Longtime manager Paul Hartley bids farewell to Alpine Bagel Cafe

After years of greeting his customers with a big smile and guiding his employees with extreme patience and sometimes a little bit of teasing, Paul Hartley is leaving his post as general manager at Alpine Bagel Cafe.

After working for Alpine for almost 10 years, Hartley, 29, finally decided to bid farewell to the place that brought him some of the best memories of his life.

“I’m so full of emotion right now,” he said. “All I can say is that this is a great company and this is a great place to meet great, great people that I worked with.”

Starting as a part-time student employee, Hartley said when he graduated from UNC, he knew he wanted to work in restaurant management.

“I’ve simply had the opportunity to become a general manager here,” said Hartley. “I wanted to take it because everybody wants to stay on campus a little longer when they graduate and it was a fantastic opportunity.”

Hartley said he choked up when saying goodbye to the kitchen and received letters with colleagues’ signatures.

Student employee Sarah Plascyk said Hartley is lenient with the employees’ requests for adjusting schedules because Hartley started as a student employee as well and he understands students’ needs.

“He is very nice and understanding,” she said. “I’ve never seen him mad at us.”

Wearing a cap, a neat polo shirt and a big warm smile, Hartley might look more like a nice big brother than a typical boss.

“I can make four to five bagels right now at a time but when I first started, I could do one,” said Audra Killian, a student manager of Alpine. “I’m way faster and more efficient because I have no pressure put on me.”

For Hartley, working with student employees is something he enjoys a lot.

“I’m still kind of young,” said Hartley. “I think working with students adds so much to what we do.”

Hartley said he studied linguistic and speech pathology in college, and without any management degree, his experience working at Alpine has had a very large impact on his life and personality.

“I have had to teach myself so much in order to do this position,” he said. “I just had nothing but experience and the help of the people above me to guide me and develop me.”

Hartley described himself as a musician in life.

“In the past, I’ve been in a band and written songs and everything,” he said. “Until I had a baby.”

Hartley uses his experiences as a linguistic major when playing with his 10-month-old son.

“When I’m at home, I’m playing with this little guy and trying to teach him sign language until he’s able to talk.”

Hartley said he is going to be in management at a new location of The Fresh Market in Durham. Hartley said the new location is supposed to open later this year.

“I’m just going from one great company to another,” he said. “I couldn’t be more excited.”

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