Laid-off Workers Build New Careers In Baking

Bloomfield Hills partners weathered tough economy, low-carb craze

BLOOMFIELD HILLS (Sunday, April 10, 2005) - They invested in the bakery during the low-carb craze, weathered the storm and now expect to catch the next wave, a renewed interest in healthy whole grain breads.

Owners Kent Woodman and Jim Shettel, both 52, have even added gluten-free bread for the health conscious.

The result is a growing base of customers such as Jill Formanek of West Bloomfield, whose daughter, Lexie, 4, has celiac disease and cannot tolerate gluten.

"The bread is just delicious," she said. "The gluten-free products out there take some getting used to. They are dry and not very tasty, but this is moist, tasty and a bit sweet. It's the closest to real bread."

Woodman and Shettel's story of entrepreneurial success should resonate in Michigan, where many are dealing with unemployment. Both were laid off from office jobs and were forced to start new careers from scratch.

Through family connections, they discovered the owner of the Breadsmith franchise in West Bloomfield was looking to sell and purchased the business last summer.

The Wisconsin-based chain has eight franchises in Michigan and is looking to open a ninth in Grand Rapids.

"Our mission was to find something that could provide economic stability to our two households," Woodman said.

The pair invested less than $200,000 to buy the franchise, completed Breadsmith's training program, met with retail and wholesale customers, and began efforts to grow the business. Soon after they began, they realized the low-carb trend appeared to be waning.

"When we started in June we did reduced carb bread three times a week," Shettel said. "We saw the sales kind of drop week to week. After two or three months, we dropped that product completely."

They discovered that more people were asking about whole grain products than wondering what happened to the no-carb goods, so they added a sourdough whole grain bread and a honey whole wheat product to the menu.

"People understand the real advantage of whole grain products as an everyday food source," Woodman said. Hoping to stimulate this renewed interest in whole grains, the Grain Foods Foundation has launched a multi-million campaign to remind consumers about the benefits of bread as part of a healthy diet.

"What we've found is a dichotomy among American consumers," said Judi Adams, foundation president. "We have a sensory and emotional connection to bread -- the taste, the smell, the memories that bread evokes -- but for the most part, consumers are unaware of how bread can contribute to the prevention of heart disease, some cancers, birth defects and diabetes, as well as maintaining optimal health."

The foundation plans to publicize the benefits of bread and received a boost earlier this year when the United States Department of Agriculture released new dietary guidelines calling for at least three whole grain servings of bread or cereal a day.

The Bloomfield Breadsmith is the only franchisee in Michigan to offer the gluten-free bread, according to Woodman. Producing gluten-free products requires extra precautions to avoid cross-contamination, but the store feels the effort demonstrates its commitment to customers, Woodman said.

Right now, the Bloomfield Hills operation sells around $400,000 worth of baked goods a year, with sales split evenly between people who come into the shop and wholesale customers, such as restaurants, markets and country clubs, Shettel said. In the next few years, the pair expects sales to reach $500,000 annually, especially if people realize the store offers more than just bread.

"We do sweets, brownies and cookies, scones," Shettel said. "We've been looking to build up that part of it."

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