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Trend doesn't hold for local bagelries By DAVID PRESZLER As nationwide bagel shop chains struggle, Rogue Valley bagel makers say their business remains relatively healthy. Dave Kaufman, owner of Medford's Northwest Bagel Company, said he's felt the increased competition as grocery stores have stepped up their bagel offerings. But he said the outlook for bagel shops remains solid. "I don't think bagels are going to go away," he said when asked whether bagel popularity has peaked. One of the challenges Kaufman's faced is what he called a "generation gap" among bagel consumers. He said it's been tough to build a following among older people who "weren't raised on bagels." But the growth of bagels is building a following among younger consumers -- a good sign for the industry's future. Kaufman also said his bagels are different than the mass-produced ones generally sold in supermarkets, which tend to be breadier. "There's no artistry in it anymore," he said of mass-produced bagels. "There's a big difference. We've got a niche that we fill." Dave Pinsky, owner of Ashland's Bagel Man, said there's no denying that increased competition has taken a toll. "It makes a dent, sure it does," said Pinsky, who's been in business here 25 years. He's lowered prices some to make bagels affordable to a wider audience and said sales have been steady, though the recent closure of Buy Rite near his shop has hurt as well. But he said the bagel business has always been a tough one, especially for small business. "It's as healthy as any other small business," he said. "You're not going to make a million making bagels. It's the same old struggle." Francesca Fericano, owner of Ashland's Little Shop of Bagels, has noticed the growth of grocery-store bagel sales and tried to harness it. Though she reopened her retail store two months ago after a year-long closure, she's selling her bagels in grocery stores and said those sales make up about 90 percent of her business. She doesn't buy the notion that demand for bagels is falling. "It's been growing," she said. The real trend she sees isn't away from bagels but toward convenience for consumers, which is why she's focused on selling her bagels in grocery stores. Convenience for bagel eaters isn't the focus at the Good Bean Company coffee shops in Jacksonville and Ashland, but owner Michael Kell said the stores' bagels have been growing in popularity, not waning. "It's really created a following," he said. "It's almost cultish." The Good Bean's bagels are handmade daily, a tradition started by Milton Bloombaum at the Key of C Coffee House in Ashland. Bloombaum helped Kell start making bagels at the Jacksonville store, and eventually sold Key of C to him. Kell said the advent of fresh grocery-store bagels hasn't hurt demand for Good Bean bagels at all. The company doesn't wholesale them and the bagels are intended as a speciality product to compliment the coffee business. "It's a whole different product than the machine-made," he said. "We don't compete with that. It's a separate market." Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA