Lincoln couple's kneading leads to a dream fulfilled
They met at Cedar Point.
There, in the Ohio amusement park famous for its roller coasters, she sold taffy. He sold french fries.
“I was his supervisor,” said Julie Horne, tossing a sly laugh toward husband Kevin.
But the two were not destined for careers in theme park food service. He went to work for a market research company. She took on the world of nonprofits.
There was always, however, another plan.
They wanted to open a Great Harvest Bread Co. bakery. They had fallen in love with the franchise known for its made-from-scratch preservative-free whole-wheat products during their days in the Buckeye State.
But it just wasn’t in the cards for them, at least back then.
“It wouldn’t have made sense at that point in our life,” Julie said.
In 1999 the family moved to Lincoln when Kevin went to work at the National Research Corp. headquarters. They thought about opening a store then, but with two young daughters decided the timing still wasn’t quite right.
Then about a year ago they decided they were done with delays. The girls were both in elementary school.
And then there was that other reality to consider.
About four years ago Kevin was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.
“He’s doing great with his health, but just knowing a lot of times 10 years down the road he may not be able to be as active physically,” Julie said.
As director of research at National Research Corp., Kevin traveled frequently. Julie found herself working nights to attend meetings or to direct fundraising in her role as executive director of Mourning Hope, an organization that helps young people grieving the loss of a loved one.
The plan to give it all up and go all in on a bakery just made sense this time, they said.
“We just want this to be a place where our family can be together,” she said.
It’s been a dizzying process, including some grueling interviews to win the right to open a franchise and more than a dozen visits to bakeries scattered across the map.
They even went to bread college.
They lucked out when they lined up a lawyer to look over their franchise agreement — a lawyer who coincidentally was looking to rent out space in a building he owns at 48th Street and Old Cheney Road.
They managed to buy up some equipment from a bakery that closed elsewhere to hold their costs down.
Surely, not everything has been easy.
Wheat prices have surged and have fueled fears of shortages. Honey prices have climbed as well.
“We’re going to be opening at a point where ingredient prices are at their peak,” Kevin said.
They’ve stocked up on ingredients, including bags and bags of wheat berries used daily to mill flour, hoping that will keep their costs steady for a while.
Economic hurdles or not, the couple is keeping the Great Harvest mission in their sights, including Rule No. 1: Be loose and have fun. That may come naturally at this bakery, which sports its own disco ball. Tie-dyed shirts are part of the employee uniform choices. And then, of course, there are the cracks about being professional loafers.
Then there’s Rule No. 5: Give generously to others. That sits quite well with Julie, who is eager to dole out free bread slices to every visitor and to donate to nonprofits across the city. It’s a switch for the woman who once was on the other end of the fundraising shuffle.
The Hornes don’t balk (well much anyway) at the idea of starting their day at 4 a.m. baking bread, cookies, scones and other goodies, milling their own flour, working the mixer that stands taller than they do and loading up the oven that, as Julie puts it, is bigger than their daughter’s bedroom.
They’ll have the help of Great Harvest bakers across the country, drawn together with the help of the Internet though with rules loose enough for them to make choices that make sense in their community. They’ll also have the help of the bread tasters back in Montana who will test their bread many times over the next year and beyond to make sure all is on track.
Starting up a bakery can be crazy, exciting and scary all at the same time, said Amanda Flamm, a Great Harvest field rep and guru of Peet’s Coffee & Tea, which also will be sold at the bakery. Flamm has been to more than half of the 200 stores nationwide and has a good idea of what the Hornes are in for.
The key is just to keep sight of the goal, she said.
“We don’t just want to be another bread store.”
Reach Jean Ortiz at 473-7107 or jortiz@journalstar.com.
There, in the Ohio amusement park famous for its roller coasters, she sold taffy. He sold french fries.
“I was his supervisor,” said Julie Horne, tossing a sly laugh toward husband Kevin.
But the two were not destined for careers in theme park food service. He went to work for a market research company. She took on the world of nonprofits.
There was always, however, another plan.
They wanted to open a Great Harvest Bread Co. bakery. They had fallen in love with the franchise known for its made-from-scratch preservative-free whole-wheat products during their days in the Buckeye State.
But it just wasn’t in the cards for them, at least back then.
“It wouldn’t have made sense at that point in our life,” Julie said.
In 1999 the family moved to Lincoln when Kevin went to work at the National Research Corp. headquarters. They thought about opening a store then, but with two young daughters decided the timing still wasn’t quite right.
Then about a year ago they decided they were done with delays. The girls were both in elementary school.
And then there was that other reality to consider.
About four years ago Kevin was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.
“He’s doing great with his health, but just knowing a lot of times 10 years down the road he may not be able to be as active physically,” Julie said.
As director of research at National Research Corp., Kevin traveled frequently. Julie found herself working nights to attend meetings or to direct fundraising in her role as executive director of Mourning Hope, an organization that helps young people grieving the loss of a loved one.
The plan to give it all up and go all in on a bakery just made sense this time, they said.
“We just want this to be a place where our family can be together,” she said.
It’s been a dizzying process, including some grueling interviews to win the right to open a franchise and more than a dozen visits to bakeries scattered across the map.
They even went to bread college.
They lucked out when they lined up a lawyer to look over their franchise agreement — a lawyer who coincidentally was looking to rent out space in a building he owns at 48th Street and Old Cheney Road.
They managed to buy up some equipment from a bakery that closed elsewhere to hold their costs down.
Surely, not everything has been easy.
Wheat prices have surged and have fueled fears of shortages. Honey prices have climbed as well.
“We’re going to be opening at a point where ingredient prices are at their peak,” Kevin said.
They’ve stocked up on ingredients, including bags and bags of wheat berries used daily to mill flour, hoping that will keep their costs steady for a while.
Economic hurdles or not, the couple is keeping the Great Harvest mission in their sights, including Rule No. 1: Be loose and have fun. That may come naturally at this bakery, which sports its own disco ball. Tie-dyed shirts are part of the employee uniform choices. And then, of course, there are the cracks about being professional loafers.
Then there’s Rule No. 5: Give generously to others. That sits quite well with Julie, who is eager to dole out free bread slices to every visitor and to donate to nonprofits across the city. It’s a switch for the woman who once was on the other end of the fundraising shuffle.
The Hornes don’t balk (well much anyway) at the idea of starting their day at 4 a.m. baking bread, cookies, scones and other goodies, milling their own flour, working the mixer that stands taller than they do and loading up the oven that, as Julie puts it, is bigger than their daughter’s bedroom.
They’ll have the help of Great Harvest bakers across the country, drawn together with the help of the Internet though with rules loose enough for them to make choices that make sense in their community. They’ll also have the help of the bread tasters back in Montana who will test their bread many times over the next year and beyond to make sure all is on track.
Starting up a bakery can be crazy, exciting and scary all at the same time, said Amanda Flamm, a Great Harvest field rep and guru of Peet’s Coffee & Tea, which also will be sold at the bakery. Flamm has been to more than half of the 200 stores nationwide and has a good idea of what the Hornes are in for.
The key is just to keep sight of the goal, she said.
“We don’t just want to be another bread store.”
Reach Jean Ortiz at 473-7107 or jortiz@journalstar.com.
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