JEEPERS, IT'S GOT NEW OWNERS
Article From the April 2008 Issue of The Wenatchee Business Journal, Written by Ryan Bentley
Ken Stanton opened Jeepers It's Bagels in December 1995, investing $100,000 to start up the bagel business at 619 S. Mission. Most of that money went to purchase an oven that could bake tens of dozens of bagels an hour. Stanton previously owned The Bread Board in the Wenatchee Valley Mall for 14 years before venturing out into new eatery. Stanton said the new style of eatery was really catching on. In 2001, Patty and Ken Kozlowski and Terry and Judy Todd bought Jeepers for $125,000.
Now: Regulars at Jeepers can expect to keep ordering the usual, but they might have to tell the new owners what exactly the usual is a time or two.
Brian and Jody Buchmann purchased Jeepers It's Bagels in March. They plan to keep the place buzzing along and not make any major changes in the near future. "If people don't even notice the place is under new ownership, that really won't hurt my feelings," Brian Buchmann said. "The previous owners have done a great job and we want to keep that going. "The food will remain the same, but some of the amenities might change a little bit. The Buchmann's plan to install wireless Internet connectivity in the restaurant within the next couple months to provide the same service that has become the norm within the industry.
After a month of ownership, the Buchmann's have almost settled into a routine and have ceased working 12- to 16-hour days. A year ago, owning a bagel shop wasn't anywhere on their to do list, the opportunity just popped up. Jody Buchmann worked at Jeepers while she was in high school, but she never expected to make it a career. The Todd's were good friends of Jody's parents, the Paschalls. An ongoing conversation started and the Buchmann's started to think, "Bagels? Why not." They wanted to move back to the area where they were both from eventually anyway. Brian Buchmann has a marketing degree and spent the first part of his career managing a 24-Hour Fitness gym in downtown Seattle. Jody Buchmann graduated from Wenatchee High School in 1999, and went to college and earned a nursing degree and now works at Central Washington Hospital.
The prospect of purchasing a business seemed impossible at first. The Buchmann's had just purchased a home in Seattle, and though they planned to move to the Wenatchee area eventually, they didn't plan on it just a year after they had just bought their first home. But they dug into the process a little bit and started to work at ways to make it a possibility. At first they worked with a lawyer and bank in Seattle. They said the process proved to be too much work, so they started searching for financing in the Wenatchee area and eventually secured the funding they needed through Cashmere Valley Bank.
They purchased the business, recipes, and equipment for $155,000. It took around five months from start to signing to put their names on the business license for the bakery. The Buchmann's plan to keep Jeepers where it's at for the foreseeable future. They both said the location in the Victorian Village gets a lot of drive-by attention and the building has become synonymous with the business. Moving might set the business back, and it would be a logistical nightmare to relocate the ovens and equipment, they said.
Getting to the shop early in the morning and baking bagels hasn't posed too many difficulties for Brian Buchmann, yet. Buchmann feels he understands how to make bagels, but the pies he's still working on. That's why he's glad Patty Kozlowski stuck around to help him out until he can master the confections.
As far as the business end goes, Buchmann said some elements of running a bakery and fitness club compare, others do not, and owning the business is far different than running a business. The shop, which may go through a couple hundred bagels a day, needs 10 to 20 regular vendors to keep the ingredients for the fresh baked goods coming. Understanding each business that Jeepers interacts with has proved a hefty education, Buchmann said. Each wants to do something a little differently. As their vendors get to know the Buchmann's, they expect the process will become more uniformed.
"The days literally fly by," Brian said. "I never thought I would own a bagel place, but it's been a great opportunity. Now I've just got to master the pies."
