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Historically, expansion has been linked to growth. Expanding meant increasing employment, adding locations and increasing square feet. Lasting growth has more to do with staying relevant than simply expanding. That means really listening to your customers, making smart, timely adjustments and shaping your operations around meeting their needs.

The first bagel bakery in Los Angeles, Western Bagel opened its doors in 1947. 

David Ustin worked in the New York City bagel scene from 9 years old, and moved to California in 1946 with his wife. After realizing that the West Coast had no bagel options, he took it upon himself to enlighten Angelenos.

78 years later, the brand is still going strong. David’s son, Steve, is now sitting president and CEO.

The world was a completely different place when my family opened our neighborhood bagel shop in 1947. The internet didn’t exist, the city was still growing into the metropolis it is today, and the idea of a global pandemic shutting down the economy was a matter of science fiction. But here we are, over 75 years later, still baking bagels every day.

People often ask what the secret is to that kind of longevity. There’s no secret. It’s a commitment to a few core principles that have seen us through recessions, inflation, changing consumer tastes, and seismic shifts in how business is done.

For any founder or business leader feeling the pressure of a volatile market, these are the lessons that have kept us open for almost 80 years.

In this episode of the Disruptive Successor Podcast, host Jonathan Goldhill talks with Jeff Ustin, Vice President of Western Bagel. Jeff shares the fascinating history of his family’s 75-year-old bagel business, from its New York roots to becoming a West Coast staple. The conversation explores the unique challenges and triumphs of generational transitions, maintaining a strong company culture based on loyalty and respect, and the ongoing efforts to modernize and expand the brand in a competitive market. Jeff offers valuable insights into balancing tradition with innovation, adapting to consumer trends, and navigating market shifts like the COVID-19 pandemic, all while staying true to Western Bagel’s core values.

Viral social media trends can often translate to real-time impacts for brands – and the algorithmic pull of TikTok is particularly strong.

“TikTok’s algorithm uses a combination of personalization, virality, and speed, allowing its users to see what’s trending in subjects they like. It sparks impulse purchases due to the quick reviews, engaging content, and sometimes easy product links,” Jeff Ustin, VP of Western Bagel, told FI.

The way people find and connect with food has changed over the years; Gen Z, especially, is driving that shift. They discover new spots online, make decisions fast, and care just as much about the story behind what they’re eating as they do about the food itself. That shift has made family-owned businesses think differently about what it means to stay relevant. Platforms such as TikTok and Instagram serve as powerful marketing tools, particularly when a single video can attract thousands of viewers. But what brings people back, again and again, is something more enduring than virality.

Weekend mornings are the soft spots in a family’s hard-charging week. When alarms finally hush and schedules loosen, dads have an opening to trade hustle for hospitality — often with food as the glue.

Lately, families keep circling back to one deceptively simple idea: a build-your-own bagel spread anchored by Western Bagel. The company has been family-owned since 1947, and today its flash-frozen assortments ship nationwide and sit in refrigerator aisles alongside the grocery staples you already buy. That lineage dovetails nicely with our own belief that the best memories rise in multi-generational kitchens.

We had the good fortune of connecting with Steve Ustin and we’ve shared our conversation below.

One thing that gives us the most pride is the fact that we have been a family-owned business for over 75 years and have successfully competed against some of the largest bakeries in the country. We continue to grow year after year. It is difficult to run a business today, and we have a unique passion for what we do. My parents taught me to be a hard worker and to do whatever it takes to achieve success. I am very fortunate that my son Jeff has the passion and work ethic that I have. He runs the day-to-day operation now and is doing a great job….

Long before bagels became a popular breakfast choice in Los Angeles, one man rolled them by hand in a modest shop in Boyle Heights. David Ustin grew up in bakeries in the Bronx, where his father, Louis, baked bagels to support their family after fleeing the Russian Revolution. At the age of thirteen, he was already working full-time.

You’d think operating 10 Western Bagel shops in Los Angeles would be sufficient for the Ustin family including CEO Steve Ustin, and 47-year-old Jeff Ustin, his son and the president of a third-generation family business. As savvy entrepreneurs, the Ustin’s (pronounced Yustin) know that generating multiple revenue streams enables a retail business to weather a volatile economic environment.

L.A.’s homegrown bagel mini-chain has been making some of the best in the business since 1958. With 11 locations (mostly in the San Fernando Valley, except for an outpost within West L.A.’s Colony ghost kitchen), the family-owned Western Bagel is often cited as an essential piece of L.A. food culture. The bagels are soft and light, and, when served with a heaping helping of cream cheese, are almost in danger of folding over, even when toasted. Extremely L.A. bagel options, including low-carb and sprouted wheat options, complement a decidedly less health-conscious lunch menu, including a full line of Boar’s Head cold cuts and in-store roasted and thick sliced turkey breasts.

It may not seem so to outsiders, but in-the-know Angelenos have for decades harbored a delicious secret: this is a bagel city. Though Los Angeles carries none of the bagel prowess of New York City or the stigma of Montreal, there is no shortage of bagels here on the sunnier side. And to prove the point, all one needs to do is look to Western Bagel.

“Most people choose the bagel they grew up with,” says Richard Friedman, and for most Southern Californians, whether they know it or not, that means the choice is bagels made either by Friedman or his oldest competitor.