CHUBBUCK — A popular local bagel shop has found a second home in Chubbuck and will soon be expanding to the new store, providing area residents with even more opportunities to dine on delicious bagels, sandwiches, coffee and sweet confections.
Construction is already underway at the new store, located at 4335 Yellowstone Ave., Suite B, with more equipment arriving every day. 5th Street Bagelry’s owner and operator, Dave Raisch, is hopeful the store will have its grand opening sometime next month.
“The store will be set up in a very similar way, menu wise,” Raisch said. “We will offer the same sandwiches, the same great bagels and the same specialty coffees that we usually offer. We're looking forward to adding some new desserts out at that store and we would like to have a new bagel coming out pretty soon, hopefully a Swiss and pesto bagel.”
In an effort to cultivate the same aesthetic as the first store, new artwork, murals and other creative trappings are being added to the new location to create a space that patrons new and old will feel comfortable and happy residing within, maintaining the welcoming environment 5th Street is known for.
“Once we get that rolling, we will roll out online ordering, which will allow customers to order from their phones or their personal computer,” Raisch said. “We will be starting possible delivery options using Uber Eats or the other delivery options available. We're super excited about that. The store here is doing really well. We've done very well since taking over last April. It's been a year and two months, and we've exceeded expectations and growth, but we still realize we have challenges in the parking situation, working on keeping our line down and getting customers great food in a shorter time.”
One of the primary reasons for opening a second location was also to grow the franchise in new ways that were not possible with a single store. With two stores, more employees and more storage, Raisch believes everything 5th Street does will be expedited, even with the addition of online ordering.
“I think it'll speed things up,” Raisch said. “It'll allow customers to not have to wait in a line. They can show up their food should be done. 15 to 20 minutes is our goal when we get an online order. We can also do timed orders, so customers would possibly have the option to make a timed order for the next day, ordering that electronically. The other big advantage to online ordering is a rewards program that would be all digital as well. Customers would use their phone number as their identifier and could (utilize) rewards programs for a free sandwich or free coffee. That would also be involved in the online system.”
Further improvements have already been made to the flagship store, including the addition of the “Ferrari of baking ovens” that was recently installed, keeping with the trend of providing quality, freshly made bagels and signature sandwiches.
“Something else we've thought about doing in the near future is a delivery program to offices and businesses where they can order a dozen bagels and two cream cheeses and that would be delivered for $25,” Raisch said. “They could schedule that so that those businesses don't have to go anywhere. They can just order from us and we will show up at 7 a.m. or 8 a.m. on those days and drop off the bagels into their office to save them a little time where they don't have to wait in line.”
With a bit more information on what these pre-order or scheduled delivers entail, Raisch could alter the baking rotation in advance, creating a completely custom experience where the limits of your bagels would be constrained only by imagination and total ingredients and not on what is currently in stock and on the shelves during the day.
“We're really excited about the online stuff and having another store being able to serve Pocatello and Chubbuck better,” Raisch said. “That's partially why we picked that location is to be accessible to the highway, to serve Chubbuck and just grow that community of restaurants out there, adding a great place (to eat) for lunch.”
Hiring for the second store will begin by July 15 with plans to cross train new employees at the original store for two to three weeks so they will have the experience and expertise once the new store opens and complete understanding on how to build all the sandwiches. If all goes to plan, once there is an official grand opening celebration, the store should be firing on all cylinders.
“Something we want to do with that store is just be a part of the community, support outdoor activities like kayaking, white water rafting, skiing, fishing, that kind of thing,” Raisch said. “We realized people were on the go a bunch and wanted to promote those types of activities with pictures we put up, or the murals, things like that, just to keep people active, bring good food and be part of the community"
He continued, "Down the road, if we can keep doing some community events, whether it's a little booth at the (Portneuf Valley Farmers Market) or being able to go to different events we might be able to show up and do some different events off site, where we're not at the restaurant all the time, just to help the community in that way.”
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