Harold Rose Jr., owner-operator of Homies Cinnamon Rolls, frosts a fresh batch at the East Tropicana Avenue location, Thursday, April 8, 2021.
Wednesday, April 14, 2021 | 2 a.m.
Knowing that not just any cinnamon rolls would do, Michelle Uhler packed up her 4-year-old daughter Thursday morning and made the drive from Summerlin to a southeast Las Vegas strip mall.
Their destination: Homies Cinnamon Rolls.
“It’s one of my best friends' birthday, so we’re getting one cinnamon roll for her and one for us,” Uhler said as her daughter, Isla, tried to peek over the counter where the rolls were being prepared.
The man doing the baking, glazing and packaging was — as it is every morning beginning at 7 — owner Harold Rose, an upbeat, 56-year-old native of San Diego who often passes for much younger.
Uhler said she stumbled onto Homies while searching online for where to find good cinnamon rolls. “That was a year or two ago. I haven’t found any other rolls that compare at all,” she said.
A former baker in the Navy and on cruise ships, Rose moved to Las Vegas in 2011 from Southern California, where he opened his original bakery in 1998.
In Las Vegas, Rose sold his rolls at the Orleans and at the Underground shops at the MGM Grand before opening the store at Tropicana Avenue and McLeod Drive four years ago.
“I always wanted to be in Las Vegas. This is the entertainment capital of the world,” Rose said.
His cinnamon rolls come in original, raisin, pecan and apple varieties that sell for $3 each or $33 a dozen.
Before the pandemic, Rose offered several full breakfast dishes at the shop, which has tables and a counter. Rose said he hopes to bring those offerings back soon.
During the darkest days of the pandemic, Rose said, he wasn’t sure if his shop would survive.
“It was rough,” he said. “I had to sell equipment to keep the lights on at one point. You do what you have to do. There were plenty of sleepless nights wondering if I was going to make it another day, but I wasn’t going to quit.”
Last year, Rose secured a space at Allegiant Stadium to sell his rolls on Raiders game days.
“It’s going to be fun when fans are allowed inside the stadium. We’re also working on getting more locations,” Rose said. “I’d like to branch out and franchise.”
Rose said he also had a meeting with a downtown Las Vegas casino operator about the possibility of selling his rolls there.
One of Rose’s two sons, Anthony, and his family moved to Las Vegas recently to help with the business.
Rose has always had an entrepreneurial spirt. When he was a boy, he cut neighborhood lawns, washed cars and sold lemonade at construction sites. He learned from an early age to treat his customers well, he said.
“I have a passion for people, and I’ve never been afraid of work,” Rose said.
