When opportunity knocks

When the recession hit the Flathead Valley, Patrick Levitt figured he had two options: He could sit around and whine or he could get up and do something.

He chose the latter and launched Montana Bagel Co.

“It’s a good time for opportunities,” Levitt said. Building owners are cutting unheard-of deals on leases and businesses that are closing down are leaving gaps in the market, he said.

Levitt’s big break came when Big League Bagels & Deli closed down in Evergreen. Levitt and his wife, Cindy, were able to negotiate a deal on a lease for the old space and bought the used equipment from the former bagel shop’s owner.

A little remodeling and schooling later, the Levitts opened their first Montana Bagel Co. location in July 2009.

Now less than a year later, they’ve opened a second location on Kalispell’s south side in front of the Outlaw Inn on U.S. 93.

It’s not easy to launch a business in a recession, much less expand it just a few months later, but Levitt was raised to be a businessman.

His parents own Rudy’s Autosound on Montana 35 in Kalispell and Levitt served as the retail manager there for a number of years before getting the itch to get out and do something on his own.

He saw bagels as his ticket out.

He and Cindy traveled to Pennsylvania where they learned the traditional methods for making Jewish-style bagels. He picked up some recipes there and then created some of his own, such as cranberry and jalapeño, as he became more comfortable with the process.

Levitt had the option to purchase a franchise such as Missouri-based Panera Bread Co., but said even with a giant corporate background, chains fail in a recession, too. Instead, he chose to create his own business model where he could make the decisions and adjust the plan as needed.

With the recession in full swing, he chose to err on the side of caution, borrowing as little as possible when he started out. Relying on the profits from the first location, he borrowed nothing when he opened the south Kalispell shop.

That store had been vacant for 18 months and the building’s owner was willing to cut a deal on the lease to get the space occupied.

Because the bagels are all made at the Evergreen location and trucked over each morning, only a small amount of remodeling had to be done to prepare the second shop for its May 18 opening.

Levitt said he maintains a “shoestring” budget by doing any repairs to the aging machinery himself.

While Montana Bagel Co. is a private company and has just the two locations, Levitt said part of his business model is to function as a large corporate chain might.

To that end, he puts his employees through heavy training, stressing consistency throughout. He keeps identical menus at each store so customers know what to expect and won’t be disappointed, no matter who makes their sandwich.

“Quality has to be number one on everything,” Levitt stressed.

To ensure that quality, he creates all the bagel dough from scratch using locally produced high-gluten flour, yeast and malt, turning out somewhere between 45 and 60 dozen bagels a day.

“It sounds like an easy process, but it’s really easy to screw up,” he said. Adjustments to the temperature and humidity of the “proofing” room (where the dough is left to rise) constantly need to be updated as weather outside changes.

Employees also mix their own cream cheeses in small batches each day.

All employees went through training with Colter Coffee Roasting to learn the proper techniques for serving espresso and coffee. Levitt said it was important to him that his coffee matched the quality of the food served.

In addition to the bagel-and-cream-cheese breakfast staple, Montana Bagel Co. serves deli sandwiches, soups, salads and Cascade Glacier ice cream.

Now that the two sit-down locations have been established, Levitt hopes to expand with a wholesale business supplying area coffee carts. If things continue to grow, you may someday find Montana Bagel Co. bread and bagels in the grocery store too.

For now, however, Levitt is just happy to walk in each morning, say hello to his employees and get to work in the kitchen.

“We don’t have all the drama a lot of places have,” he said. It’s just another characteristic of this little shop’s success story.

Business reporter Erika Hoefer may be reached at 758-4439 or via e-mail at ehoefer@dailyinterlake.com