take an official honeymoon after our wedding. We finally took a week off to honeymoon in Dubai, prior to me flying off for iDate Sydney.
Not All Camels Spit
I love the smell of Irena's hair as well.
A Bit Of Sausage And Books
Waterstones Picadilly is my favorite book shop. The sausage and mash is first rate, at 5th View. Waterstones has 6 floors of books and 8 miles of shelving and was the inspiration for 'Are You Being Served.'
Italian Icecream In Malta
Malta has lots of great little icecream shops. I was persuaded to duck into one of our favorite icrecream shops in Malta to escape the rain.
Malta's Romance Bridge
Inscribe your love onto a lock and put it on the romance bridge at Tigne Point overlooking the Valletta bastions in Malta.
Mark & Irena
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