Toasters Deli
Toasters Deli serves up bagels and community with support from the SBDC
Raised $80,000 in capital; created 7 jobs and built a strong online presence.
Growing up in the back of his dadâs Brooklyn pizzeria, Joe LaMonaca cultivated a taste for the culinary arts and close-knit relationships. Today, heâs brought an authentic, New York-style neighborhood deli to the small town of Hillsville, serving up delicious, scratch-made bagels with a heaping side of community.
Soon after launching Toasters Deli in April 2021, Joe sought marketing support from Blue Ridge Crossroads SBDC Advisor Teresa Catron.
âWe started to build a relationship,â Joe explains. âSheâs given me a lot of insight and information on different marketing channels.â
Teresaâs advice initially helped Joe connect directly with his audience through mailers and social media. Long-term goals include increasing online presence and community support.
For Joe, the work of developing community comes naturally. As a vendor with the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) for the City of Galax, he spent eight months providing meals for the local nonprofit Godâs Storehouse and Soup Kitchen. For the deliâs six-month anniversary, he donated 15 percent of the companyâs net profit from that day to the townâs inclusive playground project, Britniâs Discovery Park. Recently, Joe has begun donating cookies and milk to the Carroll County Public Libraryâs story time.
âYou gotta take care of the kids,â he says. âItâs nothing big. It doesnât cost me much, but it puts a smile on all the kidsâ faces.â
Joeâs community engagement has garnered Hillsvilleâs support. However, recent inflation has posed a major challenge for his business, with costs rising 60 percent. That has prompted Joe to develop more environmentally friendly practices, including switching plastic containers for fully compostable sugarcane boxes and purchasing fresh produce from local orchards.
âWe try our best to be good stewards of the earth and the community,â he explains.
As Toasters Deli pivots to meet recent challenges, the Blue Ridge Crossroads SBDC has supported Joe with industry research, marketing guidance, and training on tools such as Facebook, Google My Business, Yelp and Tripadvisor.
In turn, Joe has built a strong online presence and created seven jobs, retaining happy employees during a time when many businesses have struggled with labor shortages.
âOne of the best assets you have as a business owner is the great people around you,â Joe explains. âToasters is helping to support them, and the community is helping to support us.â
Toasters Deli continues to thrive, in large part due to Joeâs ability to cultivate relationships with his employees, his community and the SBDC, which he readily recommends to potential business owners.
âThe SBDC is a great tool with a lot of information and a lot of helpful people. Itâs a very good idea to be connected with them if youâre going to open a new business.â