Retail Bakery Market

Jim’s retail bakery is located in Jim’s home town where it was founded. There used to be five retail bakeries in town but over time the number has dropped to three, including Jim’s. According to a study completed by the local businessmen’s association the population of the town last year was just under 50,000 residents. With an average age of 33, the town is largely comprised of young families, many of which are employed in the nearby city and commute approximately 20 miles to work. According to the local real estate board, the community where Jim’s Bakery is located is growing by 400 families a month; this is creating a small building boom which is evident in the number of building permits being issued for new construction. Many of the current residents grew up going to Jim’s Bakery, making Jim’s customers multigenerational.

Within Jim’s retail store they advertise their catering services for specialty events to single customers for holiday parties and weddings, and to commercial customers for business events and conferences. They give away free cookies to the children and samples of their other specialty items to adult customers to entice them to try new items.

“Have you tried our new mini-cannolis?” invariably ends with “Wow, those are good. I’ll take a box.” Jim’s retail marketing is “old school,” but his retail customers will stand in line for a free sample.

As the boundaries of the town continued to expand, Jim’s Bakery’s ads have been targeted at turning Jim’s into a destination location and attracting families who otherwise would shop on the outskirts of town into their store in the village. With the growth of the town, the village is seeing a bit of a renaissance, and residents are looking for places to hang out “downtown.” There may be some additional growth potential for a buyer interested in adding curbside seating service. Customers who have grown up in families who frequented Jim’s Bakery also have moved to nearby towns to start their own families. This may create opportunities to open additional Jim’s Bakery retail stores in other towns within the region.

Jim occasionally advertises holiday specials but as a general practice the retail bakery doesn’t discount their retail prices. Because the average projected income for families in Jim’s home town are growing rapidly as new families move in, the increase in retail sales have been constant and are anticipated to remain constant at 10 percent per year.

Commercial Bakery Market

Jim’s Bakery is in a region that encompasses most of the central part of the state. According to the most recent census the city has a population of just over 250,000 residents. Aside from the city, the region includes twenty towns with an average population of 16,000 residents, adding an additional 320,000 residents to the region and making the total population for the region just over 570,000 residents. The region is thriving economically with an additional 2,000 families a month moving into the region. The Small Business Administration’s regional office states that there are 50,000 small businesses in the region, 10,000 of which are in the food services industry in some manner.

The latest impact studies for the region indicate a growing demand for retail services. Overall the regional growth projections are very favorable for continued growth across the entire retail sector and includes a prediction for 3.5 percent growth across the region in food services. The state business registration website indicates there are thirty-eight retail bakeries and four commercial bakeries in the region. The Jim’s Bakery commercial bakery is the smallest of the four commercial bakeries by volume in the region. This creates tremendous opportunity for continued commercial growth for a new buyer, but penetration of the commercial market will depend on the execution of a strong strategic business model.

Jim’s Bakery is leveraging the reputation of their retail business to draw commercial clients into long-term commercial relationships. Jim’s commercial clients include restaurants, schools, nursing homes, and health-care facilities. The combination of a BaaS commercial business model and the regional recognition of the Jim’s Bakery brand make continued penetration of the commercial market a real potential opportunity that easily supports our growth commercial projections.

Jim’s commercial bakery uses a combination of inside and outside sales people. The inside sales team primarily takes long-term sales telephone orders and refers one-time sales to the retail bakery.