Success Stories
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Bagel Business Booms
Taken from Access HamiltonIf you stroll along beautiful Locke Street in search of a vintage chair and see a small crowd on the sidewalk, those people aren’t lining up for antiques. They’re lining up for coffee and bagels.
Since opening in 1996, The Locke St. Bakery has thrived on a winning formula: great coffee, fresh bagels and sandwiches served in a friendly place. For ten years there was little need for change, until big-name coffee shops moved in and the owners needed to expand in the face of competition. Co-owners Peter Giorgini and Harry Mancini, already two of the busiest men in town, knew they could use a dedicated business expert.
Meanwhile local businessman Lou Falco, who had a background in computers, found himself out of work at age 49. He happened to know Locke St. Bakery well. The thought of working there appealed to Lou, and he had ideas on how to grow the business. But that would be a big undertaking for the small bakery.
“I have a family to support,” says Lou. “I couldn’t have worked for $10 an hour. But they couldn’t afford to pay me a business manager’s wage, either.”
Lou had an idea. In his previous career, before selling his Internet computer business, a government-funded Targeted Wage Subsidy (TWS) program had allowed him to hire and train a service manager. The TWS program, offered through Mohawk College and funded by Employment Ontario, helps eligible, unemployed workers gain permanent employment through the wage subsidy program.
“And now I was on the other side of the fence, needing work,” says Lou, who had general business expertise but zero experience in the food industry.
The TWS program helps businesses by offsetting the hiring and training costs involved in creating a new position. Employment Ontario reimburses the employer 60% of the wage for up to 30 weeks.
“Using this program allows a small business to take a chance, and hire someone to manage and grow the business,” says Joyce Filice, Employment Consultant at Mohawk College’s Targeted Placement Service.
The co-owners of Locke St. Bakery wanted to give Lou a try, and the program made that possible. Making bagels for two months with Peter immersed Lou in flour and wisdom.
“I’m a self learner but needed a lot of orientation. Peter taught me to make bagels, right there in the bowels of the place,” he laughs.
The results were well worth the transition, says Peter, pausing for 30 seconds to pose for a picture. Dusting flour off his arm, he speaks fondly of the program that brought him Lou. “We had never tried anything like this before,” he says. “It has been great!”
Growth in those transitional months gave Locke St. Bakery the means to hire Lou full-time. A business manager to the core, his wheels haven’t stopped turning. He started by changing the logo to include the words “bagel” and “café” (“bakery” on its own had a cake connotation). And he expanded the lunch offerings by adding healthy alternatives such as yogurt, salad and berries.
Lou’s business savvy would also land the bakery its largest wholesale client by far. The local chain of Denninger’s Foods of the World now sells Locke St. Bakery bagels and homemade cream cheeses.
“So far, Denninger’s buys 100 dozen of our bagels every week,” says Lou.
Recently Lou hired Daniel Viveiros, a Red Seal chef, to lead the bakery in its next direction – an evening menu of “eat-in or takeout” gourmet pizza, dinner wraps, fresh salads and desserts, launched in October ‘08.
The TWS program gave Locke St. Bakery the support it needed to compete in the marketplace. So far, so good.
“Often I drive around looking at other cafes for ideas,” says Lou. “The other day I phoned Peter and said, ‘You should see what they’re doing here in Oakville.’ He asked how many customers I saw. I said, ‘Four, including me,’ and Peter said, “Well I’ve got a lineup out the door, so come here and get back to work.”