bakingbuyer - May 2011 - (Page 34)

BAKERY BIZ TIPS Think To say The Bagel Bakery & Cupcake Shoppe located in the Denver suburb of Thornton, CO, diverged from its original business plan when the bakery opened three years ago is quite the understatement. They were a bagel shop the first year. In Year 2, they added cupcakes. Now, they are leveraging the momentum of a booming catering business to reach new heights outside their retail shop. Most recently this year, The Bagel Bakery landed a lucrative catering business for a nearby library café, called the Anythink Café at the new Anythink Library in Thornton. The Bagel Bakery now handles all food preparation (sandwiches, pizzas, cupcakes and cookies) for the Anythink Café, which is located inside the library, two miles from the bakery. “It’s become a really great outlet to have that space,” says Charlotte Mason, who manages The Bagel Bakery in Thornton. “The Anythink Library is located across the street from an elementary school. All the kids go in and get a donut or a cookie, and then they go home and tell their 34 · BAKING BUYER · MAY 11 OUTSIDE THE BAKERY parents. Then their parents come in and see we run the shop and they come to our bakery. It gets a little extra business for us in a different area with a different clientele. Someone is always walking past the café in the library.” Three years ago in May, The Bagel Bakery opened its first retail store, exclusively as a bagel shop, but of cupcakes – 12 daily – and 13 flavors of bagels at their retail shop in Thornton. And in addition to retail sales, they bake all the cakes and cupcakes for Steuben’s Restaurant and are the “Preferred Cake Vendor” for Heritage Todd Creek Golf Course and Embassy Suites Denver. Their kiosk location at The Orchard Town Center Mall offers fresh baked sweet treats, bagels, sandwiches and cold beverages daily and also offers an array of conveniences for people on the go. Mason says they are hoping to gain business in even more cafés down the road. Of their success at Anythink Café, she adds, “That’s given us a lot of our catering business. There are a lot of city and library employees. Every business meeting they have, they use us to cater those meetings. Box lunches, salads, sit down dinners. We do anything and everything for them.” The bakery’s owners Michelle and Paul Martinez are local residents with children in high school. Paul Martinez is a former Marine and police officer who traded his career for an apron and loving it. Michelle quickly expanded to four locations, including the library café and a bakery kiosk at a popular shopping mall. Their rapid rise was accelerated two years ago upon receiving a special order for 2,700 cupcakes for a local company’s Christmas party. At that point, Michelle Martinez, owner of The Bagel Bakery, recognized the huge potential for adding decorated cupcakes and cakes to their bagel business. They now offer 50 flavors

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of bakingbuyer - May 2011

bakingbuyer - May 2011
EDITOR’S NOTE - The Bakery Showman
CONTENTS
INDUSTRY NEWS
APC/Crisco National Pie Championships
Caravan Launches New Website
National Honey Board Offers Bakery Formulas
Cake Boss Joins Get Back to Scratch
The Baking Channel
Preferment Primer
Birth of the Slider
Team USA Profile
Extremem Cakes
Macaroon Sushi
Think Outside the Bakery
Chocolate Mousse: Tips & Techniques
Get your Grill on
Effective E-Newsletters
"The Greatest Show on Earth"
Welcome Home
Getting to Know You
Brandon’s Cookies
Re-Cakes
Lessons Learned
Wedding Statistics
Efficiency in Motion
Syrups vs. Grounds
FEATURED PRODUCTS
PRODUCT SHOWCASE
MARKETPLACE NETWORK
AD INDEX
Baker's Dozen

bakingbuyer - May 2011