Swedish Bakery Celebrates 80 years

This August the Swedish Bakery turns 80. It all began in 1928 with a family named Johnson. For the first 51 years, the establishment changed ownership four times. From 1971 to 1979, Marlies Stanton, a pastry chef from Europe, worked in the bakery kitchen and, in 1979, was able to purchase the bakery when the owner retired. Marlies and the Stanton family became the fifth owners and have made it a truly family run bakery. In 1992, the building was expanded to triple its size and it went from 19 employees to 55.

“We’re all family here” says Gabriella Arellano, an assistant manager. “Marlies is like a grandmother to us, and her daughter, Kathy, is like a second mom. I think of the staff as brothers and sisters and of this building as a second home. It’s a good place to work. Good people.”

Brian Barber, who manages a restaurant nearby, says “The Swedish Bakery is a monument in this town. The smell of fresh baked pastries is the most pleasant thing about working the opening shift. All the locals rave about it and all the visitors rush to try it. It is not a well kept secret.”

We at the EHS know this quite well. Our first anniversary cake was a gift from the Swedish Bakery, complete with a trolley car to match our logo. Many other celebrations have been graced with pastries from the Swedish Bakery.

For the rest of this month, the bakery is celebrating with special discounts and daily drawing for $10 gift certificates. You may also enter a drawing for a $100 gift certificate on August 30th. If you’ve not been there lately, don’t miss the chance to stop by. Take a look at the photos on the windows. It’s a joy to see people happy with their work.