Willow Glen Resident

Cover Story

Photograph by Vicki Thompson

Apple Turnovers: Clarence Sota co-owns Dick's Bakery with his brother, Dick. Dick has retired, but Clarence, 80, four years his junior, still works at the business. Clarence Sota plans to pass the business on to his grandson, Aaron Sota, who also works there.

Sugar and Spice

Old-fashioned bakery never goes out of style

By Lisa Neves Woldt

Loyalty measures up like sugar as an ingredient at Dick's Bakery. Since just after World War II, customers have been walking through the doors of the Willow Glen bakery, which has been on the corner of Hamilton and Meridian for 50 of those years.

"I think a lot of customers really like the nostalgia of the place," says counter clerk Connie Dykes, whose worked at the bakery for 19 years. "There's not too much of that around anymore."

The bakery wears its nostalgia well. It celebrated 60 years in business on Jan. 12 and marked the day by giving away free samples of its signature dessert-- burnt almond cake.

The cake samples turned out to be dessert-sized portions cut into light, fluffy melt-in-your mouth squares. The owners were also giving away free raffle tickets, and 12 lucky customers went home with 8-inch burnt almond cakes.

On this festive day many customers became nostalgic and reminisced with employees.

Cecilia Andrew has been a customer for more than 30 years. "Everything they have is just so delicious," she says.

Although Dick retired more than 10 years ago, his brother, Clarence, continues to run the bakery. He works side-by-side with his grandson, Aaron, who is poised to take over when his grandfather retires. Laurel Sota, Aaron's wife, is the store manager.

Richard "Dick" Sota started the family bakery on the corner of Delmas and San Carlos in 1947. Younger brother Clarence became his partner shortly thereafter.

Aaron says customers keep coming back because the quality has been consistent throughout the years.

"We have a saying around here: 'There's only one way to do it, and that's to do it the right way,' " he says.

For Dick's Bakery, the right way includes making everything from scratch, without preservatives and without shortcuts.

It's been that way since the day the family opened the doors, when the Sota brothers bought a bakery from their cousin, Tony Peters. The brothers started working at Peters Bakery when they were teenagers to help their large family of 10 children after their father, Antone "Tony" Sota, died in 1939. He owned the Sunset Trucking Company in Gilroy.

Dick's sister, Gloria McCarroll, says it was Peters who taught the brothers how to bake. When the brothers were drafted into the military, McCarroll says, "Tony told them when they come out of the service, he would sell them the bakery."

In 1947, a first-class stamp was 3 cents and bread was about 10 cents a loaf. McCarroll earned 35 cents an hour, and Dick says his bakery cookies were selling for 20 cents a dozen.

"The bakery was so small," 84-year-old Dick says, "it only took four steps to get to where I was going."

The store's one refrigerated unit was coin-operated.

"It took six quarters everyday to keep it going," Dick says.

Younger brother Clarence, 80, says they worked harder back then, but life was simpler.

"It was a safer place to live, and people could be trusted," he says.

Willow Glen location

Since most of their customers lived in Willow Glen, friend and future landlord Nick Territo suggested they move to a bigger and better location.

Dick says Territo offered them reasonable rent, but since Territo's death seven years ago the Sotas' relationship with Territo's children, the current landlords, has been different.

The rent has increased fourfold, according to Clarence.

"He was a great man," say both brothers of Territo.

"He treated us like his own kids," Clarence adds.

Dick's Bakery and Fountain opened in its present location in April 1957. Hamilton and Meridian avenues were only two-lane roads then. Stamps were still at 3 cents, but the price of bread doubled, to about 20 cents a loaf. The Willow Glen Resident wrote a story about the bakery on April 11, 1957, which is displayed in the shop. Also on display is an article written by McCarroll on the bakery's 50th anniversary, which was published in the San Jose Mercury News.

Dick said the bakery was open seven days a week because there were at least 30 other bakeries in San Jose.

"It was dark when we got here and dark when we got home," he says.

When the family moved into the Willow Glen location, Dick says, there were no other tenants besides the Giant Market, now home to the Goodwill store. The group of shops currently in front of Dick's Bakery facing Meridian Avenue was a corner that housed a small gas station.

The fountain portion of the shop used to be a popular hangout, with customers enjoying ice cream treats and hot and cold sandwiches. Michael Chiechi, 89, of Willow Glen, has been a loyal Dick's customer for almost 50 years. He says he used to meet his buddies for breakfast at Dick's counter just about every day for 25 years. When the fountain closed to expand the bakery in 1990, Chiechi said, "They gave me the stool I used to sit on, which I still have."

Better than fads

Throughout the years, the bakery has managed to weather one diet fad after another, and several decades of New Year's resolutions. Competition from Safeway, Costco and, lately, Starbucks, has slowed business a bit, Aaron says.

"We can't really cut our costs to match their prices," he says.

His bakers and counter clerks are unionized, and are paid competitive wages with benefits.

"But I think you get what you pay for," Aaron says.

Like his relatives, Aaron started helping out at the bakery on Saturdays when he was 10 years old. He became a fulltime employee in 1991.

"I like it because it's creative," he says.

On a weekly basis, he, his grandfather and three other bakers produce 3,000 cookies, 1,000 Danish, 1,000 doughnuts, 1,500 rolls, 400 muffins, 200 special-order cakes and approximately 500 burnt almond cakes, which continues to be their customers' favorite. The recipe for the cake is still a well-kept secret, but the almond topping is not. Twenty-five pounds of almonds are "burnt" daily. The nuts are coated with sugar and baked in the oven on low for about a half hour.

Other customer favorites are hot cross buns at Easter, low-fat chocolate chewies and the butterflake rolls.

"Some people say they can sit down and eat a dozen at a time," Aaron says.

When his grandfather is ready to retire, Aaron will be ready to assume complete responsibility for the store.

"He's the best," says Clarence.

Aaron plans to assume his grandfather's baking duties without hiring a replacement. A few other changes may include discontinuing items that don't sell well, and perhaps adding another variety of bread.

"I might do sourdough," he says, "because I like it."

He also plans to continue making and baking everything the same way.

"All recipes are tried and tested," he says.

Along with the loyal customers is the low employee turnover. "We've been lucky to find good help," Clarence says.

Most employees have been with the bakery for more than 10 years, and not just because of the tasty fringe benefits.

Connie Dykes, who has worked at Dick's for 19 years, says, "I love it here. We've got good jobs, and you get to know a lot of the customers."

Dykes' cousin, Tessy Manoguerra, is also happily employed at the bakery.

"I came in to help Connie for a few days and stayed seven years now," she says.

Cake decorator Vicky Pagano says the Sota family cares about their employees and says, "They are real people."

Sylvia Fairless, a counter clerk who lives in Tracy, says she once tried working closer to home but couldn't get used to another bakery. She's been commuting 120 miles, three days a week, for 14 years. "They've always treated me so good, like family," she says.

After 60 years in a business he was "born into," Clarence says, "It's been fun."

He appreciates the artisan nature of the business that continues to be valued by his customers, and he's still amazed at how efficiently it all runs, especially during busy holiday seasons.

"When the production line gets going," he says, "it's a sight to see."

Dick's Bakery is at 1593 Meridian Ave. For more information, call 408.269.5212 or visit http://groups.msn.com/dicksbakery.