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Bagel company plans multiple Charleston locations
By Holly Fisher
Supplements Editor
Charleston’s growth and development was so attractive to Bruegger’s Enterprises Inc. it selected the Holy City as the spot for its first new corporate location in 10 years.
Bruegger’s opened its newest bakery-cafe store in August at 347 King St. Work is under way on a second location at 221 Spring St. near the Medical University of South Carolina. It is slated to open by the middle of this month.
Bruegger’s was founded in 1983 and has 247 neighborhood bakeries in 19 states; 99 of those are franchised. The bakery-cafes serve sandwiches, soups, salads and coffee as well as their signature product: boiled and baked bagels.
About a year ago, Bruegger’s started looking for new markets and quickly settled on Charleston.
“Charleston is a good example of the kinds of markets we are looking to grow in,” said James J. Greco, Bruegger’s CEO. “We like cities like Charleston because they have grown a lot over the years and continue to see a lot of growth. They are large enough we can build four or five units and develop some economies of scale in terms of our operations.”
The company has spent the last few years renovating its locations, broadening its menu and improving its ingredients. About a year ago, Bruegger’s began exploring opportunities for expansion, Greco said.
“We focused on markets not too far from where we currently operate,” he said. “We have a lot of units in North Carolina, so Charleston and other South Carolina cities are relatively close. And we have markets in Florida, so (South Carolina) represents a gap in our system.”
Aside from its two downtown Charleston locations, Bruegger’s is expanding around the Charleston area with plans to build four or five corporate-owned units here by the end of next year. Other targeted areas include Mount Pleasant, James Island and North Charleston. The company also is exploring sites in Columbia and the Greenville-Spartanburg area.
The company’s South Carolina expansion is just one piece of its corporate growth plan. New units are opening all around the country, many in the Southeast, with others planned for California, Ohio, Virginia, Connecticut and Alaska.
Bruegger’s will open 30 units this year and plans to open 50 in 2007 and another 50 in 2008, Greco said.
The company has been gearing up for this expansion over the last three years, adding additional staff and opening up some of the units for franchise opportunities, he said.
The King Street store already is doing well and has received a great reception in Charleston, Greco said. The company also donated a portion of its opening-day sales to Carolina Children’s Charity to support local children with birth defects and diseases.
Even though Bruegger’s seems to be one of many coffee shops, bakeries and cafes around Charleston, Greco isn’t concerned about the competition. He is confident in the company’s signature bagels. Greco points to numerous “best of city” awards the company has won in its current markets.
Holly Fisher is supplements editor at the Business Journal. Contact her at hfisher@charlestonbusiness.com.
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