Today we’d like to introduce you to Tim Schenk.
Baking has been a part of their family history since 1938. John Schenk and his wife, Pauline (Mum-Mum & Pop-Pop) traveled from Germany and settled in German Town, PA, where he apprenticed as a baker. John and Pauline had two sons Ken and Carl who both became bakers in Philidelphia, PA. Ken Schenk married Patrica and raised three children in Mechanicsburg, PA where they all worked long hours at Schenk’s Pastry Shoppe. Their oldest son Ken Jr. currently has a bakery in Camp Hill, PA. Ken and Patricia’s youngest son Tim Schenk moved to Montgomery, Texas with his family.
Tim and his wife, Heather, and their three children, Jason, Ethan, and Kaitlynn were excited to open a bakery in Conroe. Montgomery Bakehouse seemed like the perfect name because it is located in Montgomery County. A lot of recipes have been handed down by Tim’s Dad and his Pop-Pop. They use only the finest ingredients which results in fresh, handmade and delicious baked goods, they know you will enjoy!
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Opening a small business is never an easy task. Knowing that your family’s livelihood is at stake, makes the challenging process of building a business even more daunting, to say the least. With my kids and wife depending on me, I opened our doors with hardly anything left to my name, hoping and trusting God would provide. And provide He did. It didn’t take long before our customers knew our quality and service and were eager to patronize, as well as spread the word to their circles of influence. After a few years, we expanded our showcases to provide more space for a wider variety of baked goods. As our customer base grew, so did our need for more space and more employees. In 2016, we moved to a new location. The new space had triple the square-footage, and the building, built to look like an old theatre, is a perfect home for Montgomery Bakehouse.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Montgomery Bakehouse – what should we know?
We are a full-line retail bakery. We make pies, cakes, cookies, pastries, bread, breakfast sweets, kolaches, and custom cakes. Every product is made from scratch with wholesome ingredients-real eggs, butter, flour, sugar, and milk.
Besides making our sweets taste incredible, this also eliminates the concern over consuming preservatives and chemicals. Many of our recipes have been passed down for generations! In addition to our sweet treats, we sell Blue Bell ice cream and hand-spun milkshakes, coffees and cappuccinos, and bottled drinks. We offer lots of gift options, especially popular during the holidays, such as cookie and pastry trays, as well as gift baskets filled with sweets. We have a party room available for birthdays, showers, and business meetings, with many different packages available.
Our seating for in-store dining comes in different shapes and sizes-from tables and chairs, two rocking chairs. We even have outlets to charge those electronics!
Our decorating team can build the cake of your dreams, perfect for birthdays, weddings, showers, gender-reveals, and any other! The most important aspect of our business is our customer service. In a world where good customer service seems like a lost art, we train our team to greet customers with a smile and genuine kindness. We believe you shouldn’t have to trade good service for quick service. we do both! Our team is knowledgeable about the product and their ingredients. We know many of our customers’ names and we view it as a privilege to be able to connect to our community this way!
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
For me personally, as well as my business, there are three things that motivate me to be the best I can be.
Hard work, Adaptability, Caring for others. I was taught hard work from a very early age, My dad modeled that in every way. Even after working an incredible amount of hours, he still made time for his family. I believe I’ve modeled that for my kids, and now that I’m a grandpa, I get to see hard-work passed on to the next generation. Adaptability is important to my business because, without it, your business would grow stagnant and would lose its relativity. In the almost ten years we’ve been in business, think about the technological advancements that have come up.
Smartphones, social media, credit cards and payment methods, even advertising has changed immensely over the years. If all we did was continue to advertise to the newspaper, we would be missing a huge opportunity to advertise to a younger audience.
And lastly, and maybe most importantly, is caring for others. Our business and my self as a business owner can have a huge impact on the community. Besides giving financially to organizations that are dear to us as a family, we can foster a spirit of caring for our neighbors in numerous other ways. When Hurricane Harvey wreaked havoc in our area, we were blessed not to have any flooding in our building, and we never lost power. We were one of the very few places able to stay open and provide bread, water and coffee, electricity, and a dry, comfy spot to hang out. Our Facebook blew up with people expressing their gratitude for our family. This is just one example of us being able to care for our community through our business. As important as sweets are to our family, people are more important!
Contact Info:
- Address: 240 Longmire Rd
Conroe, TX 77304 - Website: www.montgomerybakehouse.com
- Phone: 936-756-1745
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/montgomery_bakehouse
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/montgomerybakehouse?_rdr=p
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/mbbakery_conroe
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/montgomery-bakehouse-conroe?adjust_creative=D_FQm92iCEYXNQe2Cj8rFQ&utm_campaign=yelp_api&utm_medium=api_v2_phone_search&utm_source=D_FQm92iCEYXNQe2Cj8rFQ
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