A Sam's Bagels and More shop will open on Main Street in Westminster this spring, serving freshly baked bagels, homemade cream cheese and coffee.
The shop will be at 1 E. Main St., at Railroad Avenue, and will open about May 1, said Allan D. Gallant, chairman and chief executive officer of Bagels Inc., which operates four shops in the Baltimore area.
Mr. Gallant of Mount Washington and store manager Mike Urbain of Hampstead are working with contractors to renovate 1,400 square feet of leased space formerly occupied by Beltone Hearing Aid Service.
They plan to add windows, construct counters with a view and probably a sit-down area, Mr. Gallant said. They want the changes to blend with the area. The shop will have front and rear entrances.
The building has "character," Mr. Urbain said. "There's not going to be neon lights all over the place."
Mr. Gallant said, "We believe in neighborhood bagel stores."
Sam's Bagels shops also are in three Baltimore neighborhoods -- Roland Park, Charles Village and Federal Hill -- and in Catonsville.
The company tries to become part of a neighborhood and hires people who live nearby, Mr. Gallant said. Two-thirds of employees in the four shops walk to work, he said.
The Westminster shop will employ Mr. Urbain, plus the equivalent of nine full-time employees. It will be open from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday, although the hours may be adjusted to fit customers' needs, Mr. Gallant said.
R. Douglas Mathias, executive director of Greater Westminster Development Corp., said he's glad the bagel shop will be on Main Street.
"We're pleased to see the addition of that business. That should be an excellent location," he said.
Dough for the Sam's bagels is produced at the Catonsville location and frozen.
Employees at each shop thaw, boil and bake the bagels beginning at 4 a.m., Mr. Gallant said.
Customers may buy bagel sandwiches for breakfast or lunch or take home bagels by the dozen.
Sam's makes its own cream cheese; favorites are artichoke Parmesan and sun-dried tomato with basil, he said.
The coffee is a special Sam's blend from The Coffee Mill in the Hampden area of Baltimore, he said.
Sam's Bagels, which had gross sales of $2 million last year, is becoming bicoastal. Mr. Gallant said his wife, Carol, is opening a store in Los Angeles.
They opened the first shop three years ago in Roland Park and called it Sam and Noah's Bagels. Sam is the Gallants' son, and Noah is the son of a former partner. The shop's name changed about two years ago, Mr. Gallant said.
Mr. Gallant and Mr. Urbain met when they worked in the wholesale grocery business at B. Green and Co. in Baltimore.