This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, March 22, 2011 - UPDATE: On March 21, The #SavePratzels campaign officially became the #PratzelsSaved campaign, with the announcement of the bakery's sale to local documentary maker Jon Mills. Mills will open a new retail counter at the current wholesale outlet 9263 Dielman Industrial Dr. in Olivette under the name Eastgate Bakers, a tribute to the Pratzel's original location on the Delmar Loop. Ronnie Pratzel plans to serve as a consultant for a year, with a target opening date set for May 1, 2011.
While Reimer said Falk Harrison has not contacted their #SavePratzels donors directly, many have expressed their excitement and continued support with a flurry of tweets celebrating the news and a new post on the company's blog.
Original Story
When Pratzel's shuttered on Jan. 30, mourning customers lined up for what looked to be the final bagels and strudels from St. Louis' only kosher bakery. By all reports, they did not leave a crumb -- one particularly nostalgic shopper even bought the aprons off the store clerks' backs.
The next day, the 98-year-old bakery attracted another crowd of supporters, but this group did not come to bid farewell or to buy bread. Instead, people gathered online to entice a new buyer with a growing list of donated services and supplies from area businesses -- complete with the promise of new, hand-stitched, organic fabric aprons to re-outfit the whole staff.
"I'm Jewish, so there's a special place in my heart for Pratzel's, but a lot of this has nothing to do with the fact that this is a kosher bakery. It has to do with the fact that it's a local business in trouble, and most of us are small business owners, who want to help another local business who is in trouble," Meredith Elkin of Stitch The Earth said.
According to Chris Reimer, vice president of social media at Falk Harrison Marketing in Creve Coeur, the idea started with a Tweet from Creative Director Steve Hartman. He promised a year's worth of free social media and photography services for anyone willing to buy Pratzel's, his favorite bakery for holiday parties and client brainstorming sessions.
When Reimer saw the offer, he began reading about the emotional responses to the closure, considered their story of decreased revenue and increased expenses, and formalized the Tweet into a post on the company's blog. Almost immediately, a comment appeared from Aaron Corson of NJC Printing, offering to add $1,000 in free printing services.
"I commented back. I said to Aaron, 'Are you serious?' He said, 'Yeah I am,' and then another group came forward. It was Avid magazine, they offered a full-page ad in all 10 magazines they publish this year. The offers just kept coming. I kept updating the blog post and kept Tweeting that I'd updated it," Reimer said.
By Tuesday, Reimer found himself at the head of a full-on social media campaign, centered on the blog and a #SavePratzels hashtag on Twitter. More advertising agencies, media strategists and local publications came forward, rounding out a list of 15 companies by Wednesday night. On Thursday, he called Ronnie Pratzel, who confirmed that the family is, in fact, looking for a buyer.
"I asked him if he had heard about the whole thing, and he said he had. Actually, he said, his son, who was in London, saw it and called him, and said, 'Hey Dad, something's going on here.' He hadn't seen the blog post yet so I emailed him a link," Reimer said. The Pratzels' official line on the Internet efforts is an expression of thanks to the community and a cautious desire "to see what course this takes."
And while the bakery is very much for sale, many of the companies behind the campaign acknowledge that it is about more than reviving the Pratzel's that closed.
"What actually surprised me the most is not that people got on board, any business that had been around that long would have gotten the same amount of interest if it had closed, but looking at the list, well, I don't know everybody, but there were a lot of names I recognized that are not Jewish," Ben Kaplan, creative director at Act3 Communications Consulting, said.
Reimer attributes some of the campaign's energy to the reach of his own personal network. Even as more people sign on, many of the businesses tuned into this social media conversation come from St. Louis' creative sector. According to Brian Cross, a managing partner at Elasticity Public Relations firm, this means it is a campaign of professional campaign-runners, offering a package of services that both appeals to and suits a new kind of local business.
"Our industries are very much connectors, especially PR folks. PR is about connecting the points of a story together. I think you're seeing these types of agencies jumping in so they can help connect the right people. I haven't seen anybody yet say, 'Here's money, I'm a fund-raiser, I'm a banker, I'll write your applications for loans.'
"Our skills are, 'I can help you get the story out, the word out, traffic into your bakery Mr. and Mrs. Prospective buyer," Cross said.
All of the volunteers work for small, local businesses, and cite a range of reasons for getting involved. Some, like Elkin, signed on to pay tribute to the significance of a landmark institution in the Jewish community. Others, like Kaplan, claim solidarity and respect for a family-run business. For Cross, it is a gesture to build the appearance of a cooperative, effective, and proactive communications industry.
"We thought, as soon as they shut down, it's another bad story about St. Louis and how people can't make it in St. Louis. And that's bad for businesses. So Elasticity's goal is honestly to avoid having another negative story about a company going under, especially now that companies shutter every day. And this time, everybody wants to help, and if you still can't find a buyer -- well, we thought if we can jump in, we can help save this, this can become a success story," Brian Cross said.
All of the volunteers also share a vested interest in keeping the business from closing for reasons that pose a common threat -- no one wants to see St. Louis lose its share of kosher market to Chicago. Pratzel's supplied kosher baked goods to almost 200 buyers across the St. Louis region, including Barnes-Jewish Hospital, Washington University, and Dierbergs Grocery Stores.
While much of the nostalgia has focused on the retail outlet, the bulk of their revenue was tied up in wholesale operations. In fact, in an interview with The St. Louis Jewish Light, Pratzel said the counter set up in Kohn's Kosher Delicatessen in Creve Coeur continued to earned steady profits, as wholesale profits fell by 15 to 20 percent.
"Whoever steps in to this has only to ignite that customer base by telling the story of Pratzel's and why it's important, why they personally stepped in to take this brand over and continue the legacy. To say, 'Oh yeah, our challahs are awesome, and the food is great, but there's a story that lives on.' It's what makes up a great organizational, institutional story. What are the next 100 years going to look like? What are the stories going to be for generations to come?" Kaplan said.
Reimer believes the chances of finding a buyer will increase as the story expands onto traditional media platforms. But he hopes it happens before companies such as Barnes-Jewish Hospital or Washington University scramble to find new kosher options.
"And where else are you going to get a proper onion roll in this town? There are certain things you can get other places, but a Jewish bakery is the only place you're going to get a decent onion roll, the importance of which should not be underestimated," Kaplan said.
Ariana Tobin, a senior at Washington University, is a Beacon intern.