It’s a total family operation and family members operating the business believe heart and soul that Granny C. IS proud.
The owner of Granny C’s bake shop —located at 5115 Troy Pike in the Heights — is Rebecca McDaniel, the granddaughter of Granny C., McDaniel’s two daughters work beside her.
The daughters are Tina Fiore and Sarah Taubert. Another member of the family team is Ginger Ehrhart, McDaniels’ sister. All have been bakers all their lives, either as homemakers or elsewhere, but McDaniel takes the proverbial cake in the grandchildren department: she has 13, with No. 14 on the way.
And all bakery staff members are residents of Harrison Twp.
The bakery, formerly Patti-Cakes, also includes a drive-through. It is located at a corner of the Marsico building, in which veteran grocer Frank Marsico operated a neighborhood grocery for 35 years.
“It was like God tapping me on the shoulder when I made the decision to take over the bakery despite tough economic times,” said McDaniel, who opened the business in early February.
“Also, I was encouraged by my husband of 40 years, Travis McDaniel, to take it over.
“Granny was a busy Girl Scout troop leader and a Wright State student earlier in her life and later a Senior Citizens Club president. We wanted the bakery name to reflect our memory of her.”
One of the bakery’s first big orders was two huge cakes for the first Northridge High School Athletic Hall of Fame banquet. McDaniel graduated from the school in 1968. In fact, the other members of the store’s team also are ’Ridge grads.
Aside from the usual bakery goods, including fresh-baked pies, cakes and bread, Granny C’s also offers some featured items like sour cream pastries, French bread and carrot cakes.
Something strictly new on Granny C’s bill of fare resulted from McDaniel’s efforts to develop customer rapport.
One of her early customers was Harry Caswell, a Wales native and longtime owner of the WISE Choice import store on Brandt Pike in Huber Heights.
“He asked me if I had ever heard of ‘batch bread,’ which is strictly a European favorite,” McDaniel said.
“I told him I had heard of it and would track down a recipe and have it ready for him tomorrow.”
When Caswell returned the next day, three loaves of the batch bread were ready.
The owner joked that when she opened the shop she did her part in “bringing down the unemployment rate. Both my daughters were jobless.”
Contact this reporter at (937) 236-6032 or mickeyz@zoomtown.com.
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