100 years of baking for Windsorites

Valerie Blak-Gill, owner of Blak’s Bakery, speaks about how they’ve grown from a local business to their customer’s favorite. The bakery which opened in October 1918 celebrated 100 years on Sept. 8. However, when it comes to baking, Blak’s still does it the old-fashioned way.

“We make our (rye) sours by hand, we mix the doughs by hand…We still scale all our breads by hand,” said owner Valerie Blak- Gill.

Blak-Gill’s grandfather, Peter Blak Sr., a Polish immigrant, started the bakery on Langlois Avenue.

“It has gone through so much from my grandfather starting it out with just a very small building,” Blak-Gill said, “basically they kind of built the oven first and then built around it.”

The store has a front section displaying its baked goods, a back office, an oven room and a storage area. But more importantly they have a special relationship with their customers, who returns for the popular paczki and rye breads.

“Their paczkies are the best that’s why we always come for sure,” said customer Chris, who did not give his last name and, who has been coming to the store for the past three years.

Peter gained experience in a bakery in Rochester, New York where he worked for a decade before moving to Windsor in his early 30s. He delivered breads on  his bicycle after baking them in the oven. He provided door-to-door service and when he returned to the store all the breads were gone, said Blak-Gill.

Later, they used horse drawn wagons and in the 1980s drivers started delivering breads to their customers’ home. But they still heavily depend on their in-store sales, she said.

“A bigger percentage of our business is still right out of our front door,” said Blak-Gill.

The bakery has faced many hardships during its years of operation. The Windsor government used to hand out bread stamps which were used by customers to buy breads from the stores. The bakeries would then then have to pay their taxes using those stamps.

“My grandfather, he had to go through the great depression,” she said.

Windsor now has more than 35 bakeries and therefore, competition has been a challenge for the bakery, according to Blak-Gill.

“Now we have to compete with the big stores where they carry everything,” said Blak-Gill.

But the bakery infuses a unique taste in its bread which has kept its customers loyal through the years. They bake their breads directly on brick ovens which holds about 240 loaves.

“If you bake a loaf of bread in a steel oven as opposed to baking a bread in a brick oven it’s a different taste,” she said.

This baking procedure adds a texture to the breads which is praised by customers.

“They keep it to the old style. Handmade…It’s fresh,” said Anne Belanger, who has been loyal to the bakery for the past 10 years.

Blak-Gill’s father, Peter Blak Jr., died in November of 2015 and this family-run business is now operating under its third generation.

Blak Gill said the fourth generation of the family which includes her son and daughter will hopefully take over the business and continue the legacy.