bake - November 2017 - 44

BAKERY

EL BOLILLO
In deep blue letters below the painted picture of a

Wayside Drive have a total capacity of 100 sheet pans.

bright yellow sun, the words "un bolillo en la manana es

"We started 18 years ago, and this location has been

una cosa muy sana!" greet customers who come to buy

open three years. Our sales increased 25 to 30 percent

their breads and pastries inside the friendly conﬁnes of

last year. We are really blessed."

El Bolillo Bakery in Houston. Translation: One roll in the
morning is a very healthy thing. Owner Kirk Michaelis

They planned to open a fourth store in the Houston

points out the wide variety of visual merchandising

suburb of Pasadena, Texas. Michaelis wants the new

elements at his bakery that are designed to make every

location to be even more festive and lively. Hospitality

customer feel like they are being treated to a ﬁesta.

runs in Michaelis' blood, as a longtime veteran of the

What he wants most of all is for people to enjoy.

restaurant and foodservice business. He comes from
a family of restaurateurs. In 1998, Michaelis and his

At the cake department, elegantly decorated cakes and

father-in-law, Bud Harmon, started El Bolillo, which

cheesecakes attract dozens of customers to peer inside

was modeled after traditional panaderías they visited

the glass cases to choose their favorite dessert for a

in Mexico, on Airline Drive in Houston. They started in a

special occasion or simply an everyday treat.

small building, but construction began almost imme-

Hot fresh bolillos are offered in a special display with a

diately for a bigger location across the street. As word

window into the backroom, allowing customers to see

about the popular bakery continued to spread, sales

the breads being baked. This setup enables shoppers to

increased 30 to 40 percent after the ﬁrst year.

know their breads are truly fresh out of the ovens.
The company now employs about 150 people and sells
There are small and regular sized bolillos and teleras

Hispanic breads, cakes and tortillas at its ﬂagship store

available, including whole wheat versions, for pickup

at 2517 Airline Drive, and two other locations, at 7610

in large wooden bins, ranging in price from 25 cents

Office City Drive and its third bakery on 2421 South

to 40 cents apiece. "You can still sell a 30-cent bolillo

Wayside Drive, which opened in 2012.

no matter what; it's recession proof," Michaelis says.
"Business is great."

Michaelis beams with pride as he talks about his family
get where they are today, and he maintains plenty of

Bolillo showcases a wide range of Hispanic breads and

optimism about the future.

pastries, everything from cream cheese-ﬁlled caracoles
to Salvadoran-style breads or miniature-sized conchas.

The family bakery business is on solid foundation, and

"This store features more showcase space, which allows

he knows they will continue to succeed as long as they

us to offer more variety," says Michaelis, adding the

continue to innovate and please each customer as if

bakery showcases inside El Bolillo store #3 on South

they are part of the family.

44 < NOV 2017 | bakemag.com

JOHN UNREIN

and how blessed they all are. It has been a long road to
The expansive number of cases along each wall at El
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bake - November 2017

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