Longtime favorite Tri-Cities bagel shop is getting a new owner

Some Bagels has a new owner with a very familiar name.

Julia Martell closed a deal last week to purchase Some Bagels, the Tri-City business her father and stepmother established nearly 30 years ago.

Martell had been running the business since Susan and Terry Martell retired several years ago.

Martell, who grew up working in Some Bagels’ Kennewick and Richland locations, promised a smooth transition that will see little change in the formula that has propelled Some Bagels for decades: fresh bagels, baked goods, gelato, coffee and sandwiches.

In the long term, she hopes to add her mark by expanding the franchise to Pasco, ideally at a location with a drive-through window on Road 68.

Formed in 1991

The Martell family established Some Bagels in 1991.

Terry Martell was a medical professional and Susan, or Sue, worked at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

Both wanted to open a business, and they used a love of baking as their launching point. They began with a plain bagel recipe from Sunset magazine, according to a 2008 profile in the Tri-City Herald.

The original opened in a 300-square-foot spot on Guyer Avenue in Richland. It quickly outgrew the space and moved across the street to the Uptown Shopping Center, its home ever since.

In time, the Martells would expand, first to Kennewick and then to Yakima. One stuck. The other didn’t.

Some Bagels began its Kennewick run on Clearwater Avenue, but moved to 810 S. Washington St., near downtown, when the family bought the small building.

The Yakima venture lasted nine years, but eventually folded when Terry Martell decided to focus on the Tri-Cities instead of driving between the two markets.

Grew up in family business

Julia Martell grew up in the family business, working almost until the day she graduated from Richland High School.

Diploma in hand, she moved to the family’s native Wisconsin.

At her father’s request, she returned after five years with her young son to manage the Kennewick shop.

She’s loved working in the family-owned business, but said it’s not always easy.

Shop talk dominates family dinners. At Thanksgiving, they have to remind each other to stop talking about the business. And much is expected from the owners’ kid.

“They really do expect more of you,” she said.

Over time, she mastered all aspects of the business: Making bagels, cream cheeses and gelato, working the sandwich bar and serving espresso.

She began managing the day-to-day business about three years ago, and took on the administrative tasks such as payroll and accounting about a year ago.

Smooth transition

Martell said the message to customers is that Some Bagels will continue to operate as it has, serving fresh-made, vegan bagels daily, along with other baked goods, bagel sandwiches and coffee.

It serves house-made gelato in Richland and is available for limited catering.

Martell said she hopes to keep Some Bagels in the family in the long run.

Her son, now 20, lives in New Mexico, where he works in a sandwich shop near a college campus. She’s optimistic he will come home and joint the family business.

Some Bagels employs about 14, with most at Richland, where it makes bagels, cream cheeses and other offerings.

This story was originally published October 4, 2019 at 12:09 PM.