Friend in Knead

Deborah Gross started a wholesale bakery operation out of her home but soon needed more space. She found a nearby location, put in a small retail counter and was besieged by schools and neighborhood groups asking her to donate cookies, pastries and gift certificates. Instead of turning them down, she spread her goodies throughout the area and began a drive to establish a local chamber of commerce. Being a good neighbor has made her business a local hot spot for news and gossip, as well as croissants. Gross was interviewed by Karen E. Klein.

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As soon as I opened my doors, the very active neighborhood groups and community organizations in this area hit me up for donations. I gave baked goods to anybody that asked, especially school groups.

I was not afraid to give away food because I am here to feed people. The food I sell really doesn’t cost all that much to make. I consider it good advertising to give it away because that way people try it, decide they like it and come back for more.

I started donating gift certificates for $25 worth of baked goods that were used as prizes for raffles and fund-raisers. Then I got the idea to donate a birthday party package. We have a limit of 10 kids, and they get to put together a cake with our pastry chef, take a tour of the bakery and then go out front for the party.

When a local elementary school lost funding for a bus and could not go on a field trip, I invited them to walk over here, tour the bakery, make aprons and hats from paper bags, then create their own peanut butter-and-jelly or chocolate croissants. They especially love watching the dough go through the dough-roller.

I found that these things started bringing people into the store. It became kind of a community hangout. I’ve been here five years, and I have gotten very involved sponsoring local events and learning about local issues, so people naturally assume that I know what is going on. Sometimes they stop by just to get the scuttlebutt.

I posted a community bulletin board. Pretty soon I found that I had to expand my retail operations to include breakfast and lunch service. Now, I have six or seven tables inside and 10 to 12 outside. On the weekends it gets so crowded that people come by, poke their heads in and leave because they know it will take too long to get a table.

I started working on the Silver Lake Chamber of Commerce about a year ago, and we’re having our first mixer and membership drive this month. It has taken a lot of work, especially since we want a lot of the community organizations to be a part of it, so it can be a referral service for things like housing and neighborhood cleanups. I believe that you can’t have a good business community without the residential community’s support and vice versa.

It seems like most businesses in this area are very slow to get involved with local issues. But I feel that the more vested they are in the area, the more money they will make.

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OTHER SMALL-BUSINESS COVERAGE, D10