Owner Marie Smith got the idea for the business, which she has operated as delivery service for almost two years, from Facebook.
“My husband Joe and I started in October 2020,” Smith said. “My stepmom shared a Facebook page of a lady down in the Austin area that was doing these cute little lunch boxes. I commented that they were cute and my sister said, ‘you should do that.’ And I said, ‘you know what, I think I will.’ Through lots of contemplating, my husband asked if I could start this with $150 and I said ‘sure.’ I did 10 little lunch boxes on my kitchen table, put in on Facebook and sold out really quick.”
After a few modifications, the start-up business quickly quadrupled its production.
“We ended up buying a prefab storage building and put a commercial kitchen outside our home,” Smith said. “Now every Wednesday I do between 40 and 50 lunch boxes and deliver them. We also do the larger Grazing Trays and Boxes.”
When Grazed and Confused of Brownwood was created, Smith had already hoped the business would eventually find a home downtown.
“When we started it was about the time downtown was to starting to pick up,” Smith said. “I had my eye on that because 20 years ago my sister and I had a little deli bakery downtown. There were a few other things happening downtown, there was a small group of people trying to rebuild downtown at that time but it just never caught on.
“Once I started seeing downtown rebuilding this go-round, I wanted in on that. That was my goal the whole time was to get downtown. I looked at every building down there and me and Matt (McCrane) talked a few months ago and he was busy with Fuzzy’s at the time, and I told him to finish with that and we’ll talk again. He called me a few weeks ago and asked if I was still interested, and here we are.”
The storefront location near the Brown County Courthouse is ideal for the menu items Grazed and Confused of Brownwood will be providing. Hours will initially be Tuesday through Saturday, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.
“We’re going to have tables, you’ll be able to sit, but the grab and go aspect, especially being right across from the courthouse should be good,” Smith said. “Expanding the menu is also a big thing for us. Having the building for people to come to will be a huge change because right now we just do delivery, and we won’t be delivering once we open.”
Smith stated the Grazed and Confused of Brownwood tagline will be “breakfast, brunch and boards.”
“We’re still going to have the Lunch Munchies but revamp them a little bit so you can just walk in and get one, they’ll be ready to go,” Smith said. “We’ll also have a menu with some specialty brunch items like breakfast sandwiches and wraps. We’ll also have salads and sandwiches and seasonally we’ll do soups and things like that.”
As for what drives Smith’s passion for her new business, she said, “I always say I love it because I get to be a part of people’s occasions, whether it’s happy occasions or sad occasions. Whether it’s weddings, bridal showers, this past weekend the mom of one of my good customers passed away and I did trays for the family. I just like feeling that I am a part of people’s special occasions.”
Smith stated she and her husband take possession of the building on Aug. 1 and intend to open the store during the month of September.
And regarding the name of the business?
Smith said with a laugh, “I did a contest in the Facebook group and that was just the catchiest one.”