49 Corey’s NYC Bagels in The United States

Team 107 Poster

Team Reflection

At one time, Corey’s NYC Bagels had 13 locations in Florida. One of the main problems was that the company grew too fast, and he did not realize how to operate multiple locations. This was a “young mistake” he says many people make because they think if you have one store and duplicate it to two, it’s going to be twice as good overall, but that is never the case. You can see with reputable food chains, sometimes locations close because they thought it would be good, but the location simply did not perform as well as the others, or as well as they thought, which was like what Corey experienced with his locations in Florida in his early days of doing business. Due to family troubles, Corey had to relocate his family to Chicago for better healthcare availability, having to leave the stores in Florida behind to start fresh in Chicago, which was a major turning point for the business. While conducting our interview and learning about Corey’s story, just like Corey, we got emotional and were able to sympathize with him. But in his words, some things are just out of our control, life happens. On the contrary, the fact that Corey was growing too fast and doing too well with his Bagel shops made us smile, not because he had to shut them down, but because he had this problem to begin with and carried this success over to Chicago.

Corey’s main challenge today is delivery services, and although they bring in business, they also take a lot of money, about thirty percent. This is irritating to both Corey and us, as Corey’s business thrives off having that in-person connection. The delivery apps are destroying that for Corey since the amount these third-party apps take is exponentially harder on smaller businesses. Corey says that the people are ordering the food from third-party apps and not from his shop, it feels hard to connect with them and call them customers as they are technically the third-party apps’ customers. We agree with Corey that delivery services should encourage businesses to want to join their services and not take almost a third of their sales.

Making bagels was the first job Corey got when he was 16, and it has been his job ever since—the only job he has ever had. This makes us feel excited/optimistic for our future and that we can do what we aspire to if we keep to it, especially since Corey had to switch his business model in the last 5 years from what he has always done. With Corey being the founder and owner, he has given us many mini lessons about owning a business, including the hardships involved. This is why Corey said that there is no plan B for him; this is his passion, and he must make this work for him and his family, as his actions now affect them all. On the other hand, this also made us feel motivated to one day be in a position where we can support the ones we love, doing what we love.

Corey makes his bagels all from scratch, and apart from a few desserts, no product is bought and then resold. The bagel chips, introduced by his wife Laurie, were very innovative and not so common, which is rare nowadays. This made us feel proud of his store’s growth from when he started until now. In the past, Corey had to shut down many stores when he and his family moved, but he continues to sell homemade bagels and avoids artificial products, which would take the passion out of the bagels. This shows that Corey is a man of principle and value.

Corey’s Bagels helped to further strengthen our academic knowledge by allowing us to apply the concept of the Triple Bottom Line (TBL)—people, profit, and planet—to the business. Starting with the people aspect, both owners, Corey and Laurie, value the family-like aspect that they have created with their employees. Corey stated in the interview, “It’s the way I treat my customers and employees, all like family. My guys don’t work for me; they work with me, and every customer is equivalent to a guest in my home.” Moving toward the profit aspect of the TBL, the bagel chips and colouring books are small editions of their products that help generate a little extra revenue alongside their main deli and catering aspects. However, as mentioned earlier, third-party food delivery companies take around thirty percent of the revenue on each sale of Corey’s Bagels, cutting margins down to very slim amounts for online deliveries.

Lastly, the innovative bagel chips help the planet since they reuse bagels that were defective or not sold and would be thrown out at the end of the day. Corey’s Bagels will now slice and double-bake them to create the chip-like form. In addition, partnerships are a part of the 5P framework, along with the TBL and “peace,” which Corey’s Bagels also satisfies, not specifically with other countries, but with Make-A-Wish Illinois, which is difficult for a non-franchise company to acquire, where a portion of every sale they make, including operating revenues (daily sales), colouring book sales, and bagel chip sales. Corey’s Bagels also provides peace with its homey nature and welcoming culture, similarly described under people.

Our AIM2Flourish story and, in general, what this initiative is trying to achieve was overall a unique experience that we had not gotten to participate in before. This project helped us learn about what makes a business stand out because while we were looking for a company, we tried identifying an innovation that made them stand out, as well as how they positively contribute to the community around them. In the future, we plan to take the advice provided by Corey, involving never stretching yourself or your business out too far without the right infrastructure. It will then become hard to manage, which is what happened to Corey and the rapid expansion of his 13 locations, which was too much to manage by himself. Building off this, as a future businessperson, we see ourselves making sure that our business model revolves around in-person interactions, like Corey, where we treat customers like family, making them want to return. However, the third-party services have diluted the income from catering, so although higher volume is being reported compared to pre-pandemic, the thirty percent taken by these catering apps lowers their margins. Making sure that there is a connection between the business and the customer, not the customer and the delivery driver, is something that we had never thought about before Corey taught us. Saying yes to every opportunity and reaching out to people through in-person interactions, which are lacking these days, are two key takeaways that we would use for our future selves when breaking into the business world. This career for Corey jumpstarted due to an interaction he had with his neighbour from always bringing him bagels. His neighbour moved to Florida and asked him to come there and make bagels, so he said why not, eventually turning into a success, all because he said yes to an opportunity, showing the importance of connections.

We separated the work evenly amongst all the team members, where partners from each university would work on the part of the assignment allocated to them. For example, whoever was able to secure an interview would be the pair to conduct the interview, record it, and complete the AIM2Flourish story, which was the students from Dominican University. The other two pairs—from the University of Guelph and the University of Navarra—would complete the poster and reflection. In our case, the pair from the University of Guelph wrote up the group reflection after discussing it with the group and transcribed the interview that was recorded, and the pair from the University of Navarra completed the poster, with help from the University of Guelph pair if needed.

Our group worked well together, and we are grateful for that outcome, as there were very minimal challenges. We had great communication while in meetings as well as outside through WhatsApp to let each other know if they could make the meeting, why they couldn’t make it, and any ad-hoc work or questions. In terms of accountability for assigned work, everything was completed promptly. This is because we were motivated to complete the assignment and discuss the assignment with each other in our weekly meetings. Lastly, our personalities did not clash, and we got along with each other very well, leading to dynamic meetings without any issues or problems.

One difficult thing was the time for our meetings due to being one 30-minute slot within the weekday that all of us were able to meet, and a lot of the team people had to miss attending for personal reasons, which was understandable. This did not hinder us from building bonds and ensuring work was completed. Another challenge was conversation apart from the assignment. We had a small window of time to meet each other, making it difficult to fit in time to have regular conversations with each other, meaning we missed an opportunity to further connect and learn more about each other.

Individual Reflections

Citlaly Estrada-Olmos 

As a member of my COIL team, I am satisfied with the outcome of the group project despite the challenges and circumstances that were posed. I truly enjoyed collaborating and getting to meet my team members. This was a great opportunity to collaborate with a diverse team across different cultures and time zones. The trickiest problems I feel we faced were meeting times and communication skills. Due to the different time zones, it was difficult at first to find a good meeting time that fit best for all of us. This also made it difficult to communicate throughout the day as our busy schedules did not always align. However, I feel we made the most of it and did our best to communicate through WhatsApp and Zoom. We effectively created a schedule and adapted it through the tools we could use. Most of us were very collaborative and helpful, which made the experience more pleasant and enjoyable.

Gavin McPeek (Dominican University):

I have learned a lot throughout my experiences being a part of my COIL team. Getting to work with and learn about other people from both Canada and Spain was a very cool experience. Almost everyone on our team showed up to all the meetings and was a big part of the success of our project. The interview with Corey from Corey’s NYC Bagel Deli was a very enlightening experience in a multitude of ways. I learned a lot about the restaurant and bagel-making business and was inspired by Corey and Laurie’s mission of helping children out. Connecting and learning about sustainable development goals was also a very enlightening experience. While we certainly had our difficulties with different time zones and schedules, we did a good job of planning out and finding good meeting times. There was not a language barrier, which was good, and I felt as though all my team members were respectful, motivated, and hardworking. This project was one of my favorite assignments of my educational career, and I am really proud of our collaborative work. I feel lucky to have been a part of this project and our great team.

Alejandro Saiz Guerricagoitia (University of Navarra):

Being part of my COIL team, I am satisfied not only with how the distribution of work was but also with the commitment every teammate had to the project. At first, we faced the challenge of choosing the hours suitable for all of us, knowing that we all had different hours and some of the teammates had to wake up at 6:30 in the morning to join the meeting. The following challenges we faced were much easier, as we were all committed to developing the best project we could. Despite companies not answering and the existence of external exams, we could face the problem and achieve our goals. I am grateful to be part of such a team, as I met different people from different countries and different cultures who worked hard for the project to have a successful outcome.

Devin Maizels 

As the end of my COIL experience is near, I can now reflect and look back on all the challenges and successes that came with COIL. Overall, I believe this experiential experience was a major success, including the people I got to work with, the work we achieved, and the cross-cultural coordination and communication we experienced.

The first bridge our team had to cross was deciding on a weekly time we could meet, which wasn’t so bad with the help of an Excel spreadsheet and WhatsApp for communication. We stuck with this time for all four meetings, with a funny hiccup during daylight savings, but I’m sure our group is not alone on that front.

Our group also struggled slightly when it came to finding a company to interview. The lead we had in Guelph decided to stop replying, leaving us with no company. Gavin, from Dominican University, stepped up and secured a local bagel deli in Chicago, Illinois. The company’s enthusiasm was a great help in meeting our tight deadlines!

In the end, our team was able to form friendships and bonds, learn about our different working styles, and help each other succeed and achieve our goals. I would recommend this experience to any university student interested in exploring the different dynamics found around the world.

Andrew Haley 

I was pleasantly surprised with how well this COIL assignment turned out, as I had initially thought when it was first introduced to us that it would be very difficult to coordinate everything with my group. However, we met all the deadlines and were always communicating with each other on WhatsApp when not in our weekly meeting about any needs, worries, or trouble any one of us encountered, as well as consistently keeping everyone updated on the progress of their loosely assigned roles.

With this cross-cultural experience, I learned that what we completed in class regarding accountability translated over to my COIL group, but in slightly different ways for each country. Each pair from the three different universities had accountability for their part of the assignment. My partner and I were more group-oriented and wanted to complete our work with the reassurance or backing of our groupmates to make sure that our ideas were aligned with their beliefs and vision of our component. The pair from Chicago preferred to get work done their way, and the pair from Spain was more relaxed than the others and enjoyed completing the assignment at their own pace, with no rushing, but still efficiently and effectively. No matter the method or issues along the way, this COIL assignment was a great experience to be a part of! In addition, the pair from Dominican University, specifically Gavin, being so quick to find a company, and Citlaly helping a lot with the story, were both turning points in our assignment, making the group excited to continue now that we finally had information to start and base our project on. Although there were many challenges we encountered, there were more positives that I gained, such as worldwide relationships, an insight into how a small business runs its stores, and collaboration with virtual team members, which are all things I can look back at in the future and further reflect on!

Alvin Eduardo Rojas de León 

After having completed the COIL project, I can personally say that I appreciated how we divided tasks according to our strengths, which made the process smoother. We faced some setbacks, particularly in aligning our schedules and choosing a company that would help us obtain the required information for the project, but we learned to be flexible and support each other, and thankfully, Gavin from Dominican University managed to find a compliant company. Overall, the experience reinforced the value of teamwork and taught me how crucial it is to maintain open lines of communication. By the end, we not only completed our project successfully but also strengthened our relationships and learned a lot from each other.

Overall, it was a very enriching experience, sharing different cultures and adapting to any obstacles that got in the way. Each member had a unique and different perspective and way of working, which led to more creative outcomes. So, to conclude, I would recommend this project to continue through perpetuity.