Success Insight: A Chamber Member's Story

 

 

Amy Scherber of Amy's Bread did not let initial financing rejections or a neighborhood with the ominous nickname "Hell's Kitchen" prevent her from realizing her vision of bringing bread-and pastries and sandwiches-to the community.

 

After being turned down for startup loans from banks and the Small Business Administration, which said that the food business was too risky, Scherber went to family and friends for the first $150,000 she needed to start her business. She was set on opening her first bakery in Hell's Kitchen, a transitional neighborhood with cheap rents and a colorful history steeped in food. "It was not easy to get customers. People just didn't get it. And it was still very much a rough neighborhood. The staff was scared to go outside at night," Scherber says. 

 

In fact, two of the people she approached for loans were against locating in Hell's Kitchen, suggesting, instead, that she locate on the East Side of Manhattan. "I checked out some locations there, but they were much more antiseptic. I wanted old New York character," says Scherber. One of the prospective financiers pulled out. The other agreed to provide a loan and now admits that Hell's Kitchen ended up being perfect. Scherber eventually built a customer base among the artists, actors, and waiters who live in the area and "really love food."

 

Later, Scherber opened a location on the East Side, but after three-and-a-half years of building renovations, slow business, and logistical problems, she sold the business at this site at zero profit. "Lunchtime was busy, but everything else was a bust. Weekends were especially dead," Scherber says. "It was an expensive proposition and a hard neighborhood in which to break even. Plus, crossing Central Park to deliver our breads and sandwiches to this location before noon was difficult."

 

Scherber's experience on the East Side did not dampen her expansion plans. In addition to Hell's Kitchen, she now has  a store in Chelsea Market and one in Greenwich Village. Her business reputation has helped her overcome initial difficulties in hiring staff. She says, "New culinary school graduates want to work for me. In retail, it's always hard to get good workers. I just make sure I show my employees my appreciation and thank them every day for their hard work."

 

To share a Success InSight of your own, please e-mail Greg Galdabini at
ggaldabi@uschamber.com or phone 202-463-5563.