Opening a bakery downtown -- thoughts?

[Steve]

^And their stuff was frozen and reheated.

If this place actually did legitimate baked goods (made from scratch), it could work.

[Overstreet]

Plenty of visibility at the old Starbucks location at Main and Forsyth.  It's in the ground floor of an apartment bldg (built in customers) and people are already accustomed to that type of business being there.  Starbucks rent was practically nothing.  Might be too small, though.

What happened to Starbucks?  Did this store get caught up in the closing of unprofitable stores?

[Bativac]

In answer to overstreet's question, I believe Starbucks was one of the stores closed by Starbucks Corporate when they shed all the unprofitable locations. I think there is one just a few feet away at the Landing that's still open.

Someone mentioned Bread and Butter, and their slow service and reheated frozen stuff. Our plan is to go with fresh-baked items only -- we'll run the risk of overproducing and having to throw product away, but that's normal with a startup like this. I'd rather have too much than people walking out and not coming back because "those people never have anything."

We're going with a pretty fiscally conservative model and will have enough startup capital to support us for 6 to 8 months if the business tanks. (Of course, we plan on it being a standout success.) The Starbucks spot would be great, and if it's still available when we're ready to go next Spring, we'll definitely look into it.

Just to get you guys excited... we have a cinnamon roll recipe that we think will be our signature item. They are the best rolls I've ever tasted (they put Cinnabon to shame).

I can probably find this out on the RAM website but does anyone know who to contact about setting up a booth at the Riverside Arts Market?

[stephElf]

RAM vendor info

http://riversideartsmarket.com/artistinfo.html

[jason_contentdg]

Instead of throwing product away if unused, is it possible to follow in Atlanta Bread Company's footsteps and donated any leftovers to local shelter facilities?

[DavidWilliams]

Instead of throwing product away if unused, is it possible to follow in Atlanta Bread Company's footsteps and donated any leftovers to local shelter facilities?

Panera donates leftovers as well.

[Bativac]

Donating unused product is a good idea -- my fiancee mentioned that. Obviously we'd rather someone put it to use. I was an assistant manager in a cafe at UNF years ago and it always bothered me that day-old bagels were dumped in the trash.

Thanks for the RAM link. I didn't realize the market took a 4 month hiatus in December...

[undergroundgourmet]

You will have to have a commercial kitchen to receive your vendor license also.
Along with insurance.
Be ready $$$$

[Bativac]

Underground, as regards the commercial kitchen, that's a good point. I doubt we'll have what we need in time to participate in the Riverside Arts Market this year. I understand the point behind not allowing home-based bakeries but that doesn't mean I like it...

We're currently looking for a licensed kitchen we can use for food preparation. We have a couple of "leads" on places but nothing concrete...

Going into business as a freelance illustrator was much easier than trying to start a bakery!

[Captain Zissou]

Instead of throwing product away if unused, is it possible to follow in Atlanta Bread Company's footsteps and donated any leftovers to local shelter facilities?

Panera donates leftovers as well.

Whoa! The homeless are eating better than I am!