Burney’s: a sweet family franchise

Gina and Michael Burney are the founders of Burney’s Sweets and More, and can usually be found at the bakery’s original location in downtown Elizabethtown.

A sweet family franchise

By Abby Cavenaugh

Michael and Gina Burney never envisioned that their specialty bakery would have locations all over North Carolina, nor that there would sometimes be hour-long lines just for customers to get a taste of their signature deep-fried croissants, donuts, cakes and other delectable pastries.

However, that’s exactly what happened almost 10 years ago, when Burney’s Sweets and More opened its fagship location in downtown Elizabethtown.

“My mom and dad had a bakery in Lumberton,” Michael Burney recalls. “Tey retired and when they decided to do the farmers market here, they called us and asked us if we’d be willing to open a bakery to help promote the farmers market.”

Once Michael and Gina opened the Elizabeth location, Tomas and Doris Burney sold their original bakery, Cakes and Pastries in Lumberton.

“When we started this one, we thought we would make a living,” Michael explains. “We never thought it would be a franchise. We had a couple of ladies from Clinton who kind of talked us into franchising, and we got in touch with some attorneys and started the process. It took a year or more to get it done. We didn’t know, we didn’t foresee franchising. It just kind of fell in our laps.”

After a second location opened in Southport, the franchise began in Clinton. In November, Burney’s opened its 12th location, in Wallace.

“Tey’ve had a continuous line for several days, so they’ve opened with a bang,” Michael says.

In addition to the Elizabethtown, Clinton, Southport and Wallace bakeries, other locations of Burney’s Sweets and More are: Charlotte, Hampstead, Waxhaw, Raleigh, Smithfeld, Erwin, Wilmington and Fayetteville.

Each location puts its own stamp on the baked goods, but all 12 have the same wellknown croissants, donuts, cakes and pies.

“Te sweets are the same,” Gina says, “but then we kind of let everybody make adjustments, as far as if they want to do breakfast or they want to do lunch.”

Michael says his dad came up with the fried croissants idea in 1994. “It took him a little while to perfect the recipe and the process, but when he hit on the right recipe, it just came together quickly. Tey were known for it in Lumberton, so when we started here, we kind of had a following to begin with, and then, with the lake trafc with White Lake and so forth, we had a lot of exposure and had a lot of friends, and it turned into franchises.”

Although franchising has obviously been successful for the couple, Michael says they likely won’t expand globally or even nationwide — at least for some time to come. Tey, of course, enjoy the growth, but also want to do it at a manageable pace.

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“We liked the idea of working together and helping other people bring this same variety of sweets and goods to diferent hometowns, locations,” Michael says. “We didn’t really want to do it to start with, but we kind of decided to move that way. It was to partner with people and bring our same great tastes to other people. Te only way we could do that was franchising. We couldn’t do it in that many locations; it’d be tough to handle.”

Besides, the Burneys also like the idea of a hometown bakery, one that’s unique in every town. More like the local cofee shop than another Starbucks, for instance.

In keeping with that ideology, all of the bakeries use the exact same recipes. “It’s either my mom’s, Gina’s mom’s, or our grandmothers’ recipes handed down and incorporated into our menus,” Michael says.

“We like to think that when people come in and get some of our sweets, it brings back memories of childhood and hopefully, happy memories,” Gina adds. “We like the mom and pop feel, and we like family-oriented,” she continues. “Most of our locations are owned by husband and wife or sisters… it’s mostly family. Te owners are mostly in there running the day-to-day operations. We really like that. It gives you a pride in your product.” Since 2021 will be Burney’s 10th anniversary, Michael says they’re working on some ways to thank their customers and the communities those customers live in. “And we’re looking to continue to expand,” he says. “We don’t know what the future holds, but we hope it holds good things for us.” For more information or to fnd the Burney’s Sweets and More nearest location, visit www.burneyssweetsandmore.com.

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Snapshot

TV & Film Productions Return To SENC

After the N.C. General Assembly vastly reduced the flm and television production incentives a few years back, big-name Hollywood productions are beginning to return to the state.

Most notable among them is the ffth movie in the “Scream” franchise, which brought the original starts, Neve Campbell and Courteney Cox, to Wilmington for the production.

Tis follows the flming of another long-running horror franchise in Wilmington in 2019. Original star of the “Halloween” flm, Jamie Lee Curtis was also in town in the fall of last year.

She made several posts to her Instagram account documenting the production, including her frst post from Wilmington on Oct. 8, 2019, which read “NEVER SAY DIE! First day back in the battle for my life! @halloweenmovie #HalloweenKills.” Curtis also posted a photo from a riverfront dining spot titled “So long, Wilmington.”

But it’s not all horror movies that are being flmed in Southeastern North Carolina.

Governor Roy Cooper announced the following in September, which have been approved for the North Carolina Film and Entertainment Grant: • “USS Christmas,” a made-for-television movie about a newspaper reporter who fnds love on an aircraft carrier,

Wilmington. • “Parkside,” a feature-length flm that will flm at the EUE/Screen Gems Studios in Wilmington. • “Hightown,” second season of the Starz series from Lionsgate Television and Jerry

Bruckheimer Television, which continues the story of a woman’s journey to sobriety that is overshadowed by a murder she feels she must solve. Filming in the greater

Wilmington area.

In addition, “Bridesmaids” director Paul Feig has also brought a pilot for a Fox television series not only to Wilmington, but to the nearby small towns of Burgaw and Wallace.

“Tis Country” is described as a “mockumentary,” in the spirit of “Te Ofce.” Te comedy is based on the BBC series by the same name, and is written by Jenny Bicks, and produced by Director Paul Feig. “Te show follows the daily lives of cousins Kelly (Chelsea Holmes) and Shrub Mallet (Sam Straley), who are trailed by a documentary crew as they go to a small town to study young adults and their current concerns,” explains Deadline. “Te show follows the pair as they pursue their dreams, confront challenges and fght each other for frozen pizza.”

It’s anticipated that more productions will flm in the area in the coming months and years.

Te North Carolina Film Ofce now ofers a 25-percent rebate on qualifying expenses and purchases made by productions while in-state as its flm incentive. Te rebate is funded through the North Carolina Film and Entertainment Grant, which is allocated at $31 million per fscal year.

For more, visit www.flmnc.com.