Pete’s Sweets celebrates grand opening
Date: 12/26/2013
By Molly O’Neil
news@thereminder.comEAST LONGMEADOW – Peter Gray is committed to making Pete’s Sweets Candies & Baked Goods a classic New England bakery.
Gray, owner of Pete’s Sweets, and a previous competitor on TLC’s “Next Great Baker,” celebrated his first anniversary on Dec. 15 with the opening of an official storefront on Shaker Road.
“Food is a deep thing,” Gray said. “It’s a big part of everyone’s lives. I get invited into people’s lives for these events.”
The new oven and supply of interns changed the store into a bakery. By having an oven, Gray is able to make custom food to order. Specifically, Gray hopes to make food popular in this area, such as whoopee pies and chocolate chip cookies.
Gray takes pride in the fact that now his baked goods aren’t limited to the cakes chosen out of a book, similar to those at a grocery store.
“You spend thousands and thousands of dollars to make your wedding custom, why would you pick your cake out of a book? That’s not how it should be,” he said.
As a 22 year-old, Gray is grateful that he has been able to progress so quickly in his career. The previous owners of Gelato Buono offered the store to Gray when he expressed his interest in a bakery retail shop.
Gray said that he wouldn’t have ever thought of owning a bakery so early in his life, but since the opportunity came to him, he took advantage of it. Gray described his feelings towards owning a bakery and laughed, “I chalk it up to being luckier than getting on the TV show.”
Gray wishes that the bakery would start having regular customers appear in his shop, because he said he likes seeing familiar faces. “Every year I get to see the same people for their birthdays, that’s what I’m hoping for. I want to make kids’ birthday cakes from one until they’re 20,” he added.
The bakery is open on Monday and Tuesday from noon to 5 p.m. in December. On Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday, the hours are noon to 6 p.m., and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday.
For more information about the store, visit
www.petes-sweets.com.
