With over 90 years of experience serving the Atlanta area sweet treats and savory sandwiches, Henri’s Bakery & Deli knows how important flexibility is to keep their doors open. That much is evidenced by the impressive growth they’ve maintained despite fierce competition in the restaurant industry. They opened their fifth location in January of 2024, and they acquired Grateful Bread Co. in July. Now, they’re on track to open their sixth location.
We sat down with Joel Keller, Chief Operating Officer for Henri’s, to learn more about how the business has grown over the last four years without sacrificing the personal touch that helped establish the bakery’s legacy with their customers.
Joel recognizes that the way guests discover and interact with restaurants has evolved since 2020. Consumers are increasingly using technology to identify dining options, and inconvenient online experiences will serve as a significant obstacle to sustained growth.
Higher consumer expectations are a driving force in Henri’s near half-decade-long relationship with Popmenu. Through their website, dynamic menus, and first-party online ordering, the bakery provides guests with all the information they need to make a dining decision. That includes positive reviews from customers under every dish, high-quality dish photos that turn their online menus into a virtual display counter, and direct online ordering for faster, commission-free to-go dining.
Key to all of these features is their ability to collect customer contact information, creating opportunities for Henri’s to re-engage guests through marketing communications in the future. Since 2020, the bakery has amassed over 26,000 guest contacts, earned over 1,000,000 marketing impressions, and brought in over $206,000 through email marketing alone—all done through Popmenu’s robust suite of marketing tools.
A primary growth strategy for Joel and his team over the last four years has been catering. Their festive baked goods make Henri’s a popular option for guests, especially during the holiday season. Popmenu’s dynamic menus and online ordering play a key role in keeping the staff organized and efficient, even when orders are pouring in.
“We have items that take longer to make than a turkey sandwich, like our classic cakes. The ability to put those online and show people what products we have frees up our customer service. Every person who places an online order is one less person calling our restaurants.”
Additionally, Joel leverages the lead times for catering orders included in Popmenu’s catering feature. This allows the team to plan ahead on orders and ensures “you’re not taking 300 orders 12 hours before Christmas Eve.” A lesson so specific, Joel clearly learned it the hard way. These tools have better equipped Henri’s to maintain a high level of service during their busiest times and earned the bakery over $145,800 in catering sales in 2023.
As Henri’s expands, Joel reflects on the importance of having a technology partner, not a product, to sustain and measure the brand’s growth.
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