On 12 Jan 2005 17:39:39 -0800, "bumblebee4451"
> wrote:

>I noticed our long standing bakery recently closed. (It wasn't very
>good).

How do you become long standing and wasn't very good? I would
advise you write the check and open your own. You might be able to
get it open for 200,000.




The Fine Art of Cooking involves personal choice.
Many preferences, ingredients, and procedures may not
be consistent with what you know to be true.
As with any recipe, you may find your personal
intervention will be necessary. Bon Appetit!

In article . com>,
says...
> I noticed our long standing bakery recently closed. (It wasn't very
> good). We need another one. Are there any bakers interested in coming
> to a suburb of Chicago and starting a great bakery there? 25 miles west
> of Chicago. Would be a great place for breads cakes, strudels,
> etc.....not the plasticy store bought stuff (that abounds here).
>
>

Boring places I'm sure. I recall being at a training seminar near what
was then Bellcor's HQ. Nothing to do but drive toward the city and have
fun there.

I would not be able to open a bakery - I have no skill or interest
(like to eat the goods though). Its a mystery to me how long this
bakery survived. I guess someone liked it.

"bumblebee4451" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> I would not be able to open a bakery - I have no skill or interest
> (like to eat the goods though). Its a mystery to me how long this
> bakery survived. I guess someone liked it.
>

I think I know a least part of how a bad bakery survives. First, most
people don't bake, never baked, and grew up in a home where no one baked.
The only baked goods most people eat come from industrial bakers (Hostess
Twinkies, Wonder Bread), supermarket bakery departments run by people who
couldn't make it running a check-out lane, or from boxes. For these people,
it is a treat to use refrigerated cookie dough for "homemade" cookies rather
than eating factory made cookies. These are the same people who eat Chef
Boyardee spaghetti and Spam and think that a meal at the Olive Garden is
authentic Italian cuisine. The second reason that a bad bakery can survive
is because it is cheap. When you make your baked goods from mixes and use
giant buckets of icing, it keeps the costs down. People who think that a
cake from Wal-Mart and a cake from a high-end bakery have to be the same,
won't pay three times the Wal-Mart price at the high-end bakery. After all,
a cake is a cake, right? Therefore, there is a demand for inferior goods
and an unwillingness to pay for quality items. It takes a large
metropolitan area to support a quality bakery. You can see from the things
that get posted here how much people like crap made with CoolWhip, cake
mixes, Jell-O, pudding mix, canned pie filing, and so on. These people
aren't going to pay $35 for a 10 inch cake made with butter, fresh eggs,
cream and filled with expensive fruit, and hand decorated. I don't even
bother making good stuff to send to work on "food days." I just tell my SO
to stop at the grocery store and pick up something. That is a "win win"
situation because it costs less than making something good, and it supplies
people with a baked goods that meets their expectations.

"Vox Humana" > wrote in message
...
>
> "bumblebee4451" > wrote in message
> oups.com...
>> I would not be able to open a bakery - I have no skill or interest
>> (like to eat the goods though). Its a mystery to me how long this
>> bakery survived. I guess someone liked it.
>>
>
> I think I know a least part of how a bad bakery survives. First, most
> people don't bake, never baked, and grew up in a home where no one baked.
> The only baked goods most people eat come from industrial bakers (Hostess
> Twinkies, Wonder Bread), supermarket bakery departments run by people who
> couldn't make it running a check-out lane, or from boxes. For these
> people,
> it is a treat to use refrigerated cookie dough for "homemade" cookies
> rather
> than eating factory made cookies. These are the same people who eat Chef
> Boyardee spaghetti and Spam and think that a meal at the Olive Garden is
> authentic Italian cuisine. The second reason that a bad bakery can
> survive
> is because it is cheap. When you make your baked goods from mixes and use
> giant buckets of icing, it keeps the costs down. People who think that a
> cake from Wal-Mart and a cake from a high-end bakery have to be the same,
> won't pay three times the Wal-Mart price at the high-end bakery. After
> all,
> a cake is a cake, right? Therefore, there is a demand for inferior goods
> and an unwillingness to pay for quality items. It takes a large
> metropolitan area to support a quality bakery. You can see from the
> things
> that get posted here how much people like crap made with CoolWhip, cake
> mixes, Jell-O, pudding mix, canned pie filing, and so on. These people
> aren't going to pay $35 for a 10 inch cake made with butter, fresh eggs,
> cream and filled with expensive fruit, and hand decorated. I don't even
> bother making good stuff to send to work on "food days." I just tell my
> SO
> to stop at the grocery store and pick up something. That is a "win win"
> situation because it costs less than making something good, and it
> supplies
> people with a baked goods that meets their expectations.
>

I enjoyed your email, mostly because I agree with you. Just wanted to add
that there are many other types of food businesses that people frequent
that are given cudos by the local folks. One of the seafood places in CT
we went to - once - I won't mention the name - is always absolutely packed
with diners, the restaurant has a good reputation. We were taken there and
didn't have to spend our money, so we were a little less-biased, and I
thought the food was inferior, my spouse did also and the food on the other
diner's plates looked equally discouraging, but one could only see at one's
table because the place was dark with dark high booths and seasoned
waitresses. My m-i-l always said that "they must be doing something right,"
because of its popularity. I would put this seafood restaurant in the same
category as your description of some bakeries, but in this case persons were
paying the higher price and getting lower quality -- in my opinion.
Dee