Today we’d like to introduce you to Cory Yates.
Hi Cory, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
We met in 2012 in Cypress and connected over our east coast roots. We decided to be a couple and start a life together. We did a lot of activities together, one of our favorites was going to memorial park on the weekend and workout. Before our workout, we would stop at The Hot Bagel Shop to grab a bagel (us east coast folks love bagels). One Saturday we were sitting down eating our bagel before our workout when Jackie said “yaknow, Cypress doesn’t have anything like this”. Immediately the light bulb went off in my head. From that moment on we were laser-focused on creating a bagel company and serving Northwest Houston. We started experimenting at home until we made an acceptable bagel. Our family would be our taste testers.
Once our bagels were decent quality, we decided to try and sell them. Once we started selling them out of our home, we couldn’t keep up with demand. We sold bagels our of our home for a year before deciding to go further and start selling at the farmers market. Once we started selling at the farmer’s market, we learned how popular we are and the potential our business had. We were still selling out at the farmer’s market, we still couldn’t keep up. We knew then that either we were going to take a chance and go for a brick-and-mortar shop or stay small and sell at the farmers market. Jackie said one day “scared money don’t make money”. That’s all I needed to hear to validate the risk we were about to take. So we devised a business plan and looked for bank funding and investors. We sold our home and used the equity for our shop. With a bank loan, an investor and the funds from selling our home we were able to build our shop. Three years later we are still here trying to make it through these crazy times.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
What is a smooth road lol this process has challenged us mentally and emotionally. It’s challenged our relationship. Finding funding was difficult as well as being patient. After covid, there was inflation that we are currently dealing with.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
We take pride in creating authentic hand-rolled bagels. We don’t use any machines that sets us apart. Our cream cheese is also handmade in-house. We are most proud of the hard work and dedication it took to create a successful food business with no experience and for us to still be successful after all the economic hurdles.
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
Definitely, a little luck involved. This area didn’t have a bagel shop and wanted one. The community knew we were dedicated and determined to make it happen. The community gambled on us and pushed us, it worked.
Contact Info:
- Website: Eatjerseybagels.com
