Has this year flown by or what?? Just a year ago, IZOLA was closed, and after receiving some disappointing news about the permitting requirements for our original loft location, we decided to move. So we were on the hunt for a new home for IZOLA! Our IZOLA Core team was also busy in the production kitchen working on testing new flavor drops so that when we reopened, we'd be set with exciting new croissants and sourdough to share - like our current flavor drops, the Muffuletta Croissant and Currants & Spice Sourdough, both of which were created during our closure.
We first toured 1429 Island Avenue (the future home of IZOLA) in January and immediately knew it was the perfect fit. With its big, airy dining area, opening up to a spacious patio overlooking a park, it was the community space we were looking for where our guests could linger and enjoy a cappuccino and croissant. We also needed a sizable production space for croissant and sourdough production and plenty of refrigeration to support the demand, and that is tough in this town!
It was a 6-week roller coaster ride of negotiations, including days when everyone thought the deal was dead, except Jenny and me (I'll share a little secret with you - we're both just a tad bit stubborn). But by March, we were moving in!
Our closure was expensive, and we knew opening a restaurant would be expensive, too. Hence, we did as much of the renovations ourselves as possible but were also supported by a fantastic team of contractors who believed in what we were trying to create on our little corner in the East Village. Amidst the renovations and moving out of our old space, we tried to make time for fun things like watching the solar eclipse. After filling two 40-yard dumpsters and 10 weeks of wrangling, we were finally ready to set a reopening date.
We interviewed hundreds of candidates to build out our re-opening team and spent two weeks deep in hands-on training. We celebrated passing our inspection and couldn't wait to reopen our doors on June 27, 2024.
We've been open at Island Avenue and cranking for 6 months and have learned so much. Meeting with guests and seeing IZOLA bring so much joy to the community has been the ultimate joy and honor for Jenny and me. We're incredibly proud of what our team has accomplished through what could have been a devastating setback. We work through challenges and setbacks daily because we each believe in creating experiences through hot-from-the-oven croissants, sourdough, and community. Thank you to each and every one of you for walking along on this journey with us!
And I want to give a big, big thank you to our investors—without them, IZOLA would not be here today. You helped us withstand the closure, move, rebuild, and reopen stronger than ever. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
We're stoked to ring in the new year and see what 2025 has in store for IZOLA. Happy New Year!!
HOLIDAY HOURS
Tuesday, New Year's Eve 7a - 2p
CLOSED NEW YEAR'S DAY
Thursday 7a - 2p
Friday 7a - 2p
Saturday (with live music!) 7a - 2p
Sunday 7a - 2p
LET THERE BE WIFI!!
I often say that being a business owner is simply about solving one problem after the other. One surprise we were hit within our first week of renovations in our new spot on Island Avenue was that the only internet service available was.....drumroll, please...DSL! Yes, it was the year 2024 and our only option was DSL. I've named it (Darn Slow Line).
So began our journey to find decent internet. Only nine short months later (ha-ha) of permitting and construction, I'm excited to share that our total download capacity is now 1G, shared with guests and admin. So come "office" at IZOLA and enjoy our faster Wi-Fi!
(I still yearn for fiber internet, maybe our next location!)
JOIN IZOLA
As we shared above, IZOLA is still here today because of our investors. We've fought through many obstacles over the past year, and now we are even more driven to fulfill our mission of changing how Americans experience sourdough and croissants.
We've been asked why we want to scale beyond our single location, and the simple reason is that with scale, we can scale our impact.
We want to provide a healthy return for those who have invested in IZOLA. Scale creates more growth opportunities for our team while creating more living-wage+ jobs for our community, too (50 are planned for IZOLA Main in City Heights). Scale allows us to share IZOLA with the greater Southern California community and offer great-tasting food with exceptional hospitality, served hot from the oven.
So, each investment in IZOLA helps us achieve our goals of building our new production facility in City Heights, expanding IZOLA's sales, providing job training, opening new bread cafes, and improving our technology. Watch our short webinar or visit our Microventures portal to learn how this redevelopment will improve profit margins while creating jobs in a zero-emission dough factory.
If you're ready to invest, just click the "INVEST" button on the top right hand side of the page. You can invest as little as $1000.
Questions? Feel free to email me at jb@izolabakery.com.
And remember that investing is risky...most small businesses fail, so please don't invest more than you can afford to lose.
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