MONESSEN - Nearly three months after Keystone Bakery closed its doors, the Mid-Mon Valley institution will be re-opening.
J.J. Georgagis, who announced last month that he had purchased the business, said that Keystone Bakery will be open for business on June 13.
Both of the bakery's stores in Monessen and Rostraver Township will open the same day.
"This is very exciting for all of us," said Georgagis, who bought the business after it closed from his uncle, John Croussouloudis. "This has been a long process. We've been working on this thing for about three months and now we can't wait to get started."
Keystone Bakery closed on March 3 after being in business for more than 80 years in Monessen.
Georgagis said that the Monessen site will be open Monday through Saturday, 6:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. The Rostraver store, located in the K-mart Plaza, will be open 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
Both stores will be staffed by employees who previously worked for the company.
"We'll have 30 to 35 employees to start, but we hope to add more as we go along," said Georgagis. "Mostly all of the employees are former workers. We only have a couple of new employees."
Georgagis said that Keystone's head bakers, Jim Monack and Anthony Vingis, were long-time bakers at Keystone before it closed.
"They had been there for 20 years or more," he said.
Georgagis promised the same quality, tasty products that the bakery produced before, with a few new wrinkles in the future.
"We're going to start out with the same products, same recipes," he said. "In the future, we'll be adding a few new products as well."
While Georgagis plans to offer the same quality baked goods and the same service as Keystone had been known for in the past, he said customers will notice a face-lift to the Monessen store.
"We painted the Monessen store and put in a new ceiling," he said. "We've been working there for about three weeks now doing maintenance."
As the preparation for the big opening winds down, Georgagis can't hide his anticipation for next week.
"We'll be ready to go," he said. "We can't wait."
