For over 30 years, Grand Central Bakery has been baking its way into the hearts of Seattle residents. Founder Gwen Bassetti desired to bring hand-crafted, freshly baked artisan loaves to locals. When the bakery opened, she baked 80 loaves a day. Thirty-six years later, the business bakes thousands of loaves a day across twelve Seattle-area locations. Alongside its notable bakery expansion, the business also has a thriving wholesale arm that typically accounts for 50% of its revenue.
With the bulk of its bread delivered to grocers and restaurants throughout Portland and Seattle, its classic flavor is a delicacy most people in the area have either grown up on or grown to love. Former president Barack Obama is one of the many who’ve grown to love it. “President Obama came to Seattle because he wanted to [host a roundtable with small business owners in Seattle], and so he came to our Pioneer Square location,” recalled Claire Randall, CEO of Grand Central Bakery. “He ordered a turkey chutney sandwich. His staff told us, ‘Please don’t worry if he doesn’t eat the whole thing. He’s very busy.’ He ended up eating the entire thing,” she added.
Randall can easily recall a dozen more stories of moments where locals and icons alike have strolled through the doors of Grand Central Bakery and indulged in its one-of-a-kind sweets and treats. To manage a dozen locations and an expansive menu that includes everything from sandwiches, soups, pastries, and twelve kinds of bread, the business relies on Square tools for seamless operations.
The challenge: Staying afloat during unexpected challenges
When the COVID-19 pandemic first started, Randall’s first thought was: how is the business going to survive? Like most businesses, Grand Central Bakery had to close the majority of its locations and figure out a way for the business to still operate on a limited scale. They decided to serve customers at the door. “We developed this card and plexiglass system. It was like little bank teller speakers…the community was really flexible,” Randall explained.
Even with the in-person aspect temporarily figured out, the business also had to consider the subset of customers who weren’t ready for that level of interaction. “We went through so many ideas in the beginning just around how we were going to survive,” Randall said. One of those ideas was to handle food delivery in-house. The business already had delivery vans and drivers because they delivered bread to restaurants and grocers in the area, but it eventually began to feel like a separate business entirely and became difficult to manage.
Randall and team eventually decided they needed to meet customers in the middle and create a solution for the customers who wanted to order ahead of time and keep their physical interaction to a minimum. Online ordering was the first thing that came to mind. “We had been experimenting with online ordering, and then all of a sudden the pandemic hit and we needed it everywhere. And we didn’t quite know what we were doing,” Randall remembered.
The solution: Finding the sweet spot with online ordering
The business implemented Square Online and quickly started accepting online orders. “Online ordering was so vital to our survival. I’m really happy to have been able to partner with Square and I’m so proud of my team for making it happen,” said Randall. During the pandemic, Grand Central Bakery saw online orders account for 30% of total orders. The figure has since changed to 20%, but Randall considers the revenue stream an invaluable pathway toward reaching customers, both new and existing. It’s even opened up new relationships with other businesses.
“We were learning how to set up Square Online and teaching our customers to interact with it. Our retail product manager, Gina, ended up being a Square consultant so to speak for other businesses,” explained Randall. “She told me this story about trying to order a to-go lasagna from a restaurant. Online it said that they were out, so she called them and she said, ‘Your online platform says you’re out, but I don’t really believe that you’re out and here’s how you fix that,’” Randall remembered.
Whether it’s educating other business owners, staff, or customers, Randall and team have found the ease of Square tools to be instrumental in managing the business and taking it to the next level. “The thing that I like about Square is that it has a modernized look and it’s really easy to use. You’re not forced to jump through hoops like you are with older systems and you always know what you’re looking at,” said Randall.
The impact: Building long-lasting, quality customer relationships
Always having a clear understanding of what you’re looking at means Grand Central Bakery has a deeper understanding of its business, the customer experience, and the areas for opportunity. When Randall wants to understand how all twelve cafes are performing, she dives into her Square Dashboard for an in-depth look at sales. “I’m kind of addicted to the dashboard. It shows me all 12 cafes’ sales and I can compare today to the same day last year and I can do the same with months,” said Randall. The setup makes it easier to understand the business from a birdseye view all the way down, so they can quickly adopt learnings and recognize wins.
As it relates to the customer experience, the team can be more hands-on with the people they serve. For instance, if a customer reports an unsatisfactory experience through their Square receipt, Grand Central Bakery replies directly to the customer apologizing for the experience and offering them a refund or discount on a future purchase. This helps the business build quality relationships with customers and personalizes the overall transaction.
A detailed understanding of the business and a purposeful customer-centric approach has been the key to Grand Central Bakery’s success from day one. A number of current employees and long-time customers grew up on the business’s bread and pastries and have since ensured the experience is passed down to the next generation. “We’ve been in business for so long that we have customers who grew up with Grand Central Bakery and now they’re coming here as adults with their families. All over the company we have employees that grew up coming here too,” said Randall.
Evolving the business with modern technology tools has uniquely positioned the business to build on what customers and staff already love and maximize Grand Central Bakery’s reach. Randall noted: “Square has for sure grown with us, and I appreciate that they listen [to our needs so we can continue to grow].”
