Spotlight Business: Glaser’s Bake Shop (Upper East Side)

Open the door to Glaser’s Bake Shop and you’re transported back to another century. Patrons mill in and out of the 113-year-old bakery buying cookies, pastries and tarts as the smell of sugar wafts through the air. Some regulars hang out in the corner, socializing. Joan, a long-time customer who made the trip from Astoria, explains how she’s been coming to the bakery since she was a 9-year old girl, and tells another customer that they must try the éclairs. Another women interrupts and plugs the brownies. A third says the classic black and white cookies, which the bakery is famous for, can’t be beat.

Third-generation owner Herb Glaser says the reason why Glaser’s has survived over 100 years is simple: “We’re small enough that we can cater to what the customer wants.” Flexibility has been important to the business over the years as times, the local demographic and tastes have changed. Originally the bakery specialized in breads; more recently a good portion of their business was in birthday and specialty cakes, but with the arrival of nearby Cosco, they can’t compete with the chain’s lower prices. As a result they’ve focused more recently on cookies and pastries and are doing fairly well.

“It has its ups and downs. You adapt and give them what they want,” says Herb. He recognizes that customers love the nostalgic feel and atmosphere of the shop, and so the décor is largely unchanged with a classic tile floor and hand crafted woodwork, as well as many photos of the bakery’s long history.

Part of the nostalgic, neighborhood feel can be attributed to the long-time employees that man the registers, like Terri and Rita who both worked part time at the bakery in high school, left to pursue other interests, and then returned in the early 1990s to work full-time. Another counterperson just retired after 20 years.

“We’re so lucky. It’s difficult in the cash business getting trustworthy people,” says Herb. “They’re like family.”

Herb is particularly close with Terri who flies around the length of the counter saying hello to regulars while passing out samples and ringing up sales. “She’s a character. She’s wonderful. She’s into music. She knows everybody. She knows their names and kids. She’s good for business. She talks the products up,” he says. “She’s extremely reliable.”

Herb says retaining workers is good for business since most of his customers are regulars and they appreciate the consistency. “They just know more of everything, the ins and outs. They know all the customers. They know the products… it gives a good impression that they’ve been here a long time.”

Herb himself has been working at the bakery for 39 years, since his father “taught him the ropes.” As he ages in a grueling industry, he says a work-life balance is particularly important.

“I still enjoy working,” he says, “but I’m getting at that age. It’s a physical job and it takes its toll on you.”

Cookies, which are cut by hand, are particularly labor intensive and in the month of December they sell 2000 lbs. Averaging 10 hours days, Herb suffers from carpel tunnel syndrome at times. He had adjusted by training Terri in the detailed, and sometimes painful, work of cake and cookie decorating.

“You’ve got to be sensible and not burn yourself out,” he says. To avoid burnout he sometimes retreats to his second home upstate. “That helps keep me sane. As I get older I like the peace and quiet of the country, so that keeps me going,” he says.

Herb also closes the bakery one day a week, for 6 to 7 weeks in the summer, and for 2 weeks after the busy holiday season. A less experienced and less loved business might worry that customers wouldn’t return, but the incredibly loyal customers understand. “They’re happy when we go, and happy when we come back,” says Herb.

Retirement is a ways off – “I love what I do,” says Herb – but he has thought about what will happen to Glaser’s when he eventually does. He has no children and although his brother, who works the night shift at the bakery, has a son, he’s not sure that he would want to take it over. “That’ll be a tough decision that at some point we’ll have to make. At some point we’ll sell the building and live happily ever after in retirement,” he says.
For now though, customers – both old and new – can continue to enjoy the countless treats baked-up by the 113-year-old New York City legend.