Food & Drink International - Spring 2017 Volume 1 - 62
r RETAIL HOSPITALITY SERVICES Magnolia Bakery Sweet Success Magnolia Bakery continues to expand its portfolio, emphasizing customer service as a key to its success. By Bianca Herron company profile Magnolia Bakery www.magnoliabakery.com HQ: New York, N.Y. Bobbie Lloyd, EVP of operations: "Every quick-service business is competing for the same pool of people, which does not make things easy. That's why we teach our staff that customer service is not a transaction." J >> Executive Vice President of Operations Bobbie Lloyd credits Magnolia Bakery's rapid growth to its franchisees. 62 food & drink international * spring 2017 volume 1 * www.fooddrink-magazine.com ennifer Appel and Allysa To- rey launched Magnolia Bakery in New York's West Village in 1996. A few years later, Appel left the business and in 2006 Torey sold the Bakery to Steve Abrams, who teamed up with Bobbie Lloyd and re-launched the bakery one year later. "It was the right move at the time," Lloyd says, now executive vice president of operations. "Steve and I had other businesses that we'd run together. With Magnolia, we really liked the brand and thought we could take it and do something with it." Today, under its new leadership, the New York-based bakery is known for its festive cupcakes and banana pudding, and has nine locations in the United States and nearly 20 internationally. "We have six locations in New York City, one in upstate New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and an event and catering location," Lloyd says. "It's not a retail store, but what we call our 'cake salon.' All of our e-commerce is shipped from that location, as well as our wedding cakes and catering."
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