AGAWAM — At Balboni’s Bakery, “the recipe has never changed,” says Mae Balboni. “We’re satisfied with what we have.”
What they have is an Italian star bread, baked with a recipe that dates back four generations, and a fiercely loyal community of customers who leaned on Balboni’s as an island of tradition during a year of upheaval.
“With the epidemic, I hate to say this, really, but the business got busier,” says Balboni. “I think it’s because people didn’t want to go to the grocery store. They also wanted to help small businesses — which we’re grateful for.”
As families hunkered down to celebrate holidays at home, many of them looked to reconnect with the foods of their youth, adds her son, Marc Balboni, who now runs the family business. People also developed a keen appreciation of the personal service one gets at a small business like the bakery.
“There’s a special feeling to coming to a small place like this,” Marc Balboni says.
Folks who grew up eating Balboni’s bread, angel-wing cookies and pasta have no qualms about making the pilgrimage to 25 King St. in North Agawam, whether it’s from across the Connecticut River or from as far away as Maine, from where one loyal customer drives just for star bread.
“I get people from New York, they come (here) and they (say), ‘I can get anything in New York, but I can’t get this,’” says Mae Balboni. “We’re getting (returning customers), who say, ‘I came here with my grandfather when I was a little kid.’”
The bakery also ships its products to Western Massachusetts expatriates desperate for a taste of home even though the postage often costs more than the bread itself. The bakery’s bread has been sent to Florida and California, the Balbonis say, and, during the Vietnam War, it was often sent to soldiers serving in southeast Asia.
When Mae and her husband, Kenny Balboni, took over the bakery from his father, Carlo, they kept it open on the weekends only, baking just enough to keep the tradition alive and to serve their regular customers. Then, son Marc Balboni expanded the distribution network and introduced new products.
Balboni’s now makes a star bread-based garlic bread and “bambino”-sized star breads for snacking. The ovens run four days a week, and the retail shop is open daily. They bake about 400 to 500 loaves of bread a week in the same oven they’ve been using since 1956.
“We’re busy enough to stay busy,” Marc Balboni says. He hopes the new products can introduce Balboni’s star bread to a new group of customers outside their neighborhood and ethnic base.
Still, Mae Balboni says she doesn’t want to see the bakery grow too much. She prefers the “mom-and-pop” atmosphere – only two of their employees are not members of their extended family – and focus on traditional Italian products.
“The quality of the product hasn’t changed,” she says. “I don’t want to change it. It’s fun to have the business. I don’t want to get to the point where it’s no longer fun.”
The bakery was founded 108 years ago by Celeste Balboni, an immigrant from Bologna, Italy. It’s been in the same location, on King Street in North Agawam, since 1912.
In the early years, Balboni and his sons would deliver bread to homes in Springfield and surrounding communities, in addition to selling at retailers. Balboni star bread was so popular that it was even carried as a retail item in competing bake shops in Springfield’s predominantly Italian South End neighborhood.
Today, Balboni’s products can be purchased at the bakery, 25 King St., Agawam, as well at butcher shops and small markets and grocers throughout Greater Springfield.
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