Pratzel's Bakery, the last privately-owned Kosher bakery in St. Louis, is shutting down both its retail and wholesale operations this weekend: Friday and Sunday will mark the final days after 98 years in business. (Note that this is Pratzel's the bakery, not Protzel's the Clayton deli.)
Kids remember Pratzel's for their chocolate-dipped cupcakes. Adults? Let's start with the cheese danish...
The reason for the closure..the economy, of course. Most of Pratzel's business came from the wholesale trade and the slowdown that's affected hotels, restaurants, and caterers has trickled down to them as well. Apparently, the Pratzel family tried in vain for the last year to find a buyer for the business, but the facility was just too big to attract most buyers.
It's a shame they survived the Great Depression but couldn't survive this one.
Pratzel's retail operation was inside Kohn's Kosher Market at 10405 Old Olive St., leaving Kohn's with no local source of kosher bread and bakery products. Apparently, Schnucks and Dierberg's have some Kosher Supervised goods available, but unless another bakery agrees to become certified, the nearest 100% Kosher bakery is in Chicago. And that's a long way to go for a dozen bagels and some challah.
