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Made in Central Florida: Jeff's Bagel Run
A local bagel shop is exploding in popularity: Jeff's Bagel Run. They are getting ready to expand with dozens of new stores. FOX 35's Matt Trezza speaks to the owners of the business to hear more about the ups and downs of their journey.
OCOEE, Fla. - Jeff's Bagel Run is already well-established and poised for growth, well beyond its Central Florida roots. But that's not the way things looked for co-founder Jeff Perera, back in 2019.
"In 2019 I lost my job. My wife, Danielle, went back to work and I became a stay-at-home parent," Jeff said.
His wife Danielle loved eating bagels, but the nearest place to get some genuine fresh-baked bagels was 45 minutes away – and Danielle said her standards were high.
What they're saying:
"A great bagel is going to be chewy, have a nice crust on the outside. Not super-hard but bite into it, it'll bounce back. That high-gluten flour. Yeah, it's just this one-of-a-kind taste," Danielle explained.
The backstory:
Jeff decided to try baking them himself. He used YouTube videos and books to perfect his recipe. Soon he was baking dozens each day. "I was making, three, four, six dozen bagels a day for probably three months straight," Jeff said.
Friends suggested selling some of Jeff’s bagels. He and Danielle set up the business on paper, and then used Facebook and Instagram to let people know. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Jeff said business exploded. "Word started to get out that we were doing this and suddenly our orders were ten or fifteen a week turned into 200 a week."
At first, Jeff delivered and bagels locally, and people further away would come pick up their orders from his front porch. After a successful Kickstarter campaign, Jeff and Danielle opened their first brick-and-mortar location in Ocoee. Then Danielle left her corporate job to help. "I never thought we'd have one shop. Then we had two shops. Now we have 12, so every day it's a little pinch myself," she said.
Now the Pereras work with Justin Wetherill to run the company. Already a successful entrepreneur, Wetherill has used his tech knowledge to make the company more efficient. "We joke we're the most sophisticated 12-store bagel chain the world has ever seen. We have our own proprietary point-of-sale system, our own kitchen display system, direct integration with Uber and Doordash," he said.
What's next:
Their expansion continues. Jeff's Bagel Run will be opening 20 to 30 new stores this year, with plans to open more than 80 after that. There are currently Jeff's Bagel Run locations in Florida, Georgia, Texas, and North Carolina. A Starbucks on East Colonial was set to become a new Jeff's Bagel Run location in the fourth quarter of this year. It would be the first one that has a drive through.
Jeff's Bagel Run is one of the many unique businesses and local brands that are made in Central Florida. We would love to know about more of our homegrown gems! If you know of a place or company that FOX 35 should check out, email us at madeincfl@fox.com.
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The Source: This story was written based on information shared by Jeff's Bagel Run.