Is Yelp Really a Help?

Lately my "To Do" work list is a mile long, but I feel the need to voice my disapproval about Yelp.com. As a small business owner, I find their business practices to be unfair. I'm not sure if many of you are aware of how their review systems works, but Yelp has a filtering system in place. They claim that it has been put in place to protect both consumers and businesses from people leaving false reviews--either positive or negative. If a review comes in from a consumer, and that person does not have a review history with Yelp, it gets filtered out immediately.

I first learned of this filtering system, shortly after our first review. As both a business owner and a consumer, I can understand and appreciate this system to a certain degree. However, the system has recently changed. I am now noticing that reviews that have been left by our clients that do have a history with Yelp are now being filtered out for some reason. 10 of my Cinderella Company client reviews have been removed at an alarming rate these past 7 days. Sorry, but this is simply not right. From Oct of 2009 to date, The Cinderella Company has earned 35 five star reviews and only 20 of them were ever shown by Yelp. That number is now down to 9 this past week.

As a small business, the Yelp reviews have done much for our business. But I cannot help but feel that Yelp is manipulating the public into using their system on a regular basis. As a mother with a full-time job, I don't have the time nor desire to sit at my computer leaving massive amounts of reviews for companies. And if I do take the time to leave a review for a company, whether it be good or bad, I do expect for it to be posted. I think what Yelp is doing is unfair and dangerous and they don't seem to care about alienating small businesses. As soon as I noticed my reviews dropping off, I tried contacting them. The local SF phone number that I found

does not accept phone calls from consumers or businesses, and no one has responded to my email after locating the hard-to-find site contact info. In the end, I don't find Yelp be a real help

to people.

Disney, NYC is Open for Business

This past summer while visiting NYC, I was disappointed to learn that Disney's 5th Ave location has closed. It wasn't until my nephew told me that they weren't closed for good, just relocating to another part of the city that I felt a little bit better. So for all of you Disney fans out there, Disney has just reopened it doors at 1540 Broadway that was previously home to a giant Virgin Megastore. After closing their store on 5th Ave last year, this is Disney’s attempt to re-invent itself in the retail world. This place is every child’s dream with its life size interactive Disney princess castle and children’s theatre that will entertain kids with movies and house some very exciting celebrity appearances. About the project, one of Disney's reps states, "Bringing Disney store to the center of Times Square is a monumental achievement, and we have created a retail experience that complements the energy and innovation that Times Square inspires”. This is the second venture Disney has taken on in Times Square with their renovation of The New Amsterdam theatre into the Disney Theatre in the 1990’s.The Times Square grand opening will be the largest Disney store in existence to date. The location will feature two floors and will be open seven days a week from 9am until midnight. I can only imagine the late night hours were created so all of us without kids can go check out the princess castle without shame." Go Disney!!!

Exciting News!!!

The Cinderella Company was recently approached by Director Richard Bosner of Blue Creek Pictures. He and producer Barret Hacia are currently filming a micro-budget film this winter, and my wonderful performer Jena Hunt has the starring role. Falling Uphill is a romantic comedy scheduled for next year. Jena's character plays a 20 something woman living and working in San Francisco. If you haven't figured how The Cinderella Company fits into the equation, the character's day job is that of a princess performer for a children's entertainment company called, The Cinderella Company. How exciting is this?

Rapunzel, Let Down Your Hair!

I hope that everyone has had a chance to see Disney's Tangeled movie. I was able to take my daughter just after it opened; I have to say it is a very cute movie and love the music. Anyway after several months of planning, my seamstress and wig designer were able to work their magic once again. This dress has quite a bit of lace, embroidery and crystals added to it, whereas the 5 foot wig is constructed out of a main base with two sets of extensions added to it. I hope that everyone likes it. Leslie is featured in the photo.

Wig Boxes Complete!!!

A while back I ordered a boat-load of wig boxes for my CC character wigs, and this past week I finally had the desire to assemble them and hand them out to my performers. When I opened the box, I noticed that there were no directions. Being college educated I didn't forsee a problem--boy was I wrong! These boxes came with screws, lock nuts, and finials that I had no clue about. I of course tried finding directions online but there weren't any I could locate, and since it was after hours the company was closed. After making several attempts and bringing in a friend for help, I finally emailed a friend who immediately emailed me pictures of the completed product. She bought hers assembled! Oy! I guess you get what you pay for. The finial to the right is used to secure the wig head in place.

Newly Designed Disney Store, SF

While visiting NYC this past summer, I was very upset to see that Disney's 5th ave location had closed down and was being relocated to some other part of the city. Not to mention their Union Square location had also closed a while back. Well today I am very excited to announce that the SF location is now reopened at a different location: 39 Stockton Street (right where the 3 story Sanrio building use to be in the 90's). Please check out the Business Wire article when you can. Go Disney!!!

Julius Kahn Park

Yesterday four of my performers were requested to attend a large event at Julius Kahn Park in the Presidio for an annual Halloween event organized by the Golden Gate Mother's Club. On hand were Sleeping Beauty (Nicole), Belle (Lacey), Jasmine (Frances) and Anakin (Jason). I ended up attending the event to ensure that my performers had everything needed since this was going to be held outdoors and it was scheduled to rain. Thank goodness the rain held off! The day was wonderful and as usual they impressed the heck out of me.