Joseph' Storehouse Baking Company
From My Heart to Yours
Joseph's Storehouse Baking Company
How it All Began
Michele McCurdy-Buonacorsi was never trained as a professional chef because her career as a chef began by accident. In 1987 her husband at the time was a pastor. They made the decision to leave the main line denomination to start a small Christian fellowship. She was a stay-at-home mom raising four small children with one soon to be on the way. It didn't take long for her to realize that they could not survive on the small salary her husband received from the church.
During that time, she met a woman who sold organic whole wheat and milled her own flour to make this delicious whole wheat bread. Michele was intrigued by the idea, so she contacted her, and she agreed to teach her how to make the bread. She learned quickly and immediately started buying organic whole wheat, milling her own flour, and making bread for her family. Several of her friends had commented that she should sell the bread because it was so delicious. She was shocked, she couldn't imagine anyone wanting to buy something she made!
The holidays were approaching, and things were getting dire financially. One day, her friend, Connie, who knew of her family's financial struggles, called, and said she had a Saturday hair appointment and wanted to know if she could take a few loaves of bread to the beauty salon to sell. Her first response was, "No way!" But after giving it some thought, she figured she could use the money to at least give her kids a Christmas, so she swallowed her pride and put aside her insecurities and hesitatingly agreed.
Saturday arrived and she made a few loaves of bread, put them in a pretty basket and sent her on her way. Later that day her friend returned with $100 having sold every loaf of bread that she sent her with. She said, "everyone loved the bread!" In fact, they loved it so much that they wanted her to come back the following week with more loaves of bread along with sandwiches made on the bread! The following week, she made more bread, a few more sandwiches, and some cookies and that's where it all began!
At the time, it never occurred to her that hairdressers didn't have time to go out and buy lunch nor did she realize that most women get their hair or nails done at some point. It wasn't long before the news spread. Suddenly, she began to receive calls from other beauty salons and hairdressers asking if she'd come by their salons and bring them lunch. People who had purchased a sandwich while in a salon began calling her and asking her if she would make box lunches for their luncheons and business meetings. With the help of Connie and her ex-husband, they were soon preparing and delivering food daily all over town.
It didn't take long before she had more business than the three of them could handle in her small home kitchen. She was earning enough money to support her family and was even able to save a little money on the side. She knew that she was on to something. She also knew that to keep up with the demand and keep her customers satisfied, she would be forced to hire some help and move the production to a larger facility with more ovens and more space. In 1992 she decided to lease a small store front, serving breakfast and lunch. The restaurant was an instant success.
