|
|
Family business remains successful local staple |
|
|
|
Tuesday, 26 February 2008 |
 Boone Bagelry's first appearance in Boone featured an outside patio and bar and was open until 8 p.m. Photo Special the Appalachian
|
by LINDSAY TIGAR
Lifestyles Editor
From New York, Florida and Canada –Boone Bagelry brings a little bit of everywhere into one local family-run business.
Twenty years ago, in May of 1988, Tony and Donna M. Nicastro, and Donna’s sister, Ruth S. Leighton, moved from Florida and opened Boone Bagelry at the corner of King and Appalachian streets.
Before becoming the bagel shop in town, the store served as a TCBY in the 1950s, followed by a Mike’s Inland Seafood restaurant, a barbeque shop, a sub shop and other businesses, Donna said.
Donna and Leighton are originally from Canada, while Tony hails from Brooklyn, N.Y. Both of their families have been in the bagel business for years.
“My
husband’s family [runs a bakery] in New York,” Donna said. “We get our
dough delivered here from New York, and we bake it here.”
When Boone Bagelry first arrived, Appalachian State had 9,000 students,
and only nine or 10 restaurants, excluding fast food locations, Donna
said.
“Other than us, Pepper’s and Boone Drugs, I don’t think anyone else has stuck around,” Donna said.
In the beginning, Boone Bagelry was not expected to do well or produce profit.
“People would come up to us and they would say ‘this is the stupidest
idea we’ve ever heard, you’re never going to make it,’” Donna said. “We
didn’t listen to them, we said ‘we’re doin’ it, we’re going forward.’”
Boone Bagelry proved successful, making profit even in their first year of business, Donna said.
 Boone Bagelry serves breakfast and lunch until 5 p.m. Photo by Alisha Park
|
Over the years, Donna estimates Boone Bagelry has employed hundreds of
Appalachian State students, and the business has gradually changed with
the times.
“I think to be a successful restaurant business, or any business, you have to listen to what people want,” Donna said.
She also believes being an involved and knowledgeable owner has made
her customers and employees feel at home, and kept her business running
smoothly.
“It’s really important in the restaurant business for the owner to be a
hands-on person,” she said. “All three of us know how to cook, so if
there’s a problem in the kitchen, we can do that. In a business you
have to know how to do everything.”
Since the restaurant’s founding, three bagel restaurants have failed to
make the cut, and Donna believes the bagel-baking industry is difficult.
“It’s not easy. Not just anybody can bake – that’s an art,” she said.
“Bakers in New York make a fortune because there’s a method to it. It’s
not just a recipe, it’s a method to baking a bagel.”
On average, Donna estimates they serve anywhere from 400 to 600 customers a day.
“We’ve always said we believe in fast, friendly service, and
consistency,” she said. “We make everything here - all of our salads,
all of our cream.”
Over the years, the menu at Boone Bagelry hasn’t changed immensely, but they have tried a few different marketing ideas.
For the first five years, the bagelry was open until 8 p.m. and served wine and beer with dinner.
They had a six-pack “beers in a bucket” special for $5.50, or $1 per beer, as well as all you can eat wings for $5.99.
They also hosted bands a few times, but after getting in trouble with
the fire marshal due to the hundreds of students packed into a small
place, they decided to stop hosting musical performances, Donna said.
Also, the price of having late nights took a toll on their family, and Donna and Tony decided to only serve breakfast and lunch.
“Money isn’t everything,” she said. “You have to have a family life.”
Even today, Boone Bagelry holds true to the family-style atmosphere and at home environment.
“On Sunday, it’s my husband in the kitchen, I’m up front and [our
daughters] Natalie and Ariel both as waitresses,” she said. “We always
work together on Sundays, we have for years and years and years. We
work good together, we always have.”
Donna and Tony’s daughter, Natalie M. Nicastro, is currently a junior
marketing major at Appalachian State, and has been working in their
business nearly all her life.
Sophomore marketing major Ben S. Llewellyn started as a customer at
Boone Bagelry ten years ago when he would travel to Boone for soccer
tournaments.
Now, Llewellyn delivers orders for the bagelry.
“It’s the most fun job I’ve ever had,” he said. “It’s Boone, it’s that
atmosphere. There are lots of kids my age, and all of them I’d hang out
with outside of work… I don’t think I could find a better job in Boone.”
Boone Bagelry plans to stay in business for many years to come, and
hopes to continue seeing the faces of past employees and Appalachian
alumni.
“Our very first crew still comes back with their children,” Donna said.
“We get Christmas cards from tons of kids who worked here, and they all
come back every time they come to Boone.”
Senior creative writing major and employee Corley May believes the bagelry will remain a staple in the community.
“No restaurant seems to stay in the same place for more than two
years,” May said. “I think I could leave Boone for a while, and the
bagelry would still be here.”
Trackback(0)
 |
|
|
TrackBack URI for this entry
Show/Hide comments