Lyndell's Bakery is a

bakery A bakery is an establishment that produces and sells flour-based food baked in an oven such as bread, cookies, cakes, donuts, pastries, and pies. Some retail bakeries are also categorized as cafés, serving coffee and tea to customers who ...

Ball Square Ball Square is a neighborhood primarily in Somerville, Massachusetts, but also extending into Medford, at the intersection of Boston Avenue and Broadway, located between Powder House Square and Magoun Square. It is primarily a residential area w ...

Somerville, Massachusetts Somerville ( ) is a city located directly to the northwest of Boston, and north of Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge, in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a total population of 81, ...

. In December 2007, it celebrated 120 years of operation. Lyndell's is a classic, full-service American bakery, a rare holdout in

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

communities.

Ownership history

Birger C. Lyndell, born in Sweden in 1866, moved to the United States in 1880, seven years before the founding of Lyndell's Bakery in 1887. He lived in

Newton Newton most commonly refers to: * Isaac Newton (1642–1726/1727), English scientist * Newton (unit), SI unit of force named after Isaac Newton Newton may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Newton'' (film), a 2017 Indian film * Newton ( ...

until 1901, when he moved to Somerville at an address a block away from the original location of Lyndell's Bakery. A 1940 Newton directory listed Lyndell as retired. The identity of the original owner was lost until uncovered by Bob Hallett, a genealogy buff, who read about the 120 year anniversary in ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

''. The bakery's second owner, Eugene Klemm, purchased the business in 1934 and brought a German influence to the recipes. Klemm sold it to Herman and Janet Kett in 1968. In 2000, Gary Bagarella and a partner, Bill Galatis, former executives with

South Boston South Boston is a densely populated neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, located south and east of the Fort Point Channel and abutting Dorchester Bay. South Boston, colloquially known as Southie, has undergone several demographic transformati ...

-based Watermark Donut Company, one of

Dunkin' Donuts Dunkin' Donuts LLC, also known as Dunkin' and by the initials DD, is an American multinational coffee and doughnut company, as well as a quick service restaurant. It was founded by Bill Rosenberg (1916–2002) in Quincy, Massachusetts, in 195 ...

largest franchises, bought the bakery. Bagarella sold his stake in the business to Galatis in early 2000.

Operations

Everything is baked from scratch each day, and daily leftovers are donated to the

Little Sisters of the Poor The Little Sisters of the Poor (french: Petites Sœurs des pauvres) is a Catholic religious institute for women. It was founded by Jeanne Jugan. Having felt the need to care for the many impoverished elderly who lined the streets of French towns ...

. Lyndell's does a strong

cake decorating Cake decorating is the art of decorating a cake for special occasions such as birthdays, weddings, national or religious holidays, or as a promotional item. It is a form of sugar art that uses materials such as icing, fondant, and other edibl ...

business, and people who've left the area have been known to call from as far away as Georgia and ask for shipments of the bakery's

honeycomb bread A honeycomb is a mass of hexagonal prismatic wax cells built by honey bees in their nests to contain their larvae and stores of honey and pollen. Beekeepers may remove the entire honeycomb to harvest honey. Honey bees consume about of honey ...

Changes after 2000

Although customers expressed concerns that there would be radical changes brought by the new owners after 2000, Bill Galatis learned quickly that it would be difficult and risky to make changes to the formula that had made Lyndell's a local institution. The store had stopped opening on Sundays during World War II due to rationing; Galatis changed that and Sunday became their best sales day. He also restored selling cream-filled pastries in the summer months. However, he preserved the classic recipes, custom-decorated sheet cakes, and retro storefront sign that have kept customers coming back. The bakery has expanded its operations by opening additional locations in Cambridge, near Central Square (opened in 2010, closed in 2013), and in Boston's North End (opened in 2009, closed in 2011).

References

External links

* {{coord, 42, 24, 0.2, N, 71, 6, 46.6, W, region:US, display=title Bakeries of Massachusetts American companies established in 1887 Food and drink companies established in 1887 Retail companies established in 1887 Buildings and structures in Somerville, Massachusetts Tourist attractions in Middlesex County, Massachusetts 1887 establishments in Massachusetts