Rosenberg’s Bagels is changing business model before reopening
Five Points institution Rosenberg’s Bagels should reopen sometime in June after closing suddenly last week due to a staffing shortage.
Joshua Pollack, the deli’s owner, said he’s taking a few weeks to regroup with his remaining staff “to determine what is sustainable for everyone.”
“Over the past two years, a lot has fallen on our management team and key employees, requiring them to constantly pick up the pieces and keep things going at an intense pace,” Pollack wrote over email, “but, burnout got to the point where we could no longer move forward.”
In an interview with Businessden, he described employees working more than 70 hours a week for over a year, though he clarified that his managers could earn as much as $100,000 a year, with benefits, while hourly employees could make up to $30 an hour.
“Unfortunately, we are going through what everyone else in the industry has been experiencing,” Pollack said of labor costs and shortages.
As a result, when it does reopen sometime next month, Rosenberg’s Five
Points will switch to a grab-and-go model. Customers will no longer be able to order bagel sandwiches, though they can buy bagels, lox and spreads separately to build their own combinations. Pastries and beverages, including alcohol, will also be available at the counter.
The deli’s dining room won’t reopen yet, but Pollack says diners will be able to take their food and drinks onto an outdoor patio for “picnic-style” eating along the recently activated Clarkson Street pedestrian block between 26th and 28th streets.
“Our main focus is being able to keep our high standards of quality in our products and our hospitality that our customers have come to enjoy,” he added.
Rosenberg’s two other locations, at Aurora’s Stanley Marketplace and in Boulder, will continue to sell a full menu and offer restaurant seating.
By the end of 2022’s first quarter, the hospitality sector was experiencing the highest quit rates of any industry, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Quit rates reached just over 6% of the total number of restaurant and hotel employees in March, compared to just under 1% of the same worker pool that had either been laid off or fired.