Today we’d like to introduce you to Doug Moeller.
Hi Doug, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My wife (Deborah Bonar) and I moved to Ann Arbor in 2019. Our house had burned down in the California wildfires (Tubbs fire) of 2017 and rebuilding was not going well. More than 5,000 homes in our town (Santa Rosa, CA) had burned down, so construction supplies and builders were hard to come by and very expensive. Our insurance wasn’t good enough to get us back to where we were. In 2016, by tech startup was acquired by a Tier 1 automotive supplier (Lear Corp), and their headquarters was in Southfield, MI and I was already having to spend a lot of time there, so we decided to make the move to MI. Since I spent a lot of time in MI already, I knew that I wanted to be in the Ann Arbor area, so we bought a home just outside of Ann Arbor in Salem Township.
The original Cinnaholic was near where we lived in California (Berkeley), and we were frequent customers of it. As long-time vegans and lovers of sweets, we were big fans of it.
After the move to MI, I wasn’t really loving my new corporate job, and I had a non-compete agreement with them, so I couldn’t really do anything in tech for a year, so I started exploring what else we could. I remembered how much I loved Cinnaholic, and I thought Ann Arbor shared some of the characteristics of Berkeley, so I contacted them, and low and behold they had started franchising, So, we signed up, and it took about a year from that till our grand opening on Jan. 29, 2022.
Business has been great since then. We’ve expanded the menu to include Dole Whip, Dole Whip Floats, and some Gluten Free items.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Our greatest struggle has been staffing. Most of our employees are students, and they have crazy schedules. So, we’ve had to learn how to be flexible and constantly be hiring. The students are great employees, but obviously, their studies are there number one priority.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I was an engineer that worked at and started several tech companies. My specialty was in wireless communication, and I hold more than 60 patents in that area. I developed the first automotive solution to bring internet into the car and now it’s a pretty standard thing.
Though baking is pretty different than tech, the common denominator is problem-solving. Just like in engineering, every day, something goes wrong in the bakery, and it has to be rectified.
Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
I liked breaking/fixing things. An introvert. I liked (and still do) loud and heavy music, going to concerts and supporting social causes. I became vegan at 19 (55 now) and have supported animal issues since then.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.cinnaholicannarbor.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cinnaholic.annarbor/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Cinnaholic.AnnArbor
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/cinnaholic-ann-arbor
