Migrating to the Upper Valley in 1991, Denby and I brought a piece of the flat lands with us. We opened the Bagel Basement in Hanover, which seemed a bit of a novelty shop here when others like it were a dime a dozen in our native New Jersey. Initially, we were met with responses like "You're going to sell what? For how much? ... Good luck, kids." Sixteen years later the Bagel Basement (and its Lebanon sibling) still stands as an Upper Valley institution. The most important lesson learned from the Bagel Basement experience is that the customer needs to feel a degree of ownership in the business and a true sense of value from its product. We believe that if you give people what they want… they will walk away happy and feeling appreciated.