Muddy Waters Cafe'

Posted September 17th, 2007 by muddywaterscafe
in

Background

Dennis & Paula Tafoya began Villarosa Bakery in January of 2004. It all started when the two decided to blend Paula’s Sicilian Heritage with Dennis’s Long Island roots combined with an equal love of baking. They baked for several wholesale accounts over the next year and half, including Muddy Waters Café. In April on 2005 they were approached by the cafés previous owner about the possibility of purchasing Muddy Waters. Their goal had always been to own their own business so that they could work together everyday, so they purchased the café and began as the new operators on May 1st 2005. Dennis continued to maintain his job as plant manager for the Scott’s Company while Paula operated the café and continued to bake for their other wholesale accounts.

Then on July 1st 2005 they opened a second Muddy Waters Café on Medina’s Historic Square. Dennis was able to leave his job in August and the two began growing the chain. Ironically, on their first day as new owners of Muddy Waters Café in Wooster they were visited by Tim and Richard Smucker and the group working on the Heartland Point project. The group discussed with Dennis and Paula that they were in search of a coffee shop/café to operate inside the new Heartland Point in Orrville. It wasn’t until late October that Dennis and Paula were advised that they had been selected as the operators of choice.

Since then, the two have planned some unique ideas for the Heartland Point Muddy Waters menu. They will offer locally produced items such as Smucker’s Uncrustables, Knudsen Juices and Smith Dairy Milk products. The majority of their baked goods will be made from scratch in the full commercial kitchen in the lower level. They will offer such items as their 2005 Taste of Medina Winning Cheesecake and Cannoli as well as muffins, biscotti, scones and various other pastry/dessert bars. For lunch they will serve a complete line of Boar’s Head meats/cheeses and Certified Angus Beef Products. They will have a variety of salads and soups, including their award winning Tuscan Tomato soup. Muddy Waters Café will also provide catering services to the lower level conference room that can seat up to a 120 people.

Keys to Success

We have a focus on consistency across the company so that if you visit any one of our 4 locations you will find the service and food exceptional and above all the customer is our number one priority.

Target Customers

Since we are located in downtowns, which tend to be the business district of each city we are in, our main clientel is the business professional. We do get college students and young families as well.

Challenges Faced

The main challenges we face are the sluggish economy and retaining quality employees.

Where We're Headed

We intend to add an additional shop in the north end of Wooster in 2008 and then that will be all for at least 18 months. In 5 years we expect to have added at least 2 additional shops to our existing 4.