Nine production employees make almost all of the Supreme’s products from scratch, and an expansion in 2000 allowed the bakery to add more equipment.

In 2008, after several years of mostly flat sales, Richard Stolz, owner of Supreme Bakery, West Orange, N.J., knew he would have to take a big risk if he wanted to emerge from the sales slump. So, despite the ailing national economy and a tight personal budget, Stolz invested $200,000 to give Supreme Bakery's 1,000-sq.-ft. storefront a total makeover.

“Almost immediately after last October's unveiling of our new look, our sales shot up by 10 percent and have continued to increase each month since then,” Stolz says.

He spent $50,000 enlarging the front windows to bring the inside of the store outside, giving passersby a clear view of the colorful array of products on display. To subtly emphasize the bakery's position as a local landmark, he replaced the building's siding with stone similar to the outside of the historic church across the street.

Inside, the changes included floor (hardwood), ceiling (copper-looking tiles and strategically placed lighting) and almost everything in between. Existing showcases (three 6-ft. service cases — two refrigerated and one dry) were updated with the addition of marble tops. A new showcase for cupcakes, Supreme's fastest growing product line, also was added.

A computer station recessed into a side wall makes it easy for customers to view a slide show of special occasion cakes. One major design component that survived the transition was a 3-ft. by 5-ft. window between the retail and production areas, which allows customers to watch the bakers and decorators at work.

The recent remodel wasn't the first time Stolz had renovated to improve business. In 2000, he invested $300,000 in an expansion that doubled the bakery's production space, allowing it to add more equipment and make production more efficient.

Though a careful businessman, Stolz learned the importance of making bold moves in bad times when he first joined his father, David, in the bakery more than three decades ago.

“My dad was a very progressive thinker; for example, in 1980, he saw one of the first Apple computers in Boston, predicted that they would change the way people do business and decided right then and there to start selling them,” Stolz says. “Of course, his prediction has proven to be correct; unfortunately at the time there was no software to make it possible for the average person to use the computers.”

David entered the baking industry as bakery supply salsesman and later sold bakery equipment. In 1969, he rented a 3,000-sq.-ft. West Orange bakery in 1969. Although he was not a baker, he used his business savvy to open three satellite units and develop a local supermarket wholesale clientele.

Too much too soon

Unfortunately, the rapid growth turned out to be a too-much-too-soon situation.

“My father was a great businessman, but he expanded too fast and without proper controls,” Stolz notes. “As a result, he had to close the satellite stores so he could concentrate on making the original bakery more efficient and profitable.”

In 1977, the original building's landlord decided that he wanted to take over the site to open his own bakery to compete with Supreme, so Stolz helped his father move the operation to a three-story, 2,500-sq.-ft. former antique store two doors down. Working together, the father and son also erected a cinder block building to enlarge the production space.

Stolz had begun his career in the family business by washing pots and pans while in junior high school. Although he never really intended to become a baker, he learned the basics from the bakery's production team.

“They constantly yelled at me if they thought I was trying to take any shortcuts,” he notes. “That's a lesson I definitely learned and that has stuck with me ever since.”