Photo by Stephanie Zettl
Sugaree Baking Company will cease retail operations on December 30, after 26 years of making pies, cakes, cookies, and other baked goods. Wholesale operations will continue into 2023 until co-owners/bakers Pat Rutherford-Pettine (pictured above) and Jimmy Pettine sell the business.
The Tamm Avenue space in Dogtown has been used as a bakery since the early 1900s, according to Pat, and she says she would like to see another bakery move into the building. Pat and Jimmy currently live between an apartment above the bakery and another home in Dogtown; once they sell the building, they will split their time between St. Louis and Carolina Beach, North Carolina, where Pat shares a vacation home with her daughter. Pat says she looks forward to spending more time with her daughter and grandson once the business is sold. (Any interested parties should contact Lawyers Realty Co.)
Photo by George Mahe
As a “people person,” Pat has loved the retail side of the bakery business, but she says it takes a toll, especially all of the standing. With a replaced knee, hip, and shoulder, Pat says she's earned the nickname “The Bionic Woman.” The holiday season can be a “rough go,” she says, given the high volume of business. At the same time, she will miss decorating each year and admits to tearing up recently while setting out her Halloween decorations.
The past three years have been the best in Sugaree’s history, says Pat, in large part because of curbside and delivery services during the pandemic, as well as customers seeking out the bakery after Ladue Market’s closing. “We’ve been very lucky,” she says.
While Pat and Jimmy may be selling the business, Pat will continue to bake. “I’ve heard a few people will need my wedding cakes,” she says, adding that she’s been working on some new cracker recipes, and there’s a coffee shop owner in Carolina Beach who’s interested in selling her blueberry muffins. Her love of baking, and particularly of trying new things, means that she will never really retire entirely.
“I will so miss my customers,” Pat says.
Sugaree is open to the public from 11 a.m.–6 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Visit the website for weekly menus. The 2022 Thanksgiving menu will be announced in late October.
