Local bagel shop celebrates 10 years of ownership
This year, Blue Ridge Bagels is celebrating 10 years of bringing bagels, donuts and sandwiches to the Lynchburg community.
Owner Barry Kane said his customers are the best part of the business.
“Seeing the smiles on people’s faces and the interaction with them is a complete blessing to me. We see a lot of the same customers and have developed friendships with them,” Barry said.
Before the Kane family owned the business, he worked as a middle school life science teacher, and his wife Cheryl was an accountant for the city of Lynchburg.
In 2011, a commercial aired on TV advertising an essay competition to own a bagel shop in Bedford. All they had to do was submit a 100 word essay and pay a $100 entry fee.
The current owners planned to read through the essays, pick the best one and give the winner their bagel shop plus $10,000.
When Barry saw the commercial, he knew they had to enter and at least try to win. They submitted an essay explaining why they thought they would be good owners.
“The main thing we talked about was we wanted to be a family oriented business and a family owned business,” Barry said about their essay. “We said we wanted to be where everyone knew your name.”
A few months later the owners informed them that the contest was canceled because they did not have enough entries and returned their $100. They were disappointed, but after a few weeks, Barry and his wife decided to place an offer on the shop.
On April 15, 2012, Barry and Cheryl became the new proud owners of Blue Ridge Bagels.
Two years after they purchased Blue Ridge Bagels, Barry retired from teaching after celebrating 30 years of teaching. Later that year they moved from Bedford to Lynchburg on Leesville Road.
For Barry, the bagel shop gave him the opportunity to do something he had dreamed of doing for years.When he was 16, he started working in food service and loved it.
Years later, after his two daughters were born, he worked at McDonald’s on early mornings and Saturdays and Sundays to earn more money on top of his teaching job. He worked there until their hospital bill was paid off, but he said he always wanted to return to the food industry.
“Because I didn’t have any experience, I knew I couldn’t own my own restaurant. I thought I could never own my own restaurant,” Barry said. “God kind of dropped this (Blue Ridge) in my lap, and I’ve loved it. When I die, I’ll probably be known for the bagels.”
Blue Ridge is family-run and family-owned. Barry orders the supplies and is the person up front while his wife and daughter work behind the scenes. Cheryl checks the books and oversees the payroll, and their daughter Lizzie leads the staff. He said the rest of their staff feels like a part of their family.
“Our staff is like our family, especially the students, we feel like we’re parents to them while they’re here,” Barry said.
The shop orders their bagels from a shop in Bronx, New York. Twice a week, a shipment of partially baked and frozen bagels arrive in a truck. Barry said they bake the bagels fresh from the freezer every day.
Shipping the bagels in makes it easier for them to only bake what they sell. He said when they start to run low on bagels, they just throw more in the oven, something other shops can’t do.
Unlike the bagels, their donuts are completely homemade in the shop, and they can run out of those.
“They’re a guessing a game,” Barry said. “You just never know how many people are gonna want. We just know, when it rains, you make more donuts.”
Over Christmas break, the shop underwent a renovation. They installed new cabinetry and a brand new menu. They turned their side room into a study room when it is not booked for special events.
Blue Ridge will host a 10 year celebration on April 15 filled with giveaways and discounts. More information can be found on Facebook at Blue Ridge Bagels.
