Jenny Lee Bread

Jenny Lee maintained successful growth in the '60's and '70's as Paul's three sons joined him in the business and eventually grew to 14 retail locations throughout the Pittsburgh Region. By early 1974, Jenny Lee had grown to 14 retail locations. Paul would retire in 1978 and hand the business over to his three sons: Jim, Rich and Bernie. As the dec... ades passed by, so did Jenny Lee's success. The 1980's presented many challenges for the retail baking industry as the marketplace changed and people changed their shopping behaviors. In response to this decline in business, Jenny Lee responded by closing several retail stores. Also at this time, the fifth generation of the Baker family was discovering their own ambitions with several choosing careers in baking. John Pockl with Karn's and eventually Bethel Bakery, Nick Hartner with Mancini's Bakery, Reed Baker helping to develop the McKees Rocks Bread Company and Scott Baker joining the family traditions at Jenny Lee Bakery. The challenges that Jenny Lee faced soon caused tension in the business. In 1992, upon his son Scott's graduation from the American Institute of Baking, Bernie set out to find his own baking fortunes. Bernie and Scott explored many vacant bakeries and thriving businesses which to invest in and create their own identity. When Bernie's brother's chose not to buy out his share of Jenny Lee, he instead decided to buy out their shares. In 1994, this transaction commenced and Jenny Lee was now solely owned by Bernie Baker. His son Scott, upon his graduation from the University of Pittsburgh in December of 1994 soon joined the business managing retail sales. On Thanksgiving Day 2006, the bakery experienced a devastating fire that nearly wiped out the second floor offices and candy production area. This fire forced the bakery to close for more than 4 months and miss two major holidays. After major renovation, Jenny Lee Bakery was able to reopen in April of 2007. But as a result of this fire and downtime, Jenny Lee lost more than half of its wholesale ...Read More