By CORTNEY PETERSEN
Gayle Powell loved to bake. After baking thousands of cinnamon rolls and selling them successfully in a fair booth at the Blackfoot, Idaho Fair, she and her husband decided to do something with her talent; they opened Mrs. Powell’s.
In 1984, Richard and Gayle Powell opened a speciality bake shop in a major shopping mall, a new idea that proved to be effective. Their first store in the Grand Teton Mall of Idaho Falls, Idaho soon became 52 stores across the nation.
Richard, a 1967 graduate of BYU, said the reason they started their business was because they had repeatedly received compliments on how good their cinnamon rolls were.
“For three years in our fair booth we massed produced and marketed our cinnamon rolls,” Richard said. “We knew we could do something with it.”
The Powells took the money they had set aside for a new home and took a chance. The chance paid off.
After five years of being involved with their various stores they decided to sell their franchise so they could spend more time with their four children. During the last nine years they have not opened any other stores even though they have retained ownership of the Idaho Falls store and a store in Boise.
Gayle said they decided to open a store in the Provo Towne Centre Mall because of the type of market Provo is and because one of their sons lives in Pleasant Grove, Utah County.
“It will give us a chance to see the grandkids,” Gayle said.
The key to their success is a recipe for cinnamon rolls Gayle has developed over the years.
“To be successful you have to do what you do best,” Gayle said. “Don’t try to copy what someone else is doing.”
Richard said he is excited about their new store in Provo, and said that it will help to complete their retirement fund.
“We are excited to introduce our product to Utah Valley,” Richard said. “We feel we’ll be successful in the Provo market.”
