From Food Truck to Café with Guidance from Small Business Advisor

Brothers Alex LaLonde and Nick LaLonde founded Good Bagels in 2020, sourcing local ingredients to produce handcrafted bagels for sale at area events and festivals. In 2023, the co-owners opened the doors to their first brick and mortar café, creating jobs for full-time staff and a place for local community to gather over a menu of bagels, sandwiches, pastries, and coffee.

Alex and Nick were relatively new to the Pacific Northwest when the idea to start their business originated. Having found a new home in Anacortes, the brothers were inspired to combine their culinary and entrepreneurial experience to fill the need of a hometown bagel shop, something they share fond memories of from their roots in upstate New York.

Alex, already an entrepreneur operating an Anacortes-based outdoor recreation company, brought the idea to Nick who has extensive experience as a chef in fine dining establishments. Together, they tested recipes for family and friends out of their home kitchen before renting commercial kitchen space to expand production. As their popularity grew, they purchased a food truck to reach more customers at local farmers markets, and community events, but the ultimate goal of a establishing a physical location seemed still out of reach.

“Aside from the financial commitment to open our own location, one of the biggest challenges was having confidence in the idea,” Alex said. “Opening a business was intimidating and we both had a lot of questions. I heard from friends of ours that they were working on their business plan with an advisor at the SBDC, so we reached out.”

Together with their SBDC advisor, Alex and Nick were able to formulate the business plans, financial projections and strategies needed to take the next step.

“With the SBDC we were paired with an advisor who has always been in our corner,” Nick said. “She has been extremely supportive of our concept, always understood it, and has been helpful to steer us in the right direction.”

Since opening their first physical location, Alex and Nick have transformed their company from a two-person project to a full-time business that supports an additional team of three year-round employees. While the café enjoys the support of the Anacortes community, the brothers are giving back by supporting local school programs, athletic teams, and community events.

“While our business’s success is important to us, we know we cannot succeed without supporting those who support us, and we strive to be productive members of our community.” Alex said. “Looking forward, we remain committed to keeping things local and authentic, while dreaming of expanding our business to small towns throughout the region.”