[Vision2020] Question, V-Peeps . . .

[Tom Hansen]

This certainly doesn't sound like a shutdown, merely a change in ownership . . . that took place almost a year ago.

Courtesy of the March 30, 2013 edition of the Moscow-Pullman Daily News.

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Wheatberries' founders sell bakery
By Elizabeth Rudd, Daily News staff writer | Posted: Saturday, March 30, 2013 1:00 am
QUICK HIT
Name: Wheatberries Bake Shop
Location: 531 S. Main St. in Moscow
Open: 6:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday
Phone: (208) 882-4618
Facebook: Wheatberries Bake Shop
After about 12 years of starting their mornings at Wheatberries Bake Shop, the Ungers are excited for a "normal morning routine."
Lana and Todd Unger opened Wheatberries in July 2001 at Otto's Produce Market on Sixth and Jackson streets and moved it to its current location on Main Street in 2003. Todd Unger said before starting the bakery, they sold pastries at the Moscow Farmers Market and had a good following. Two years later, they made the business permanent.
In July, though, the Ungers said they decided to sell the bakery and put it on the market a month later.
Now, as of April, Wheatberries will have three new owners - Robin Lopez, Anne Zuercher and Landon DeFelice.
"There wasn't a lot of people interested in it," Todd Unger said. "It's a lot of work."
The new owners said they have worked hard to buy and take over Wheatberries and are excited to continue it with their own style mixed in.
Todd Unger said they decided to sell because he has also been working full time for the past two years at Gritman Medical Center as the head chef of the Courtyard Cafe.
"I've got a stable job and I like it," he said, "and 12 hours a day is too much to work."
Lana Unger, who also works in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at the University of Idaho, said they started the bakery before their youngest daughter was born and their oldest was only 8, so it's always been their morning meeting place before going their separate ways. She said she has her morning coffee and the girls make their lunches for the day, while also getting to spend time with Todd. Their oldest is now in college, and the younger two are in high school and elementary school.
"I'll actually have to come up with lunches for them, which is something new," Lana Unger said.
She said she is actually excited about the sale because it will allow Todd to be at home more interacting with the family. With bakery and his other job, she said he was either always working or really tired.
"I'll get to devote some more time to them," Todd Unger said.
The Ungers said they have had the opportunity to meet a lot of people and create relationships with members of the community since they started Wheatberries, and it's an aspect they'll both miss.
"I like the community ties that we made here," Lana Unger said.
She said they have a lot of people who will come up to them and say they love their bakery. Todd Unger said that his favorite part of owning the bakery was being creative, but he'll miss their customers the most.
"I'll still have the opportunity to be creative at the hospital so that helps," he said.
Todd Unger said they have a lot of regulars who have their favorites and come in with a smile, "and luckily the new people want to continue that."
The new owners said it was important for both parties to keep the bakery going and in the beginning they do not plan to drastically change anything about Wheatberries. Lopez said they do not want to disrupt the business, but they plan to slowly implement changes as they see fit.
DeFelice, Lopez and Zuercher met as art students at the University of Idaho and became good friends. Zuercher graduated in 2010 with her master's in architecture and in 2009 with a Bachelor of Science in Architecture. Lopez and DeFelice both graduated in 2011 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a Bachelor of Science in Architecture, respectively.
Because they all have a background in design process, they said they plan - and already are - using what they were taught in school to form a business plan and goals.
Zuercher said they all also have years of experience in the restaurant industry from paying their way through school. Zuercher and DeFelice have cooking and baking knowledge and Lopez has managing and catering experience from working with his family's restaurant, La Casa Lopez.
Despite their collective experience, Lopez said this is still the first business they've all owned. DeFelice said they just had to dive in, and Zuercher said it feels like they are in business school every day.
They said they do have some ideas of their own for the future, but know they have to start slowly. They said they plan to update the interior, bring in traditional family bakery items from all of their heritages and possibly open during some evenings.
"Those changes will be happening slowly, it won't be anything in your face," Lopez said.
Zuercher and DeFelice said they are looking forward to working with the community, finding their niche and learning how they can contribute.
"And we're hoping it will be highly artistic," Lopez added.
Depsite their excitement, the three said they do have some concerns - like scaring people off because of changes, Lopez said.
"I get a little bit concerned about having too much work for the three of us," Zuercher said, adding they aren't planning to have additional employees at first.
DeFelice said it's all new, uncharted territory but that's what makes it fun and exciting. And they're all happy to be working together.
"It's something a lot of people advise against ... but for me, it's the only people I could do this with," DeFelice said.

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Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .

"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)
http://www.MoscowCares.com
  
Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"There's room at the top they are telling you still.
But first you must learn how to smile as you kill,
If you want to be like the folks on the hill."

- John Lennon
  
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