Today we’d like to introduce you to Anna Marie Adams.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Anna Marie. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
My husband and I both worked in restaurants our early adult lives, his family is Greek and owned restaurants in LA. I had graduated from Fairhaven College and was taking a break, working as a server in fine dining and volunteering in my field. We were at a bit of a crossroads and had always fantasized about opening restaurants. The deli was a longtime idea. I swore I’d never open a restaurant until we did. Bellingham is a make your own way kinda town. There wasn’t a real deli here. We opened on a shoestring in June of ’07. I was five months pregnant with our daughter. Two weeks after we opened, our landlord sold the building. It was just the two of us and a very part-time employee. We opened and closed the restaurant every day. We made a million mistakes and somehow survived the recession of ’08 and having a baby with a new business. We moved and expanded a block away around two and a half years in. It almost killed me. We leveraged everything. It was the best thing we could’ve done. We tripled our space. At the time, we weren’t sure how to fill it and now we’re busting at the seams. We love our business because it is multi-faceted and we hate it for the same reason. It’s a lot of working parts and we’re not the best at managing all of it. The focus this year has been trying to make things run better and more efficiently.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Money. Banks don’t want to loan to a restaurant. It’s expensive, things are always breaking, prices fluctuate and the minimum wage keeps rising dramatically. Employees. No one cares about your business like you do. It’s really hard to find good people and keep them. Management. While you’re in the trenches, it’s hard to lay down the systems. We kept growing and not really addressing how to put systems in place. We’re working really hard on that this year. Staying current.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
We are a true deli in the sense we sell meat & cheese by the pound, we have an extensive wine section that focuses on quality wines & a market section with groceries and cocktail fixings. But we are a lunch place known for our amazing sandwiches, soup made from scratch, salads and meat & cheese plates. We’re open evenings Thursday through Saturday with happy hour and evening specials, live music on Saturday nights. We make our own roast beef, corned beef, pastrami, bacon, sausage, pate, rillettes, duck confit & smoked duck breast. We also do catering and events. Our focus is specialty, uniquely artisan, quality products.
What were you like growing up?
I’m a great audience. I laugh easily and people love my laugh. Unless they’re self-conscious. If I’m laughing, it’s good. If I’m silent, look out. I’ve always been interested in arts, travel, food, and wine as I became older. I wanted to be an interior designer and architect when I was a kid.
Contact Info:
- Address: 1228 N State St, Bellingham WA 98225
- Website: oldworldbellingham.com
- Phone: 360-738-2090
- Email: [email protected]
Image Credit:
Cameron Jennings
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