Dam Man(c)Zoro's Girl In Wild Style

Didn't even make it to March Madness?!?

Once again as he almost always is, my old man was right.

Guess this is the opposite of too big to fail, this spot was too small (niche/profit margin/distribution) to succeed.

*Squeezes Out A Little Icing For The Pastries That Ain't Here*

http://haddon.patch.com/articles/cream-puff-biz-tougher-than-brian-zoubek-thought

Cream Puff Biz Tougher Than Brian Zoubek Thought

The former Duke basketball star shutters his Haddonfield bakery six months after opening.

By Bill Duhart

Brian Zoubek never experienced the sweet taste of success. At least not in the latest chapter of his young life.

The 24-year-old, 7-foot-1 former Duke NCAA basketball champion and Haddonfield Memorial High School standout opened a gourmet cream puff shop in late July with the fanfare of national media attention after a Haddonfield Patch article went viral.

But a plain sheet of white paper taped inside the front window of his Dream Puffz Creations bakery this week at 605 N. Haddon Ave. in Haddonfield spelled out an untimely epitaph.

"Unfortunately, we are now closed for the time being," the sign read. "Thank you for all your support and business..."

Late Tuesday evening, Zoubek said he made a decision to shut his business down on Saturday, after a bout of soul searching.

"I learned more in the last six months than I did in the first 24 years of my life," Zoubek said during a telephone interview. "Just one of those things, learned a lot but discovered it was not for me. It's not like it needed to close, it could have kept going. But I had to make a decision to commitment or move on to something I might enjoy more, or get more out of."

Zoubek's decision was so swift that several customers who had orders were urged to reach him by email to get refunds. He said all the customers had been reimbursed by Tuesday night. They can still reach him at z@dreampuffz.com.

He said the cream puff business turned out to be a little tougher than he thought.

"A couple of things that I thought might be able to happen, such as online shipping, I figured out you really can't do, at least not at the same quality and also in terms of wholesaling and the expansion of the product," he said.

Zoubek, part of an NCAA national championship team at Duke University in 2010, said he has begun to dapple in real-estate investing, which could be his next business venture. He said he was grateful for the support his business got in his home town and wanted to thank all of his customers.

"If you find out you're not doing what you want to do every day, then you make a change. Life's too short," said the 7-foot man.

damn, it was yelping well too http://www.yelp.com/biz/dream-puffz-haddonfield

I thought when he started it, it meant he was just content to be a hometown hero, run a store, lead the simple life.

I reckon he's shooting for Duke money instead. Good for him.

Sucks that I didn't get to try one though. I bet they were tasty as hell.

>
>Sucks that I didn't get to try one though. I bet they were
>tasty as hell.

Which it turns out was probably one of the major flaws in the business plan.

I didn't actually try one (not a big sweet tooth) but the presentation looked phenomenal.

Certainly cake and cupcake stores have relatively successful solutions to shipping issues at this point.

But it would've required years of being a Haddonfield bakery owner. And he saw those dollar signs.

>Zoubek, part of an NCAA national championship team at Duke
>University in 2010, said he has begun to dapple in real-estate
>investing, which could be his next business venture.

"First off, I want to thank all the fans for making Dream Puffz come true, especially the Duke and Haddonfield communities. It has been an exciting adventure developing and growing the Dream Puffz brand and business. My experience with the shop and the overwhelming support from the community has been truly amazing.

We have sold over a hundred thousand cream puffs! I strongly encourage entrepreneurs to follow their dreams and invest in building a business they love. While I know there is a strong business potential of a cream puff-based shop, I have been presented with a terrific real estate opportunity that will require my full attention. After much contemplation, I have decided to close Dream Puffz to follow my growing interest in real estate and pursue another business opportunities.

I cannot thank all of our supporters and the amazing Dream Puffz team, who made the best cream puffs in the world, enough. It was an honor to open the business in the community and I look forward to remaining an entrepreneur.

Brian Zoubek, owner/creator Dream Puffz & proud Haddonfield native"

While the "strong business potential of a cream puff-based shop" is a cyse, it was a nice thing for him to include. Way nicer than "small potatoes compared to the Duke-connected real estate game." He's a good guy.

EVERYBODY unemployed is getting into real estate. i'll believe it when i see it.

Buddy Kane, The Real Estate King

That doc about the real estate mogul whose insane lifestyle fell apart when the real estate market went bust?

It's a great watch. Infuriating, but great.

It also sort of underscores how people who were wildly successful at real estate but got hit by the market collapse live: sure, they have debt to pay off, but they still live in swanky houses. Projection of success.

Related sidenote: Laettner has a DOPE mansion. Still.

I was just going to say something about Duke alumni connections, the 1%er douchebag underworld in which brothers help brothers get ahead in a swift and unfair manner...

... but that quote made me think of that doc.

last year. Gotta put that in the queue, thanks.

Like, this wife's total ignorance of how the world works... you feel sad, you feel angry, you laugh.

I was stunned it wasn't nominated for an Oscar, frankly.

>Like, this wife's total ignorance of how the world works...
>you feel sad, you feel angry, you laugh.

which results in things like violent, murderous riots in Greece as their nation falls to pieces, and nah -- I didn't laugh at that movie at all.

I actually had to turn it off it was upsetting me so much.

the movie actually came to MY attention because he's the same CEO that wrote a letter to all his employees in the most recent election that if they vote for Obama they might lose their jobs:

http://gawker.com/5950189/

but yeah, the fact that they thought the documentary would be anything less than a disaster for them is echoes of Idi Amin thinking his documentary would be his own Triumph of the Will.

fuck. that. guy.

Like I said, I left the movie pissed. And sad, really.

But there are plenty of scenes that unfold timing-wise like something from The Office or Curb Your Enthusiasm. Their interactions with laymen, the oblivious statements to the camera, the lingering pause.

It's one of those things where you laugh... and then you realize you shouldn't be.

Regardless of one's tonal perception of the film, I'm assuming you agree it's a must-watch.

I mean, never even mind the heinous crimes of money and power he's responsible, his whole relationship with the Miss Universe contest (or whichever it was) should be a jailable offense by itself.

it is a bit surprising the Oscars didn't touch it, but then again, they seem to be almost reveling in their tone-deafness at this point...

he was prolly doing OKAY -- like clearing 80-120K for himself, but he could prolly doing a lot better by spending his time focused on other stuff.

for a lil 24YO white girl, that's a good life...6 figs running a bakery. he a big ass 7 foot man.

But him leaving a business because its revenue potential is strictly localized and he has other Duke alumni business partners calling his name makes sense too.

Really this post will just boil down to people who like Duke and/or Zoubek wishing him well and seeing the limited revenue possibility of a cream puff shop, and the people who don't like Duke insisting this is a classic flop just like Laettner and Davis and likely try to bait Basa into fighting with them. Somehow Ed O'Bannon and/or John Wall references will make their way into the post, as will my prediction that Zoub would've been a late second round pick. There will be Duke vs. UCLA bust talk, Duke vs. UNC bust talk, Duke vs. UK NBA players talk, and Shells interjecting to stir the pot with his spoon of madmaking on occasion.

Or it will just drop down the board like a stone, as it's merely a novelty report on a pastry shop by a former college player who had one good season-- though Bomb's awesome post title will be remembered, the post itself likely won't.

But somehow... the former feels more likely.

Enough

I'm assuming right on the only street where they have all their little shops.

attached to the Bread Board sandwich shop (which I believe was the first Jersey Mike's back in the day) in the building between Carl's Sunoco & the HField 7-11, diagnally across the street from PJ Whelihan's at the city limits.

for some gourmet creme puffs.

at least it was attached to a sandwich shop that had been open for a couple decades, that area gets enough traffic that everything else there's been open since since the 90's plus rent probably a bit cheaper.

But it's just such a narrow niche to try to go forward with if that one storefront is your sole source of revenue.

I ended up hitting it up while home over Christmas one afternoon as we were getting gas & heading to a party in NYC.

Really wanted to get a pic in there with Z & some Puffz for OKP comedy reasons but I'm almost slightly relieved because I was with my man (a notorious enough asshole amongst our friends that he was dubbed 'The Root Of All Evil' around the time Step In The Arena dropped).

He was driving & happened to be in a UCLA hoodie (result of a bet I'd lost to him that resulted in me hitting up the Westwood bookstore on my way out).

He's been going back & forth on our shared college-hoop email chain with my man who's a Duke fan like Coolidge & Ba.

Anyway, I suggested we pick up some puffz plus wanted that photo opp, 'Evil' decides he wants to go in with me & talk to Big Z too.

When I asked what he was gonna say, he replied 'I'm gonna tell him to get a chiropractor & grow a dick' as a means of returning to the league.

Now I'm having mixed emotions walking up, part of me wanted to see that exchange but the other part of me was thinking 'man, I'm too old for this shit' because poor Z would have been blindsided.

Luckily (or unluckily for the pic & the story purposes) it was just some young college kid working the counter who was real nice & had us in/out within 2-3 minutes as we surveyed the scene with his Duke jersey hanging on one side in a frame & the Haddonfield jersey on the other.

However anytime I see a place with one of those Macbook style cash-registers/credit-card-machines, it's generally a telltale sign of a not-very-serious business to me.

Like out here in Santa Monica with some of the boutique shops on Montana Street that pretty much exist for millionare dudes to fund as a tax-write-off & give their bored wives something to do during the day.

i figured it was on that block ur talking bout tho
if he couldn't cover operating losses for 6 months at that location bomb talking bout he prolly only had like 15K to work with

the press clippings only mention his parents as investors. I don't believe he had any experience in the food industry, and graduated with a degree in US History. rent, food costs (dairy is volatile right now) and wages were all probably miscalculated. plus his product was extremely niche, likely labor-intensive, and in the wrong market.

http://stream1.gifsoup.com/webroot/animatedgifs2/1847521_o.gif

well.... it was actually a pretty good idea.... maybe it was the location....

well...if he works out...maybe he can give basketball another run..... I'm hearing the Greek Pathagoskus team is looking to move their center Siohban Pakacaskadicuskous in the offseason.... Could have a roster spot open for him...

>well.... it was actually a pretty good idea.... maybe it was
>the location....
>
>well...if he works out...maybe he can give basketball another
>run..... I'm hearing the Greek Pathagoskus team is looking to
>move their center Siohban Pakacaskadicuskous in the
>offseason.... Could have a roster spot open for him...

lolololol.....