After announcing plans to significantly scale back Derryberry Breadery because of numerous challenges, Hayley Derryberry hopes area residents will rethink how they support small business.
“Just simple things from time to time, practiced by everyone, will do it,” she said. “Choose one local restaurant to eat at each week. Buy your dog food from a local store three or four times a year. Treat yourself to a shopping spree at the local boutique.”
Derryberry announced Wednesday with a lengthy post on social media that she will reduce the store’s opening to just a few hours one day a week, after struggling to adapt her business model to meet the community’s needs. The post elicited more than 60 comments. Most were sympathetic and praised her honesty, while a handful were critical of such things as frequently changing hours and menu items.
The business will remain open with regular hours and regular menu options through Saturday, but starting next week will be open only from 3 to 6 p.m. on Thursdays to purchase sourdough bread and a limited menu with bread and beverages.
They’ll continue to offer special events, such as a breastfeeding brunch and a separate tattoo event later this month, and a sourdough bread cooking class in June.
Derryberry and her husband, Paul Porter, moved to Iola a few years ago. Porter grew up here; Derryberry is from Tennessee. The couple spent more than two years renovating the former Shannon Building at 20 W. Jackson Ave., and officially opened with a ribbon cutting in April 2023. The idea for the business came after Derryberry learned to make sourdough bread during the COVID-19 pandemic, and from experiences at “gathering place” coffee shops or similar businesses in other communities.
She explained her original goal was to create a community gathering space that sold only sourdough bread, bagels, wine, beer and coffee but wasn’t exactly a coffee shop or a bar.
She hoped to earn just enough to allow her to bake bread in a place where she could keep her children nearby, and create a place for others to socialize, play board games, do homework or read a book.
“I never wanted to run a restaurant,” she said, but customers asked for food items such as sandwiches and pizza.
She created a menu and hired staff, including her niece, Taryn Smith, who moved from Tennessee to help. Smith’s 3-year-old daughter also regularly hung out at the business.
“I wanted a place where you can work and have your kids close at hand. I think that’s a dream for a lot of women,” Derryberry said.
They added karaoke and open mic nights. Over time, she and staff tried a variety of menu items and different hours to try to meet expectations while keeping prices low.
It didn’t work.
“Every day I looked at how much we were spending versus how much we were making in sales. We had days where payroll was well over anything we made. But when we cut back hours, people would get upset,” she said.
Soon, Derryberry learned she was pregnant with a second child; her oldest was just 6 months old. In December, Porter’s employment contract ended. The family had been using his income to supplement payroll. Without his income, they were forced to file for personal bankruptcy.
