Scott Swanson
Of The New Era
Wanted: Bakers and a cook. Pronto.
Mollie’s Bakery and Diner, one of Sweet Home’s most popular eateries, was forced to close unexpectedly over the weekend due to a labor shortage, owner Len Street said.
Street, who also drives a truck throughout the Northwest for Winco, said he had taken the last week off from his regular job to try to deal with some problems that had been developing in the business.
But on Friday night, his baker, who the Streets had been training for the job, and his assistant baker quit. The two were friends, Street said.
Then, on Sunday, the cook followed suit.
“Officially, we are closed. There’s no way we can open without a cook and a baker,” Street said Monday morning as he stood in the bakery as his wife Michelle and some friends worked to clean up after the couple were forced to close down. “I’m still reeling. We’re just looking at each other, wondering what are you going to do now?”
Street said he’s been working with the business’s wholesale accounts, which include School District 55, and they understand the situation and are giving him some breathing room. Also, former owner Mollie Anderews has been giving them some help in trying to get things straightened out, he said.
Monday morning, as a visitor stood in the bakery, a succession of people, most of them members of the “Coffee Club,” tried the front door and read the signs posted in the windows that explain the situation. There were 28 messages from Saturday and early Sunday on the answering machine at Mollie’s, he said.
Street, clearly frustrated, said he plans to get things rolling again as soon as possible.
“My first instinct is to just lock the place down,” he said. “My second instinct is, ‘No, I can’t do that.'”
He said the main problem he sees is that work in the bakery is somewhat demanding and the baking part requires a graveyard shift.
“People just don’t like working at night,” he said, adding that the pay would be at industry standard for someone with proper qualifications. “We’ve tried about 20 people back here (in the bakery) in the last year.”
Most, he said, haven’t lasted more than a day, and the night work is the issue.
The Streets bought the business from longtime owner Andrews last year. Street said the volume has doubled since they took over, though they had some leaner months during the summer. Last spring he announced that the business, which is managed mostly by Michelle Street, was opening another store, in Junction City.
Mollie’s is one of a few true bakeries of its type in the region any more.
“There’s very few places that bake anything any more,” he said. “They just pull the stuff out of the freezer, put it on a rack and bake it. When you do that, you can start at 4 a.m.”
He said what Mollie’s needs is steady, preferably experienced people and, in particular, individuals who don’t mind working at night. The number to call is 367-2939.