14 | MAY 28 • 2020
Bagel Boys
To The Rescue
Teen-run delivery service provides bagels, lox and fresh produce to
community members while giving back to workers on the front lines.
I
n early January, tragedy
struck the local bagel scene
when The Bagel Factory
Cafe closed its Birmingham
location.
Three Birmingham teens
decided then to create a delivery
service to help satisfy the bagel
cravings of those throughout
the surrounding area. Thus
began Bagel Boys Delivery
Service.
Temple Israel members Ethan
Marcus, 16, and his brother
Mason, 13, started the compa-
ny with their friend Jonathan
Cloutier, 16, by partnering with
The Bagel Factory’
s location
in Southfield to bring bagels
to those who used to go to
the Birmingham location.
The Bagel Factory located in
Southfield is strictly for order-
ing takeout.
Previously, the location in
Southfield, The Bagel Factory
Cafe in Troy and the location
formally in Birmingham were
all under the same manage-
ment. The management then
decided to sell the Troy and
Birmingham location before the
Birmingham store closed.
The location in Troy and
Birmingham have “cafe” added
to the end simply because they
offer seating for those who
would like to sit and enjoy
their bagel.
The boys began by fulfilling
orders for some of their family
members to ensure they were
up for the task. After the trial
run was complete, they built
their own website, created order
forms and were open for busi-
ness.
Now, faced with the challeng-
es of the coronavirus pandemic
impacting businesses around
the area, the boys pushed for-
ward with
their business
to make sure
that members
of the com-
munity who
wanted bagels
could still
support a local
business with-
out leaving
their homes.
“On every
delivery, we wear gloves. We
don’
t wear masks on the deliv-
ery, only when we enter the
bagel factory, simply because we
don’
t come in contact with peo-
ple when we make a delivery,
”
Ethan said. “We text them to let
them know their order has been
delivered.
”
Their business has experi-
enced exponential growth. They
started off with just six cus-
tomers but continued to watch
their delivery numbers increase.
They wound up with 260 deliv-
eries to make on Sunday, May
10: Mother’
s Day, the ultimate
bagel-brunch holiday.
The Bagel Boys currently
make deliveries to Birmingham,
Beverly Hills, Bingham Farms,
Franklin, Bloomfield Township,
Bloomfield Hills, West
Bloomfield, Farmington Hills
and Royal Oak.
Orders can
be placed
through their
website and
must be com-
plete before
Saturday at 1
p.m. so they
can ensure
delivery on
Sunday. If the
order is placed
after the cutoff
time, the delivery will simply
take place the following Sunday.
Customers have a choice
from over 28 different bagel fla-
vors and a multitude of different
types and sizes of cream cheese.
The boys now also offer sliced
nova lox from Acme Smoked
Fish, and customers can also
have either a fruit box or veggie
box delivered from Leonardo’
s
Produce in Detroit.
“Our goal as a company
right now is to help limit the
amount of people who need
to go to the stores right now,”
Jonathan said. “We want to
help give them the food they
need without having to leave
the house so often.”
Since the beginning of the
pandemic, the boys decided
to donate 10% of their por-
tions to Beaumont Hospital
in Royal Oak. They have also
delivered hundreds of bagels
to the staff at the hospital,
courtesy of members of the
community who placed those
orders.
“Once the COVID pan-
demic started, we wanted to
give back to our community
who was fighting on the front
lines,” Jonathan said. “We
just sent them a donation of
$1,130.37 and approximately
four weeks ago we made a
donation of $209.”
While it may be cheesy, there
is no denying that the Bagel
Boys Delivery Service has been
a hole-in-one for the local com-
munity and to those working
on the front lines during the
COVID-19 pandemic.
If you or someone you know would like
to purchase an order of bagels, you
can head to http://bagelboysdelivery-
service.com for more information.
CORRIE COLF STAFF WRITER
“We wanted to
give back to
our community
on the front
lines.”
— JONATHAN CLOUTIER
Jews in the D