Aspiring young entrepreneurs everywhere should frequently enjoy pizza for lunch.
At least that’s the case according to the fans of New Day Bakery, a thriving bread business located near downtown Morgantown, WV.
Walk in the front door of New Day Bakery and you are greeted with the scent of freshly-baked artesian bread – a delicacy in a town chock-full of store-bought. Everything is neat and tidy, but there is a feel of the eclectic, the home-made, and the comfortable feel of a locally-owned and operated world where anything is possible.
Christine Tinari and her husband Craig Beach own The New Day Bakery, located at 89 Kingwood Street. Christine had originally worked for The Daily Knead, the former occupant of the business space, for about five years, where she learned the ropes of the bread business. When The Daily Knead went out of business in July 2007, Christine and her husband decided they couldn’t let the business’ biggest fans be disappointed, and decided to reopen the bread bakery themselves.
Christine told The Daily Athenaeum, “There were so many great regular customers – it just seemed too bad to let it go.”
The Daily Knead itself had many loyal customers – a trip to their now un-updated Myspace profile page to see the many comments left by old “regulars” is a confirmation – Morgantown was not ready to give up its own piece of bread heaven.
The website TripAdvisor.com lends a customer’s virtual perspective of New Day Bakery, with rave reviews pertaining to the “tantalizing” pizzas offered that are a “welcome change from the greasy spoon pizza” sold in other local Morgantown restaurants.
All of this is a testament to the fact that Tinari and Beach’s dreams of keeping the bakery open were a necessity to meet the demands of local Morgantowners who demand more from their bread experience.
The recent economic downturn has been a large factor in national and local news as of late, with much of the country designated in a recession .Tinari was obviously concerned about the economy’s impact on her business, but as has much of the Morgantown area, New Day Bakery continues to rise above.
“I was expecting it”, Tinari said. “This is a luxury product we make…but we have very loyal customers and are doing well. We’ve been lucky- Morgantown is a pocket of sustainability.” Tinari also mentioned that while she does get a steady flow of college students in to buy bread, her core consumer group consists of adults: teachers, working professionals, and a variety of different people in the Morgantown area.
According to The Daily Athenaeum archives, Tinari received her degree from the University of Pittsburgh in comparative literature with a minor in Chinese, but said she had no formal business training. Everything she learned about running a bread bakery was learned on the job while an employee for The Daily Knead, as well as spontaneously as owner of New Day Bakery.
Tinari has been the head of New Day Bakery for only one year, but she has valuable advice for anyone interested in entrepreneurship as a career.
“Don’t be afraid to work hard – really doing the actual labor of the job as well as the business part of it. It’s seven-days-a-week, where you do the actual work of the bakery, train, bookwork…but it is a very rewarding decision.”
Contact New Day Bakery at (304) 292-7979
New Day Bakery on TripAdvisor.com
The Daily Athenaeum article on the New Day Bakery
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- Vanessa interviewing Christine Tinari
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- Preparing to make bread
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- New Day Bakery's co-owner Christine Tinari
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- Making bread
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- The New Day Bakery store
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- The oven
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- Rolling dough
Posted by Vanessa White on April 21, 2009 at 3:05 pm in the following categories: Yes Network
