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(Photo of Collin Richie)
Will Edwards
Owner, The Kolache Kitchen
What they do: Quick-service bakery/café with drive-thru
Address: 4245 Nicholson Drive, Ste. B, Baton Rouge
Revenue: $800,000 gross for 2014
Next goal: Open a second location on Jefferson Highway
A niche market
Business at The Kolache Kitchen is especially brisk at semester’s end. Owner Will Edwards, 27, says his staff rings up about 500 transactions per day when LSU students are in finals mode. On an average day, by contrast, some 300 people buy an order of the sweet or savory kolache, made from scratch, or breakfast tacos and drinks. About half of all customers use the drive-thru. “That’s a huge part of the concept,” Edwards says. “Some people are in a hurry or maybe don’t want to be seen.” This month Edwards marks his second full year in business; revenue in 2014 was up 40% over 2013. On the strength of this growth, he signed a lease in December to open a second Kolache Kitchen, in the LaRouge Mart on Jefferson Highway near Bocage. “I knew there was demand,” he says. “There’s nothing really like my concept around here. It’s a higher quality fast-food at a good price point.”
Developing the idea
As an LSU student, Edwards discovered that kolache—the Czech treat pronounced /ko-la-chee/ in the plural—was then unknown in Baton Rouge. In Houston, his hometown, kolache are as common as doughnuts. He says he’d “go home and bring back dozens of them, and our roommates would eat ’em up in a day or two.” In this way, the idea for The Kolache Kitchen was born. “In my fifth year [at LSU] I got serious about it,” he says. For assistance, he called the Small Business Development Center on LSU’s south campus in spring 2011. “I made a rough draft of a business plan, which was terrible, and just had them guide me,” he says. “They were really great. … Every time I had a new portion of my business plan, they’d suggest ways to make it better.” After graduating in general studies, Edwards returned to Houston for the summer to apprentice at one of many kolache stores and refine his menu.
Hurdles before opening
Finding the right location and getting funding for his startup were the big challenges Edwards faced back in Baton Rouge. Luckily, the Cracker Barrel on Nicholson had a long-empty retail spot near a large student population. SBDC Director Charles D’Agostino set up a meeting for him with its owners. “They were sold at the very beginning,” Edwards says. However, the financing had yet to be secured. The SBDC connected him with local banks, and several times he was turned down. “I almost gave up,” he says. “I was going in there with what I thought was a bulletproof business plan, and I had the location locked in. … [But] I was a kid fresh out of college with no business background, no collateral.” He ended up raising 50% of his funding from Houston allies before Citizens Bank & Trust gave him a loan. “I was targeting LSU people who knew both markets and would understand the product.”
Expansion plans
Edwards is in a very different position in preparing to open store No. 2 this spring. He’s again getting financing from Citizens, but he has proven the viability of his concept in Baton Rouge and earned credibility as a businessman. “The most important thing I’ve learned,” he says, “is how to be a good boss, a good manager.” He oversees a crew now numbering 25. At both locations, the original menu will be expanded to include lunch items: sandwiches and salads. “The huge retail area over in Towne Center has a big lunch demand,” he says, “and my drive-thru is a plus.” From a supplies angle, he looks forward to the better pricing he’ll get in buying larger quantities. Each week at present, The Kolache Kitchen goes through 1,000 to 1,500 pounds of flour, essential for making its proprietary bread recipe. “We have two mixers now, and they don’t stop all day,” Edwards says. “Whatever we prep today, we’re baking out the next morning.”
