BagelGate: Kettleman's Bagels "Will Not Change"

By RUTH BROWN

The entire city of Portland was rendered shocked and dismayed yesterday with news that local chain Kettleman Bagels—known for its delicious, chewy boiled New York style bagels—has been acquired by Noah's Bagels—known for its bagel-shaped pieces of dough.

Most distressing was a line from the press release from the Einstein Noah Restaurant Group (which also owns Einstein Bagels and Manhattan Bagels) that "The Company expects to rebrand all five locations into one of its other brands in the future."

But at the Northwest location off 23rd Ave., staff assured a despondent WW that corporate has told them "nothing is changing."

"We aren't changing the bagels, we have the best bagels in Portland," Assistant Manager Danyelle Travis told WW. "We won't be freezing and unfreezing bagels."

Travis did acknowledge that after a transitional period of "maybe three or four months," the stores might have different branding.

Both Einstein Noah and Kettleman have been unavailable for comment.

WWeek 2015

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