INVEST
min $250
Bagel Bond Promissory Note
5% interest promissory note with 5-year maturity and optional conversion to Zeitlin Deli's food items at a 15% premium.
Welcome to Zeitlin's Delicatessen! Our love for authentic Jewish cuisine has made us a local favorite at the Farmers Markets, where our bagels have earned a reputation as some of the best in Chicago.
With this campaign, we're not just raising funds to build our first storefront—we're inviting you to be part of our journey. By supporting Zeitlin's, you're helping create a space where food brings people together, where every bagel and sandwich tells a story.
Let’s turn Zeitlin's into a true Chicago staple, one delicious bite at a time.
In 2023, we launched our initial Wefunder campaign to raise funds for opening our brick-and-mortar store. Thanks to our amazing supporters, we raised $95k.
Now, after months of searching for the perfect location, we can now say that we are closer than we ever were. We might have found an incredible place that fits our budget, needs, and vision for the future.
What we raised in 2023 took us this far. We need your investments to help us build it into our community’s dream storefront!
We are in talks to rent an ideal place for our first "full-sized deli", as it previously housed a restaurant, making it a second-generation store, something that we actively sought after.
This ready-to-use setup will minimize our initial build-out costs and allow us to focus on creating an exceptional customer experience.
We aim to open our store between October and December 2024, and we need your investment to make that happen.
Why not ask for donations instead of investments?
Because we want to give back every cent our supporters lend us and more! That’s why we have created Zeitlin’s Delicatessen’s Bagel Bonds!
We are relaunching our Bagel Bonds so our investors can get great returns in addition to a unique Deli in an incredible neighborhood.
While they watch their investments grow, they can decide whether to receive those interests back in cash or in the form of mouthwatering bagels!
Super easy:
They consist of a 5% compound interest promissory note with a 5-year maturity. However, if the investor decides to convert those interests into food items, the returns increase by 15%.
It works as a regular bond, with interest earnings paid by the end of the term but with the possibility of getting more out of it (if you love bagels).
Keep in mind that Bagel Bonds are promissory notes, meaning we may repay them early, allowing you to get your investment back sooner. However, the earlier you choose to redeem your investment, the less interest you'll earn.
Believe it or not, Zeitlin's team has been working from a rented kitchen and selling at Farmers' Markets since day one. But that's all about to change.
That's right: We're finally ready to open our first storefront in Chicago. Customers need us beyond weekend Farmers Markets.
Zeitlin’s Bagel Bonds also have fun perks depending on the amount invested.
In 2024, we are adding a perk for the minimum investment ($250) so that all of our investors' names will be placed on our Wall of Investors at the future store!
We started at the markets without a kitchen.
Believe it or not, Zeitlin's team has worked from a Commissary kitchen since day one, and since then, we have sold out at the most relevant Farmers' Markets in Chicago.
During 2023, Zeitlin's sold +79K Bagels only at farmers markets!
By the end of last year, we even got our first physical location running at From Here On, the food court at The Old Post Office. Even when it was the next logical step, it presented itself as a big challenge: How do we focus on this location while searching for our permanent storefront? Should we wait and focus on the permanent store? Do we give up the dream?
We decided to go for it all, and we have been generating profit at The Old Post Office since Day 1.
From 2020, when Sam started baking bagels in his kitchen, to this year, with an estimated $1mm in sales, we have shown consistent yearly growth, and the forecasts show a great 2025 once the store opens.
We believe that our Hometown, Chicago, is the Ideal Market to Launch our Flagship Store
Our physical store is more than just a place to buy bagels. It's a happy place where people can have happy moments, a center for the community to gather, and a beacon for wholesome, convenience-food-seeking people across Chicago.
The most important fact is that there’s a great market for businesses like ours.
*Market Data Forecast (Market Data Forecast).
The restaurant and deli industry in Chicago has shown resilience and growth. The total revenue generated by the restaurant industry is estimated at $8.5 billion, with a market growth rate of 4%. The deli market specifically experienced a growth rate of 6% in 2021 and continues to show promising trends (Market Data Forecast).
Source: Circana’s 2024 Food and Beverage Outlook and Market Data Forecast (Circana)
Yes, Because
We currently cannot provide the “deli experience” from our location at The Old Post Office. A primary physical location will allow us to have:
We raised almost 100k during the first part of the campaign. Help us raise 200k so we can move by Q4 2024!
In 2023, we had 125 investors, each paying an average of $772. In this 2024 phase, we aim to double that number to raise $200k more in investments and reach our $300k goal.
Will you be one of them?
Every dream needs believers.
Every vision needs visionaries.
Be the wind beneath our bagels. 🙂
Invest in Zeitlin's Deli and be a part of a delicious revolution.
If you have any questions, please ask us before purchasing your bagel bond at [email protected].
