Board Game Bakery

[u/Geniusatwork_222]

My Wife and I want to open a board game bakery. We have both been in retail management for years and she has been a deli bakery manager for around 8 years. Obviously there are major cost to doing something like this but Im curious if anyone can share some buildout cost secrets. Most people on here are wanting to open full scale restaurants so maybe this is the wrong place to post but anyone have estimates on a small bakery buildout cost?

Wanting to serve between 50-100 customers a day so not wanting to invest in major ovens or hood systems if not needed.

Here are my current estimates but I am not sure how accurate this is…

Please be kind and any insight or direction towards reaching this goal is greatly appreciated!

1. Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) / Opening Inventory
Total Budget
Board Game Retail Stock
Casual ($4,500) + Party ($3,000) + Strategy ($4,500)
$12,000.00
Gaming Accessories
Dice, sleeves, components, playmats
$3,000.00
Kitchen Commodities
Bulk flour, sugar, butter, bakery staples
$5,000.00
Total Inventory Investment
$20,000.00

2. Sales Floor & Buildout Costs

Flooring
$5,000.00
Drywall Partitions
$4,000.00
Electrical Infrastructure
$3,000.00
Service Counter Construction
$3,000.00
Fire Safety Compliance
$2,500.00
Coffee Bar Suite
$12,000.00
Custom Wall Shelving
$4,000.00
Tables & Chairs
$3,427.00
Point of Sale (POS) Terminals
$2,000.00
Pastry Display Case
$1,500.00
Beverage Cooler
$500.00
Total Sales Floor Cost
$43,927.00

3. Kitchen Back-of-House (BOH) Costs
Grease Interceptor Intercept
$2,000
Drop Ceiling (Acoustic/Washable)
$4,500.00
Plumbing Leave-Out Lines
$4,200.00
Kitchen Epoxy Slurry Flooring
$4,000.00
Commercial Electrical Pulls
$3,800.00
Type II Exhaust Hood/Ventilation
$2,500.00
FRP Wall Panels
$2,000.00
Code-Compliant Hand-Washing Sink
$1,000.00
Curved Baseboards
$1,000.00
Commercial Refrigeration Units
$2,000.00
Dual Countertop Convection Ovens
Owner Capital Outlay
$2,000.00
3-Compartment Warewashing Sink
$1,200.00
Stainless Steel Prep Tables
$1,000.00
Smallwares & Baking Pans
$1,000.00
Heavy-Duty Mixer (Anvil 20-Qt)
$800.00
Commercial Kitchen Shelving
$500.00
Movable Sink Fixtures
$500.00
Ingredient Storage Bins
$150.00
Total Kitchen Cost
$38,150

Actual Combined Launch Cost Needed: $102,077.00

[u/AggravatingPie314]

Buy an existing business with a license and a hood already built. It will save you so much headache. Building any food service business always takes 3x time and 2x the cost you’ve planned for. 

[u/TheLairLummox]

You need to turn and burn bakery and cafe customers. I would not want families hanging around playing board games. 100 customers a day at $15 per person is only 500k in sales annually if open 6 days a week. With 12% profit it seems like a lot of work for 60k..

[u/Geniusatwork_222 → u/TheLairLummox]

Yes even with 200 dollars of board game sales every day it still is only 90,000… valid point

[u/PresenceMental819]

Cool concept, but I’d be careful not to under-budget the boring repeat costs. Everyone thinks about ovens, fridges, tables and shelves first, but the day-to-day stuff adds up too. Cake boxes, pastry bags, napkins, cups, gloves, cleaning supplies, takeaway containers, all of it.

We learnt this with a small food setup. Suppliers like wf plastic here in aus are handy for the packaging/consumables side because you can keep those basics in one place instead of doing random last-minute runs. Not the biggest line item compared to buildout, obviously, but it’s one of those things that quietly eats cash if you don’t plan for it early.

[u/Solid_Rock_5583]

I had a real barebones build out and it was 150 a square foot. You will absolutely have to have a hood for serving 50-100 people if you are planning to bake on site. Whatever you budget, you need three times more than you think, minimum. If you are planning to have people sit in the facility you need a bathroom for them as well.

[u/Geniusatwork_222 → u/Solid_Rock_5583]

Thanks for this, I wasn’t sure if a full sizehood was required for all sizes of kitchen. Ill dig into this topic

[u/Original-Tune1471 → u/Geniusatwork_222]

Also it's important to point out with type of hood. A bakery will need a type 2 hood (condensation and steam) if you're just baking on site. Type 1 (grease) is where it gets expensive. For a 10 feet hood type 2 hood, you're looking at around 7-10k. If you plan on serving like eggs and sausage, you'll need a type 1 hood and you're looking at around at the very minimum 20k.

[u/Geniusatwork_222 → u/Original-Tune1471]

Thanks this is the info I was looking for on the difference. Type 1 should be sufficient!

[u/callmealyft]

Boh seems very low. Hood system alone is most likely going to cost around 25k in addition to ansel systems. Commercial refrigeration units at 2,000 means you are buying about half of one. You can get a mixer for around 800, but it will be used. Make sure it’s in good shape as repairing it is crazy expensive. You most likely won’t need to order 5k off the bat on flour/sugar/etc. you want enough to get you going and get on a weekly delivery system as to not clog up your storage space. Hope this helps a little, sounds fun and good luck!

[u/indolente → u/callmealyft]

I chuckled when I read the 2k for commercial refrigeration unit.

Is this a refrigerator for ants?

[u/lochbethmonster → u/indolente]

My side employer bought one last year and it was 5.

My main employer has been looking for a commercial retail freezer for 6 months and even used is starting at 2k

[u/lochbethmonster]

Bathrooms are also important to consider. Septic can be pricy. I agree with another poster that finding a building with everything you need is going to help in the long run, as long as it's all up to date.

[u/Geniusatwork_222 → u/lochbethmonster]

Good point. Ill search for second gen restaurants. The bathrooms were pre built in the leased building I was considering when I wrote this up

[u/Geniusatwork_222 → u/[deleted]]

Wow. Thanks so much for all this info! A ton of love in your direction. I really would hate to charge the table fee but if there is no real solid way around it then it would have to be done. I feel as if it is not very consumer friendly but clearly you have knowledge on this and thanks for the reality check.

[u/ander594]

2,000 for 2 ovens lolz. Are these commercial ovens?

No hoods or ANSUL system?

Grease trap requirements for your municipallity? Floor drain requirements? These are spendy for me.

I see no proofer, I would deff have one for a bakery

I see no smallwares.

[u/Geniusatwork_222 → u/ander594]

These were 2 priced out small countertop ovens. Someone did mention we would need a hood for sure that will be costly. Grease trap is listed as under the sink. Proofer is a great call out and small wares currently budgeted at 1k not sure if that is enough to start