#BAONANAS Needs Your Help In Finishing Our HQ!

An Open Letter To You All!

There comes a time in every small business’ life that the grit and character of its team members are tested beyond measure. That moment came to #Baonanas on November 27, 2019—the day before Thanksgiving—when we, Co-founders Trisha & Lloyd, learned that the general contractor we have been working with for 13 months is, in fact, a scammer who has absconded with tens of thousands of dollars. He would do some work, disappear without communication, give us an excuse as to the delay, both professional and personal, and request an early milestone payment with the promise that it will be used to complete our project. With at least 11 other clients suffering  the same ordeal (according to Google and Yelp reviews) and a collective total of $750,000 stolen from the 12 of us, #Baonanas was left with an incomplete renovation, a depleted budget, and the feeling that all was lost. A feeling that this project and this business would never recover from the fraudulent actions of David Solomon of OnTime Construction (and its many fraudulent entities). (YUP, the irony!).

However, we absolutely refuse to give up on our mission of spreading happiness one scoop at a time. We refuse to waste the efforts of our team members who have wholeheartedly invested their lives in #Baonanas. We refuse to give up creating scrumptious little moments for people like you in our brick and mortar. We refuse to let our dreams die when we are so close to reaching a brand new chapter.

It’s with gratitude that in the last 5 years #Baonanas has grown into a profitable catering, mobile retail, wholesale, and e-commerce company. It’s with humility we find ourselves needing your help yet again. Back in 2014, #Baonanas was created in Jersey City BY Jersey City by two college kids too broke to fix their yellow car. When we had nothing but a hashtag and a unique way to whip up banana pudding, you supported us and showed us the strength of community. Now, we’re pursuing legal action and have hired a new contractor, who came personally recommended by family. With your help we can finally wake up from this nightmare. With your help, we look forward to welcoming you into the space we specially designed to welcome home our #BaonanaNation.

Always in gratitude,
Bao Bears, Trisha & Lloyd<3


Why we need your help:

Finishing The World's First Baonanas Scoop Shop: Within weeks of our opening date during this long and tireless journey of getting our HQ opened, the contractors decided to take all of our money and not finish this place of happiness for everyone to share with their friends and families and to have our delicious light and fluffy mouse!  They've done this to 11 other families, and we can't let their actions stop #Baonanas HQ from opening

Where your contribution goes:

Community in our Community: The Monticello neighborhood embraced by McGinley Square and Bergen-Lafayette is lacking in dessert options, and #Baonanas needs a place to call home. It's a match made in heaven!

New and improved kitchen space: Bigger is better and allows us to order in bulk saving us a lot of time and money. Not only will we have more storage space (AND AC!!), but having a bigger space means a more efficient production system which allows us to grow and expand.

Experiencing the world's first Baonanas Scoop Shop: The vision and concepts are there and we'd love for each and every one of you to be able to come in and have BAONANAS, be able to hold events, meet ups, try samples of all the flavors, or simply just hang out at the HQ!  

Working Capital: Since August 2018, we've been paying rent for Baonanas HQ. Luckily, with our operations we've been able to take care of that no problem. However, now that we've hired a new, fantastic General Contractor we need additional capital to ensure our team is taken care of.

#Baonanas Gear: Being able to create more BAO Swag for everyone to wear!  
Walk-up Window: This is something we can't guarantee depending on our new space, but we'd love to have a walk-up window where you can say hi. You can take a peek into our kitchen and see #baonanas being handmade right in front of you!