bakingbuyer - April 2011 - 48

Origins in Europe
It is difficult to pinpoint the oldest retail bakery in the United States, but only a handful of shops are celebrating 100 years in business. In some cases, the family business traces it origins to Europe. The story of United States Bakery and Franz Family Bakeries, according to this bakery in Portland, OR, began in 1897 when Engelbert Franz, at age 15, wrote to his uncle, who owned the United States Bakery in Portland. Engelbert asked his uncle to send him passage to travel from Rothsaifen, Austria, to Portland. In return, Engelbert would work for his uncle and pay him back. His uncle, needing dependable employees, agreed to send for Engelbert. During the eight years Engelbert worked for United States Bakery, he repaid his uncle and also sent for his brother Joseph to join him at the bakery. In 1906 the two brothers branched out and purchased a small bakery named the Ann Arbor Bakery. In less than two years, their bakery became quite successful and allowed them to strike a deal with their uncle to purchase United States Bakery. They kept United States Bakery as their corporate name and the bakery became known as Franz Bakery. Today, Franz owns and operates facilities all around the Northwest including Portland, Springfield/ Eugene and McMinnville in Oregon; Spokane and Seattle in Washington. The combined total output of these facilities is approximately 185 million pounds of bread per year, and millions and millions of pounds

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Addolorata Di Camillo. Their 11 children all worked for the bakery, which now involves the Di Camillo family’s second, third and fourth generation. Children can also bring a new dimension to the retail bakery business. When Christian Merritt of Merritt’s Bakery in Tulsa, OK, returned to the family business, he brought with him a degree in engineering physics. Today, he handles the computer system and scheduling for the three-store retail bakery in Tulsa. He helped Merritt’s implement a pricing system that enhanced profitability and continues to look for ways to add efficiency. Says Christian’s father, Larry Merritt, who founded the bakery in 1979 with his wife Bobbie: “I’m very much of an entrepreneur, a risk taker. Christian is not. He is steady.” In similar fashion, Lincoln Kretschmar brought a different way of
48 · BAKING BUYER · APRIL 11

at Kretchmar’s Bakery, a retail shop in Beaver, PA. He rejoined the family bakery in 2003 at the urging of his father, Hank Kretchmar. Having worked in the technical industry for a number of years, Lincoln Kretchmar brought with him a special skill set and helped to modernize the way the bakery does business. Kretchmar’s Bakery recently celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2010 and recently passed the baton to the third generation. It is currently managed by Lincoln Kretchmar. Kretchmar’s was founded by his grandfather. After having worked in the baking business for more than 40 years, Henry Kretchmar Sr. had purchased Dietz’s Bakery in 1960, after working locally for Keystone Bakery in Bridgewater, PA, as head of their pastry and cakes department. So at the age of 55, he took out a second mortgage on his home and bet it all on his ability to run an independent bakery in Beaver. The bet paid off.

bakingbuyer - April 2011

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