Guatemalan bakery’s popularity rising

Gomez, who opened Guatemala Bakery almost three years ago with his nephew
Willi, received a $25,000 loan through the Small Business Loan Fund of the Rhode
Island Economic Development Corporation in May. Working through the Urban Enterprise
Equity Fund, in participation with Coastway Credit Union, the money will be
used for moving expenses and working capital, possibly to put a new façade on
the bakery and purchase some new equipment.

The bakery was also able to retain two employees and will be hiring three
additional people.

About four months ago, the Gomezs were concerned they might have to leave
their location at 241 Union Ave. in Providence and decided to purchase their
own building at 410 Cranston St. They are still hard at work rehabbing the two-story
structure (apartments located on the top floor and a parking lot on the side)
to open a Guatemala Mini Mart and are in negotiations to purchase outright their
original location. The two locations will share staff.

“Assisting the Guatemala Bakery through the Small Business Loan Fund is great
economic development,” said Michael McMahon, executive director of RIEDC. “Carlos
and Willi Gomez are growing jobs and improving the community, so we are thrilled
to play a small part in their success. People often think of the Economic Development
Corporation as serving only the needs of big business, but the reality is we
spend most of our time working with entrepreneurs such as Carlos and Willi.”

Carlos Gomez was born in Guatemala and moved to the United States in 1988,
where he lived in New York with an uncle before heading north to Rhode Island.
After a few years of working as a line cook in various restaurants, Gomez spent
about six years in Texas before deciding to return to Rhode Island with the
idea for a bakery he had been carrying around for several years.

He and Willi started renting space out of an empty storefront on Union Avenue,
which had formerly housed a computer repair shop and began buying the ovens,
cases, stove and fixtures needed to get the place running. After offering just
bread and food at the beginning, the bakery began adding groceries over the
years and customers can now find spices, special pastas, beans and pickled fruits
that arrive from retail sellers who export the items from Guatemala.

All of the bakery’s goods are made from family recipes. Beyond breads, cakes
and pastries, they also sell foods that are ready-to-go meals, like enchiladas,
tamales and other Guatemalan appetizers.

Gomez said the difference between his operation and some others that have
failed over the years comes down to the quality of the product. He stresses
that none of the recipes have been changed from Guatemala and only high-quality
ingredients are used in making the goods. Gomez, his nephew and another worker
rotate the store’s opening shift from week to week, with the first man arriving
around 5:30 a.m. to begin baking.

Gomez said the bakery sees a diverse group of customers through the course
of a day, from families picking up staples to single workers stopping in during
their lunch hour. He’d like to add another story to the 1,000-square-foot bakery,
possibly to hold a small room for family reunions and other functions.

“Our customers are hard-working people, just like us,” said Gomez, whose employees
are other family members (he has three brothers living in the state, along with
a handful of nieces and nephews). Gomez only recently saw his own hours at the
bakery drop from 60 or 70 hours a week since being able to take on the additional
staff.

“They reflect us and we reflect them,” he said.

The bakery is open seven days a week, from around 6 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., and
doesn’t close for holidays.

“I didn’t know what to expect when we opened,” Gomez said. “There were three
or four other bakeries and no one knew if the people would ever start coming.
Sometimes, there would be only two or three customers a day. … Now everyone
knows we are here. God has blessed us.”