The year is 1966. The place is Minneapolis, Minnesota. More specifically, on the NW corner of 50th Street&Penn. A young man, Carl, met with an energetic and cheerful entrepreneur. On a Sunday afternoon shortly after moving to Minneapolis Carl was visiting with Ray. And.. well, here, let me have Carl tell you in his words:“I visited with Ray about getting into the retail baking business. He recommended the best way to learn is by hands-on experience. He invited me to accompany him to the bakery to prepare his 'bake-order' for the next day. He handed me a bucket and asked me to fill with cream icing from a barrel. I said, ‘With what?’. And he said, 'Use your hand'. So, dig in I did and when I was done he said, ‘It looks like you’ve done that before', and offered me a job. I worked there from January 4, 1966 to June 1970.”50th & Penn LocationAnother baker there was Ben. Ben grew up in the bakery business and was said to be a very ambitious worker with a hunger for learning. Let's hear Carl’s experience of working with Ben: "Ben was the ‘oven man’ and he took great pride in it and he was good at it. But we also worked on the bench together. Sometimes we would race to see who could twirl the most croissants or be the fastest at something! He had a great sense of humor and was often very witty. The holidays were especially fun and busy, and I can remember Easter and all the eggs, little chicks and bunnies and hot cross buns… and of course he would always come up with remarks like 'it’s a hare-raising experience’, or ‘let’s get busy and hop to it’. Carl (second from left), Ray (middle), Ben (2nd from right)So, who are these people? Well, let’s fast-forward and find out!The year is 2002. The place is Phoenix, Arizona. More specifically, at a Starbucks at PV Mall in Phoenix on the NW corner of Tatum & Cactus. A young man, Jack, met with an energetic and cheerful entrepreneur. On an afternoon in September shortly after finishing up his work for the day at 2721 E Tamarisk, Jack was sitting down and visiting with Bruce about real estate. And on a napkin, a business plan was laid out. By October 1, 2002, a business was born and ready to buy houses. Carl, the man mentioned in the beginning, is Carl Martin, Jack’s father. Ray & Ben are the late grandfather and father of Bruce Wuollet. Carl worked with Ray & Ben at the Wuollet Bakery in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Ben and Carl worked together for nearly 5 years. Being that Jack and Bruce are both sons of bakers, a business name was born - Bakerson, LLC. And, that is how we came up with our company name. How cool is that?Ray & CrewA little housekeeping: This blog will share anecdotal reports from the field and real-world experiences through the eyes of the founders. We hope you enjoy these and realize oftentimes that life is stranger than fiction. We cannot make this stuff up!So, sit back, relax and enjoy the stories in the life of Bruce & Jack and the whole Bakerson Family! You will see real estate from my corner of the globe.
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