The original owners of a beloved Pelham Bay bakery have two words for their customers: we’re back.
After selling the Pelham Delite Bake Shop in early 2009, Victor and Maria Fumoso, the bakery’s founders, have officially bought back their bakery and are inviting the community to come in and say hello.
Although the couple sought retirement after being in business for 30 years, Maria Fumoso said it was hard to ignore the offer to take back the bakery when it was presented to her and her husband at the end of the summer.
“In the years that we were gone, the bakery had lost a lot of business,” Fumoso said. “We wanted to retire, but when we were offered to buy the bakery back, we couldn’t say no. It was an easy decision for us because this is a business that we built with our hearts.”
The original Pelham Bay Bake Shop was located on Buhre Avenue in 1979, but moved to its current location at 1650 Crosby Avenue after 18 years when the couple sought a larger location.
Although they were confident in the man they sold the business to, Fumoso acknowledged that over the last two years, friends and customers would constantly tell them how the bake shop was disappointing.
Fumoso said that the new owner had become very ill and was not able to maintain the bakery the same way that her and her husband used to. As a result, they jumped at the opportunity to own it once again and the deal became official during the last week of October.
“A lot of people found out very quickly that we were back and they come into the store with the biggest smiles on their faces,” Fumoso said. “Our old customers have come in to wish us luck and even sent us flowers and cards. We couldn’t be happier to be back and we are very glad that we made this choice.”
The couple has called Pelham Bay home for over 50 years since migrating from Palermo, Italy. Fumoso said she is not sure of what the future may bring for Pelham Delite, but for now, she is simply pleased to once again run the bakery that her and her husband were able to bring to the Bronx over 30 years ago.
“The future is in God’s hands only, but the fact that we are back here brings great joy to us,” she said. “We have always been part of Pelham Bay, but we are here for the entire borough. We invite the whole Bronx to our bakery.”
Reach Vito Signorile via e-mail at vsignorile@cnglocal.com or by phone at (718) 742-3383.
