It makes perfect sense
– bringing great food into Hollister’s foremost culinary
store.
It makes perfect sense – bringing great food into Hollister’s foremost culinary store.
The San Juan Bakery has opened a bakery counter, selling their famous breads, pastries and cakes, inside Dorothy McNett’s Place on San Benito Street.
The bakery will also serve coffee and have tables where people can come in, sit down and enjoy good eats in a pleasant atmosphere, said bakery owner Luiz Santos.
“Dorothy has a huge presence and strong name recognition, and I have a strong product,” Santos said. “So we figured we’d combine the name and reputation and market together.”
Santos approached McNett late last year in the hopes that she would begin carrying his product. Because of both businesses’ hectic holiday schedules they decided to wait on any decisions until after the new year, Santos said.
Meanwhile, Santos’s wife came up with the idea of actually leasing a part of the store, setting up shop full time and drawing from both customer bases, he said.
“Looking at it from a business objective, it’s a win-win situation for both of us,” he said.
McNett had been looking to reduce some of the floor space in her widespread store, and Santos’ proposition was exactly what she had in mind, she said.
“It will bring in more foot traffic, and for the last couple of years people have been asking to have a place to sit down,” she said. “It’s a perfect balance.”
Because the bakery will be an independent entity within the store, it won’t infringe upon McNett’s business in any way.
“Except that some of the employees are worried about eating too much of the good food, so that might infringe in a way,” she said. “I hear they have incredible apricot pastries.”
Santos had wanted to expand his scope into Hollister for some time, but the only way was to either sell to grocery stores which was nearly impossible, or open up an entirely separate location, he said.
Providing his product to Hollister’s larger demographic without having to take such a huge financial plunge will increase visibility for the bakery, which has been a presence in San Juan Bautista for decades, Santos said.
“Fifty percent of Hollister doesn’t even know that the community of San Juan even exists,” he said. “Now I can have brand recognition… and be able to deliver a quality product to the Hollister market.”
The bakery, which will keep the same hours as McNett’s, 10 a.m. until 6 p.m., will make two deliveries a day. All the pastries, cakes and sourdough bread will be delivered hot and fresh in time for the first customer in the morning, and a second delivery of French bread will arrive before noon.
“My oven was built in 1938,” Santos said. “My goal is to bring a quality product to the people of Hollister so they can have a taste of San Juan history without having to go all the way to San Juan.”
