We've all heard the saying when one door closes, another opens. That's exactly how In-Room Plus was born. The experience Wanda Jones, one of the original partners and first generation owners of In-Room Plus (along with Mike Amrose), had when she was fired from a gourmet food company in the early 1980s. She had helped take the company public in a wildly successful way to later be fired for cost cutting measures. Well, not only did Wanda lose her job, that gourmet food company went out of business shortly after her departure. Believe it or not, that's not even the most ironic part of this story!

Her and Mike had started a market research company after being fired. As a kid I remember they would take whatever job they could get. There were big clip art books everywhere that they would have me cut things out of for presentations (or maybe me "helping" was just a distraction so they could work). 

Well, along came Dave, the guy that fired Wanda! He wanted her to do a two month study on selling his shortbread cookies to hotels. If you've ever met Wanda, you know that you can fire her and she'll still take your call and be your friend. This was no different. After two months of calling hotels from those giant hotel directory books from the 1980s and 1990s, sampling the cookies, it was clear that no one was servicing the minibar market. Once the market research was complete, they knew what their calling was! 

The company name was changed in 1988 to In-Room Plus and a new niche business was born. The first product they sold was Dave's shortbread cookie, the same one we sell today in our Banana Moon Canisters, custom boxes, geo containers and cello sleeves.

Have you tried them? They truly are a classic and with a 12 month shelf life, you cannot go wrong!

Cheers to Dave and his son Brian, who is now the second generation owner of the bakery. As the second generation owner of In-Room Plus, we can all laugh about the history of how we all found success after some "doors closed and opened" on us all. 

Sending love and open doors your way,
Elizabeth Jones