shameless self promotion Posted August 21, 2005 Share Posted August 21, 2005 Hope this isnt a repost. I havent been around for a week. It's Saturday morning all the time 'Cereality' founders think outside the box and bring people together Thursday, August 18, 2005; Posted: 9:43 a.m. EDT (13:43 GMT) (CNN) -- For many who walk into Cereality, it is hard not to feel like a kid. At the quick-serve restaurant that serves customers only cereal or food made from cereal, there are TV screens that show nothing but cartoons, all the servers wear pajamas and you can even have your cereal with chocolate milk. All four Cereality stores serve more than 30 different brands of cereal, hot and cold, that can be eaten by themselves or mixed and matched. Behind the counter, customers see glass-front kitchen cabinets showcasing boxes of the many brands they can choose from -- a sight that would make cereal fan Jerry Seinfeld weep with joy. The choice can be daunting, causing some customers to have a deer-in-the-headlights look in their eye. At the flagship Cereality store at Arizona State University, pajama-clad "Cereologist" Carley Partridge helps customers decide from several combinations and toppings ranging from the classic sliced bananas to the more bizarre options, such as the explosive candy "Pop Rocks." "I don't understand how people can have Rice Krispies and Pop Rocks," Partridge says. "That's just too much snap, crackle, and popping for me. But people do that a lot in our store." Refrigerator magnets adorn the sides of the "Moo Machine" dispensing milk in varieties from whole to skim to soy. Customers can sit on stools at a bar that looks like a counter out of someone's kitchen, pull up to the tables throughout the restaurant, or curl up on comfy couches with a heaping serving of their favorite fix, whether it be Lucky Charms, Fruit Loops or both. Cereality's co-founders Rick Bacher and David Roth say that 95 percent of Americans eat cereal and for many people -- especially customers trying to get their order in before the 7 p.m. closing time -- cereal is not just for breakfast. Sneaking some cereal When Cereality was not even a twinkle in their eyes, Bacher and Roth were working together consulting with com panies to help them better package and market their products. Roth says he got the idea for Cereality by watching people enjoy cereal all around him. While sitting in a friend's Wall Street office, he did a double-take when he saw his Brooks Brothers-suited buddy sneak out a handful of Cocoa Puffs to eat at his desk. Roth's pal confided that he was not the only executive in the office that took workday cereal breaks. "He said 'Oh, we all do this. ... We all eat cereal. We sneak it. We bring it into our offices,'" Roth says. Roth also notices other people eating cereal in his day-to-day life. He says he would see "moms with strollers -- [on] one side were diapers and the other side Cheerios." Roth shared his idea with Bacher, and the pair set to work making their idea a reality. The partners opened their first store in 2003 in the student union of Arizona State. Since then, they have opened three more stores: one in Chicago and two in Philadelphia. The cereal connection Bacher says Cereality had an advantage that many new companies do not have -- customers are deeply familiar with their product. "It's an unusual food because [cereal is] probably the only food you have throughout your entire life," Bacher says. "I think it's probably the first food that you choose yourself as a young child, walking down that cereal aisle where you own that choice of picking out that box of cereal. It's something you enjoy your entire life, and you just maintain that connection to it." His partner and co-founder David Roth says this connection brings people together in their stores. At the Philadelphia Cereality, customers spanning many walks of life can be seen sitting together at the store's 12-seater dining room table, talking about how they like their cereal and asking, "Oh, what did you get?" "They are so connected to cereal and the rituals that they have with it that last throughout their life," Roth says of his customers, "and then they find when they go into our cafes and they sit with strangers they are connected to them and conversations begin that are totally unexpected. [it] crosses all demographics, all cultural all economic lines." Cereality's motto is "It's always Saturday morning." "Every time I ask someone, 'What does a Saturday morning mean to you?'" Roth says. "They all tell me the same thing. It means sitting with my brother or sitting with my sister and watching cartoons having our favorite cereals, having a moment in time." Link Anyone ever been to this place?? Cookie crisp and Count chocula for me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2 blaazed Posted August 21, 2005 Share Posted August 21, 2005 BRILLIANT!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CACashRefund Posted August 21, 2005 Share Posted August 21, 2005 Do they still make rice krispies treats cereal? Not the plain ones, but the cereal that is rice krispies and marshmellow? I was looking for those but cant find em, that shit used to hit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GnomeToys Posted August 21, 2005 Share Posted August 21, 2005 That's pretty cool. This "article" is a sign of how far our country's media has fallen. This is CNN news. Top your bowl off with an implied endorsement from "cereal lover Jerry Seinfeld". Fuck this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fondles Posted August 21, 2005 Share Posted August 21, 2005 that is fucking genious. goddamnit! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GucciCondom Posted August 21, 2005 Share Posted August 21, 2005 why in the fuck would you go out to eat cereal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uproar Posted August 21, 2005 Share Posted August 21, 2005 ahaha ^^ this guys right. Sounds like a new trend like starbucks sorta Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KETA Posted August 21, 2005 Share Posted August 21, 2005 I'm gonna open a top ramen restaurant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest beardo Posted August 21, 2005 Share Posted August 21, 2005 the name is stupid as all hell, but def an awesome idea. this shit will be everywhere in the next few years Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abovethefogg Posted August 21, 2005 Share Posted August 21, 2005 ok , off topic on a off topic on im kind of on topic so i should not be here but i am so ill talk , my question is at whut number of posts do you go from rookie to junior member to member and so fourth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
count chocula Posted August 21, 2005 Share Posted August 21, 2005 wonder what kinda milk they got..? chances are, it's just another way to pump those growth hormones into the population. GO MONSANTO! - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ASER1NE Posted August 21, 2005 Share Posted August 21, 2005 I saw this on cnn last night and it sounded pretty kick ass to me. As long as its still cheap enough that its worth it to go there instead of just buying a box yourself and eating it at home... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.