Janice Buckingham logged into her restaurant’s Instagram account with plants on May 22 to write a post about its imminent closure.
“I love this place. I love the team. I love the food. I love the customers and all of you. I appreciate everything someone has done to support the dream,” wrote Buckingham, owner and head Daydream Kitchenware in the Bridgeland neighborhood of Calgary.
“We face closure in a month’s time without at least a 30% increase in revenue. I’m afraid we haven’t reached enough people in time to settle down and settle down.”
After you click Publish to your post, everything changed.
Influence and businesswoman Jillian Harris, former star of The Bachelorette and former presenter of HGTV’s Love It Or List It, shared Buckingham’s post in the stories section of her Instagram account and encouraged her 1 , 3 million followers to support Daydream.
“I didn’t expect a miracle to happen, that’s for sure, but that’s what happened,” Buckingham said.
The restaurant, which opened in March, received strong online support and business soared.
A screenshot of the Instagram story post by famous influencer Jillian Harris showing support for Daydream. (Jillian Harris / Instagram)
“We’ve increased our sales by about 300 percent,” said Buckingham, who saw more than double the usual number of customers coming this week.
The trained chef attributes Harris, a former Albertan who now lives in Kelowna, BC, as an important part of this change of income.
Buckingham, pictured here, cried “tears of happiness” as his restaurant began to fill with more customers after his Instagram post went viral. (Submitted by Janice Buckingham)
“There’s no doubt about it,” said Buckingham, who graduated from the New York City Institute of Culinary Education.
“[Harris] share the best things. People really trust her as an influencer. He also shares things from the heart. “
Pulling the curtain back
Buckingham said he decided to share the vulnerable post only after “taking all the stops”, including extending the schedule and starting a loyalty rewards program, to try to attract people to his restaurant.
He already has a four-year vegan cheese business called Flora Fromage, which can be found at 17 local retailers, and was expecting customers to move to Daydream.
After seeing losses for a few months and investing most of his money in building the restaurant, Buckingham had no money left for marketing and felt “a little desperate”.
He told his six staff members that they would probably lose their jobs in June.
Buckingham serves a herbal menu at Daydream. (Submitted by Janice Buckingham)
“Tears welled up. It was like a pain, honestly,” he said.
And then he took that pain online.
“I felt like, okay, if I let people know, and if I’m vulnerable and kind of take the curtain and show them the struggle to do it not as a chain restaurant but as a proprietary restaurant. independent, maybe people would. I want to go out and help. I really believe in food, “he said.
After the publication, people started labeling Harris, who often promotes herbal food, and it caught his eye.
“We chatted back and forth, and he said he had closed some business and he knows how difficult it is, and he just regretted it and wanted to do what he could.”
Jillian Harris wrote a series of posts on her Instagram story on May 23 in support of Buckingham’s Daydream Restaurant, which was about to close. (Jillian Harris / Instagram)
In his Instagram story, Harris wrote in one of his posts, “I know all too well the struggles of trying to start a new business and fail … I’ll never forget that feeling. I think this little shop is in Calgary. … she with love and business if you can. “
Buckingham said that after Harris’s posts, things started to gain momentum.
“They were tears of happiness for me,” he said.
“Ultimately, the traffic coming in through our doors was what I projected into my business plans, and so it was surreal. It was surreal that I finally witnessed what I knew was possible.”
The business has grown so much, Buckingham has hired an extra dishwasher for the weekends.
“I’m very optimistic,” he said.
“If we can get through this summer with good numbers, then we are golden.”