Jay Rushin acquired H&H Bagels a decade ago and has worked over the last 10 years to prepare the New York-based brand for national growth.
In the next decade, Rushin intends to initiate that growth and make it the premier bagel brand in the country. What’s making that leap a possibility now is the completion of a new baking facility that will develop all of the brand’s bagel products.
Completed late last year, H&H Bagels’ 18,000-square-foot facility in Queens will allow the brand to grow at a greater scale.
“The bakery is the beating heart of H&H Bagels,” Rushin said. “It will produce every bagel for the brand, able to make 9,000 bagels an hour on day one. With a capital expenditure investment, we’re also going to have a second phase and work to double that to 18,000.”
The facility’s completion comes just a few months before the brand opens its first franchised location in Boca Raton, Florida. Rushin said the brand has nearly 40 more franchised locations in development, as well as six company stores.
Related: H&H Bagels Inks Several Multi-Unit Deals in Bid to Expand Nationwide
So far, Rushin has grown the brand to five company-owned locations, from just one when he purchased the company in 2014. Founded in 1972, H&H Bagels gained recognition from appearing in television series such as “Seinfeld,” “The Office,” “How I Met Your Mother” and “Entourage.”
The media attention peaked peoples’ interest, including Rushin’s, who was looking for a business to run after 20 years working on Wall Street.
Rushin told Franchise Times at the Restaurant Finance & Development Conference in November that he wishes the company had grown faster, adding that natural delays occurred along the way.
“But from the small company that I acquired 10 years ago to today, I do think we’ve made incredible progress,” Rushin said.
In 2023 H&H Bagels hired marketing and social media personnel to build more brand awareness while also completing work on a new baking facility able to produce 9,000 bagels per day.
With a new stage of growth gets underway, Rushin said the company is working to expand brand awareness beyond its notoriety in entertainment.
“We hired our first director of marketing last summer and we’re about to go through a new branding that will be going on as we open our first franchise location,” Rushin said. H&H also hired a social media content creator and public relations team. “All of that collectively is pushing us forward and building the awareness.”
On the brick-and-mortar side, Rushin said the team is working to navigate challenges with franchisees from finding locations to ensuring financial efficiency with the building.
“We spend a considerable amount of time in our real estate searches,” Rushin said. “Our market search in a city like Chicago is probably a six-month process to identify a space and work with the landlords there to maximize the layout of the brand and get franchisees what they need. It’s a lot of push and pull.
“We provide new franchisees with architectural and engineering assistance for their store,” Rushin said. “We’re very closely connected to that whole process to try and prevent overspending. We’ve forged partnerships with providers on the service equipment side as well to really negotiate lower prices to help our growth trajectory.”
There are no plans to develop drive-thru locations, he said, as the high demand makes finding spaces more difficult.
“It makes it that much harder to find real estate,” Rushin said. “Plus, our model is so efficient already and a drive-thru would deleverage our labor model that we have now because it would need additional support.”
That efficient model is one reason Rushin is confident H&H will rise to the top of the segment over the next decade. Another is its offering of authentic New York City bagels in the market.
“That’s a difference maker in itself,” Rushin said. “First and foremost, it’s our high quality. Also, we have a different customer experience than most bagel shops. We have a clean, modern and contemporary feel with a small menu. It has that current, on-the-go look and feel that customers want.”