INDIANAPOLIS — Erica Loza has worked at Rise'n Roll Bakery in Broad Ripple since last May. This week, she is helping out at their new location in downtown Indianapolis.
“I work at this location and the Broad Ripple location,” Loza said.
Luckily, she is loving the extra hours of being on both location's schedules as this is the new reality for some people in the service industry.
"Until we can get some more people at both locations, a couple of us are going to be floating around a little bit,” she said.
"Definitely helps, makes it easier to get things up and going,” said Casey McGaughey, owner of Rise'n Roll in downtown Indianapolis.
McGaughey was hoping to have the new location of the bakery franchise open back in Spring of this year, but the pandemic caused delays with staffing of contractors, permits, and other issues that pushed things back. He’s grateful they are finally in a position to start serving customers their donuts and baked goods.
“We’re pretty aggressive with how proud we are of the products and we think it’s the best donut you're ever going to eat,” McGaughey said.
But the challenge of staffing is still looming according to Nathan Elliott, who is the general manager for both the Broad Ripple and downtown Indianapolis locations.
Elliott said it is not only a lack of applicants but a lack of follow-through from candidates.
“Here recently it seems like if I get ten applicants and I email every single one of them, I am getting two responses back and out of those two responses I might get one person that shows up for an interview,” Elliott explained.
Right now, they have enough workers between their locations to get the doors open at the new spot. But they're hoping more people will apply for their open positions soon.
"It's a challenge for everybody I don't think it's the restaurant business I think it's all businesses really,” McGaughey added.
Customers can stop by Rise'n Roll’s new downtown location Wednesday and Thursday for a soft opening. On Friday, there will be a grand opening where the first several people in line can win free donuts.
For more details on available jobs with the company and how to apply click here.
