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Geoff Owen hasn't let the recession keep him from turning bagels into bucks.
In 2008 the owner of Owen's Bagel and Deli began to notice that catering orders were dropping off as law firms, nonprofits and other small businesses that used to order six catered lunches a week started calling only twice a month.
When they did call, they would order half the number of sandwiches or only cookies, Owen said.
At the same time, he noticed more customers coming into the shop on the weekends, sometimes packing the South Boulevard deli for hours as they chose a “cheaper way” to dine out.
“People say, ‘We're not going out to dinner, but let's go out to breakfast at that bagel shop,” he said.
Owen said the shop's steamed bagels – softer and chewier than their toasted brethren – were what had attracted loyal customers when he opened it in June 2005.
But over the past four years, he had come to rely on catering for more than 25 percent of sales.
As the recession lingered, Owen decided to refocus his time and energy on the increased “in-shop” business.
He cut back on sponsorships of 10-kilometer running races and nonprofit sponsorships, employee hours, advertising and the catering budget in order to save his Boar's Head cold cuts and fresh bagels.
Those moves have helped to keep revenues up even as the economy continues to steamroll the catering side of the business, which has declined by almost 75 percent, Owen said.
Sales are up slightly for the year, some of which Owen attributes to cost-cutting measures, such as not replacing a couple of workers who recently left to return to school. A new meal deal has also attracted people looking to pick up a cheap lunch to go, said Owen, who modeled the bagel shop after one where he and his wife worked while in college at Miami of Ohio.
Called the “recession special,” the boxed lunch includes a sandwich, chips and a drink for $6.
“Bagels are the benefactors of the ‘staycation,'” Owen quipped.
