Today we’d like to introduce you to David Zhu.
David, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I have lived in Amli Design District apartments for five years. They have gone through name changes from 1400 Hi-Line to Amli, and different management companies during my stay. Throughout the entire five years, I have gotten to know almost all of my neighbors. I was tired of going to Whole Foods or driving to the gas station for simple convenience items, snacks, and food so I asked a lot of my neighbors if they would want a one-stop-shop and everyone wanted it so I got to planning. I decided to call it The Bodega since it’s a Bodega concept from New York, where under every hi-rise there is a convenience store/cafe.
Since we didn’t start with a boatload of money we were very hands-on with building out. The booth seating, snack display, wall tiling, menu board was all built by hand by ourselves! I flew my friend from college (The University of Georgia), out from Atlanta, who started his own construction company and we rented the tools we needed and built out the store. I reached out to a lot of the Dallas Farmers market artisans and vendors to stock our shelves so we would not only have generic big company snacks and treats, but also locally made goods to support the community and help every entrepreneur who comes by to grow together. We opened January 3 of this year and every day we are making improvements to our selection of snacks, beer, wine, drinks, and food.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It definitely has not been all smooth. I own a few businesses but never had a physical brick and mortar store that sells convenience and a restaurant. One struggle we dealt with is being overcharged on electricity and having to re-wire and renegotiate our bill. We were paying over $4,000 a month on electricity and paid that for over ten months! We have since fixed the issues and pay normal price (about $1000 a month).
We also had to wait so long to get our beer and wine license and got it half-way through the year after we opened the doors. We’ve shopped around with a lot of different big food companies and still are working on finding better deals so that we can forward them on to our customers.
Finding the right employees is always a difficult task as well. We started with just friends who work here but had to let some of them go because they just weren’t doing the job. Currently, it’s still only friends who work here but only the ones that are focused and understand the vision. Since there are only five people who work here it is very tiring since we are open seven days a week. Monday-Thursday 7 AM-12. Friday 7 AM-3 AM, Saturday 930AM-3AM and Sunday 1030-1030.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
We were built by friends for the community. We work so hard to improve and become more and more convenient. We work closely with local artisans who are working just as hard as us to build our brand, our name, and our company. We are known for convenience and amazing food! I’m very proud we have pushed past the struggles we have dealt with and have been open for almost an entire year now.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
My favorite childhood memory would have to be learning to talk to people. I used to be extremely introverted but I learned to put myself out there and get to know people and it has been amazing. I was able to become the President of my junior and senior class in high school (I’m currently planning our ten-year reunion) and also the president of many other various extracurriculars. Being able to talk to people has made me able to connect people which is something we do at the Bodega.
Pricing:
- Our average meals served is about $10
Contact Info:
- Address: 1400 Hi Line Drive Suite 120, Dallas, Texas 75207
Located on the left, right next to the front entrance of the Amli Design District apartment Hi-Rise. - Website: www.thebodegaonline.com
- Phone: 2146136608
- Email: contact.us@thebodegaonline.com
- Instagram: @thebodegaHL
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThebodegaHL/
- Twitter: bodegaHL
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-bodega-at-hi-line-dallas-2
Image Credit:
NancyFarrar Photography
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