Family affair

How Heidi’s Brooklyn Deli is putting the love in fast casual

By Michael J. Pallerino

They started with bagels, a few sandwiches and ice cream. In a small 1,400-square-foot space in a 100-year-old building in Denver, Heidi Bendiksen Naples and Steve Naples hung a sign that announced “Heidi’s Bagels and Ice Cream” was open for business. The Naples simply wanted to bring a little bit of home to the Mile High City. Having moved to Denver in 1990, Heidi coming from Bay Ridge Brooklyn, New York, and both being East Cost natives, they loved the free spirit and calming atmosphere of their new city, but they could not find a good bagel or sandwich.

Entrepreneurs being entrepreneurs, they opened their shop, which they later named “Heidi’s Brooklyn Deli,” on Sept. 9, 1994.

As the story goes, bagels, a few sandwiches, ice cream and a whole lot of blood, sweat and tears go a long way. In May 1999, Steve and Heidi opened their second Heidi’s Brooklyn Deli in the northern suburb of Denver called Northglenn. The first franchise location opened in March of 2005 south of Denver in Lone Tree, Colorado. Today, the little sandwich that could has 15 franchises nationally with two in development, nine of which are in Colorado. And the march continues. Commercial Kitchens sat down with Jenee Naples Massey, President & CEO of Heidis Brooklyn Deli and Naples Franchising Systems, to see what the brand is doing heading into 2020 and beyond.

Give us a snapshot of the Heidi’s brand? Heidi’s Brooklyn Deli is more than a brand. It is my family’s legacy. In 1994, my parents, Heidi and Steve Naples, moved to Denver and co-founded Heidi’s with a simple idea that people in their community would appreciate dynamic food served with the warmth and hospitality that they grew up experiencing in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.

Premium quality is at the heart of every plate we serve. Beginning with the bread that is made from scratch every morning in each location, we serve up unforgettable deli sandwiches with unique flavor pairings alongside a robust menu of offerings, including salads, wraps, soups, smoothies and breakfast.

In partnership with our wonderful franchisees and vendors, we have been building lasting relationships with our guests across the country. And thanks to our guests, we are proud to be in our 26th year of business. With my sister, Juliana, by my side, we are honored to be taking our brand into the next generation.

What type of consumer are you targeting? A consumer with an appetite. At Heidi’s, we are proud to be building relationships with our guests ages 1-100. It is a true privilege to see a generation of people that came to Heidi’s as kids with their parents now bringing their kids and their parents in to dine with us. Our menu is dynamic and we strive to create an inclusive environment.

How does the design of Heidi’s cater to what today’s consumers are looking for? Today’s consumers are tomorrow’s consumers just as they were once yesterday’s consumers. We have made the choice as a family and company not to constantly reinvent our image. With that said we understand the importance of striving to innovate and evolve alongside our guests, without losing the intrinsic value that makes us who we are. The magic happens when you are able to balance nostalgia with staying relevant. We are constantly working to find that sweet spot. Practically, we do believe it is important to reinvest in and refresh your business. However, we do not believe in asking a franchisee to put their resources into re-imagining the aesthetic design of their space every few years. We feel the resources of the franchisee are better spent investing in their people and their community. To that end, we intentionally design our spaces with real materials like oak millwork and stone countertops. We are built to last.

Is there a location that really shows how the brand interacts with the community and customers? One of your favorites? We are blessed to have incredible franchisees from coast to coast who have built incredible relationships within their communities. To highlight a couple, our franchisees in Arizona and Maine have been with us for over a decade and have become staples in their respective communities. Whether it is hosting community meetings or sponsoring the local youth league, these franchisees exemplify what it means to be a part of their community.

Walk us through how and why they are designed the way they are? These restaurants are warm and inviting. The millwork throughout our restaurants are fabricated with mahogany stained oak.

The Zero VOC paints on the walls are soft yellow with hints of burgundy throughout. We source light fixtures that create a cozy space with warm white LED light. We intentionally stay away from the cool white light throughout the space. Our restaurant is a gathering place, not a warehouse, and the choice of lighting is essential to creating this ambience.

Take us through your construction and design strategy. We begin with getting valuable feedback from our franchisees and create a “wish list” of design ideas. Our strategy then begins in the kitchen. We have refined our layout to create the most efficient and effective use of space for operations and product production with a heavy focus around catering operations.

It has become important to us to create a space where the key areas of the kitchen are visible to our guests. For example, the oven and bread mixer are visible and highlighted in our spaces to convey the message to our guests visually that we bake all of our breads from scratch every single day in each location. When considering the layout of the lobby, we consider how we can create a warm and intimate environment, while also ensuring the flow of the space is efficient and logical to the guest.

When we choose the aesthetic design elements, we are considering impact and cost at every turn. Value engineering is a key element to our construction and design strategy.

What’s the biggest issue today related to the construction side of the business? We do not feel it is a new issue, but we do feel the labor market is stretched thinner today. We start any construction project with the intention of staying on schedule and within budget, but we communicate realistic expectations to our franchisees. A GC is often struggling to find subs or get their subs to the job on schedule.

In our home market of Denver, there is building happening everywhere and not enough young people getting into trade professions to service the demand. As a franchisor, I have learned to ask the professionals around me what they are experiencing on a regular basis. Our architects, GCs, real estate brokers and equipment vendors experience the pressure points in construction every day. Instead of building an unrealistic project schedule and demanding results, we are working to create a realistic schedule in collaboration with all of our partners in order to set our franchisee up for success.

Talk about sustainability. What are you doing? Our co-founder, and my mother, Heidi, has been buying groceries with reusable bags since the early ’90s. We regularly discuss how we can make “green” decisions while also being budget conscious on behalf of our franchisees. We source repurposed tile and made the switch to Zero VOC Paints four years ago. We spec LED lighting in our design. On the product side, we spent the last eight years sourcing “clean” proteins and cheeses from multi-generational family farm partners across the country, including Rumiano Cheese Company and Fra’Mani Italian Meats, to name a couple.

Sustainability is a popular and important buzzword right now. As a family, we are working to make thoughtful and truly impactful decisions about how to support the environment. I hope our industry chooses to be genuine in decision-making around sustainability and not simply play the “perception game.” That may mean slower progress than our industry thinks the consumer wants, but it is foundational progress and I feel that is much more important. There is a lot of waste in our industry, and it is going to require risk taking and complete sincerity to move the needle in the right direction for future generations. We want to be a part of that conversation.

What do you see as some of your biggest opportunities moving ahead? We believe there is incredible opportunity when you choose to be authentic. We see the opportunity to have honest and meaningful relationships within our industry starting with our franchisees. The immediate opportunity I see in our business is supporting the franchisees I am already partnered with. They are, and will always be, my priority as a leader.

As a brand, we are focused on three areas: technological innovation, meaningful storytelling and thoughtful growth.

This is a very exciting time to be in the restaurant industry when you look at how impactful technology can be—whether it is connecting with your customer or developing your product.

We believe in the power of rich and meaningful storytelling. The world is flooded with content. If we are going to put content out as a brand, we want it to be impactful. Our food vendor partners have powerful stories to tell and we are proud to be a vehicle to share these stores.

We see tremendous opportunity for our brand to expand and become a part of communities around the world but not at the expense of our franchisees today. We learned many valuable lessons in the last 10 years. We are careful not to get ahead of ourselves as we enter into growth mode for the first time in a decade.

Are you optimistic about what you see today in the marketplace? We see great opportunities in non-traditional spaces. Currently, 25% of our locations are in non-traditional spaces like C-stores and airports. We see tremendous value in being part of a larger ecosystem. With occupancy rates pushing well beyond 15% in competitive markets, we are looking at non-traditional opportunities to bring the same delicious food and warm hospitality to our guests.

What is your growth plan? What areas are you targeting? For the last 18 months, our focus has been our current franchisee partners. We have focused on refining our systems and processes in all areas of the business. It was a period of reset after being in business for 25 years, and it provided our team and franchisees more value than we could have imagined.

As we expand our focus to include growth, we are more interested in quality than quantity. We are only focused on markets where our distribution channels are solid. It is a chicken and egg conversation. We rely heavily on our distribution partners and we aren’t going to try and force a new market at a franchisees’ expense. We are based in the West, so we are focused on growth from the inside out, beginning with Colorado, Wyoming, South Dakota, Nevada, Arizona and California.

What trends are you seeing? The desire for connection and community. But this trend is here to stay longer than a few quarters in a fiscal year. As a family and brand, we are more interested in creating meaningful relationships with our guests than anything else. Keeping up with trends is not what has kept us in business the last 25 years. It is the meaningful relationships our franchisees and employees build that keeps us relevant.

With that said, we understand and appreciate the importance of continually innovating and creating new magical experiences with our guests, but we believe that more than ever, people are seeking connection—and breakfast all day long. We have been trending “breakfast all day” on handmade bagels for 25 years so we hope that trend continues on. Heidi Bendiksen Naples and her daughters, Juliana Naples and Jenee Naples Massey.

What is the secret to creating a “must visit” restaurant environment in today’s competitive landscape? I will refer to my answer above about trends and add consistency. Consistency is incredibly difficult to achieve in the restaurant industry and we are working daily with our franchisees to bring the consistent quality that our guests have come to love.

What is today’s consumer looking for? Connection. Community. Consistency. Quality. Sincerity. Authenticity. I guess I could say, all of the above. That is what we believe today’s consumer not only wants, but deserves.

What’s the biggest item on your to-do list right now? We are currently in the development of a new ordering system. We are bringing technology into the guests’ ordering experience for the first time. The technological elements are intended to support, not replace the employee. It is an exciting project to bring to life.

Describe a typical day. My day typically starts with my four year old waking me up for breakfast around 5:30 a.m. The best alarm clock there is. Work out. Get the kids ready and drop them at school before heading to the office. It is 8 a.m.-6 p.m. at the office. Meetings. Calls. Franchisee checkins. I love having the privilege of being able to touch all areas of our business on a daily basis. I will bounce from construction reviews to vendor meetings to product tastings to marketing strategy, etc. Visiting our test kitchen is a highlight of my work week.

Home around 6 p.m. for homework time with the kids, family dinner and bedtime at 8:30 p.m. for the kids. I get back to my work for a couple hours before winding down. Lights out by 11 p.m., fingers crossed.

My role requires a fair amount of travel to visit my franchisees. It is one of my favorite parts of the job, but blending in family time is always interesting. I am blessed to have incredible children, and a supportive husband and community around me.

Tell us what makes you so unique? My mother would always tell me, “You are unique—just like everyone else.” That is what immediately comes to mind. In all seriousness, being a part of a family business and growing up the daughter of entrepreneurs has provided me tools to see the world a little differently. When I come to a fork in the road, I rarely see just two paths. I am not afraid to step out and create my own path.

One-on-One with...

Jenee Naples Massey President & CEO Heidis Brooklyn Deli, Naples Franchising Systems

What’s the most rewarding part of your job? I love people. I love connecting with people and supporting people in achieving their goals, be it a team member mastering a handmade bagel and becoming a star baker or helping a franchisee become a small business owner. It is the most wonderful and rewarding experience when you see someone have that moment of pure joy when they find true pride in their work. I am blessed to go on those journeys with my people.

What was the best advice you ever received? My father always quoted Eleanor Roosevelt when I was a child: “No one makes you feel inferior without your consent.” I spent two semesters in college before the recession really hit our family and business hard. I chose to step back into the family business where I received a world-class education in my profession. There have been times over the last decade I will attend an event or be in a meeting where I am asked where I went to college, and a sense of inferiority creeps in and right behind that feeling is my father’s voice quoting Eleanor. Today, my answer is “the school of life” and I wouldn’t change a thing.

What’s the best thing a client ever said to you? I think actions speak louder than words. When a franchisee welcomes me into their home to stay when I visit and we share stories about life, business and family over blueberry martinis, that is better than words can express. Name the three strongest traits any leader should have. I am still learning from the great leaders how to be a leader every day. I just turned 30. My leadership journey is just beginning.

I loved and deeply appreciated the book, “The Ride of a Lifetime,” by one of the greatest leaders of our time, Bob Iger. I carry that book with me everywhere I go. He talks a lot about optimism—and in my personal experience— that has been critical to my leadership journey. We are a family-owned business, and we have had many ups and downs. Making the choice to remain optimistic through the ups and downs kept me on the path toward my current role. My franchisees have great days and hard days. Negativity doesn’t help them through the tough days. Optimism is what makes those days just a bit brighter. I believe a leader must be honorable with their word. Be realistic and be honest.

I believe a leader must lead by example. I love to teach my franchisees how to mop the floor as my father taught me. For one, knowing how to properly mop a floor is essential in the restaurant business. In addition, I believe it is important for everyone in your ecosystem to experience by example what is expected of them.

How do you like to spend your down time? Hide and Seek at the park with my babies. I am blessed to have two beautiful children, Hanalyn, 7, and Donovan, 4. Once in a while my husband and I sneak away to Copper Mountain for a powder day on our snowboards. That is pure heaven for me.