Bittersweet: Beloved Titus Bakery in Saint John closing after nearly 76 years

Doug Grant says he’s already going into withdrawal even though his freezer is stuffed with dozens of hermit cookies from Titus Bakery in Saint John.

The family-owned uptown bakery is closing today after nearly 76 years. The family says it’s time to hang up their aprons and retire.

“It’s going to be such a loss,” said Grant, of Belleisle Creek.

At least once a month for several years, he has driven nearly two hours return to stock up on the old-fashioned, chewy, spiced cookies. He buys 10 dozen at a time.

“Two hermit cookies and a coffee — you don’t need breakfast ’cause they’re that good,” Grant said.

“They’re about this big,” he said, using his index fingers and thumbs to form a palm-sized circle, about an inch thick, “and they’re a molasses-ginger with raisins. It’s a full breakfast.”

Grant has enjoyed Titus treats for 58 years, since he was four. His grandmother, who worked near the Prince Edward Street location, would walk him over for apple squares, raisin squares and his favourite — hermit cookies.

Although he has tried hermit cookies from numerous other bakeries, none have compared, he said.

“I can get a molasses cookie, I can get a ginger cookie, I can get a ginger snap, but I can’t get it all in one cookie.

“There’s where I get it,” he said, gesturing over his shoulder at the Port City institution — a small brick-faced storefront, tucked between the Saint John Community Food Basket and the Salvation Army, with a bright red door.

Grant hoped to get the recipe but has already been turned down twice.

Recipes ‘going in the vault’ for now

All of the family recipes are “going in the vault” for now, said Jennifer Weagle, whose father, Theodore Raymond Titus,  started the business in 1949, including a second location on King Street West, on the west side.

“There could potentially be an up and coming generation [currently in high school] that maybe would like to continue. So that’s where they’re going to go,” she told CBC News on Tuesday, as a steady stream of customers stopped by to buy their final batches of beloved baked goods and to wish the family well.

The eldest, Sally Titus, 70, co-owns the business with the fourth sibling Anthony Titus and is “definitely ready” to retire, according to Weagle, the youngest and only family member willing to be interviewed. Her sister and brother took over from their father around 1991, she said, but they’ve all worked there for years, along with siblings Clara Graham and David Titus.

They had planned to close Friday but by Tuesday were running out of ingredients, and the shelves were nearly empty.

The decision to close Wednesday instead was confirmed in a social media post around 6:30 a.m.

“After 75 years in business today will be our final day as we are retiring,” Titus Bakery announced on Facebook. “Anyone with orders placed for tomorrow will have to come in today as we are out of ingredients.”

Asked whether they’ve sold the business, or are planning to sell, Weagle said many customers have also inquired.

“But that’s a question that I haven’t even been given an answer to — and I’m family. So as far as it goes that’s up in the air,” she said.

“It’s like a death, really, when you lose your business, or when you’ve decided to retire. So all those things have to be taken in stride, all the things that have to change.”

So while it’s the end of Titus Bakery as people know it, it may not necessarily be the end, Weagle suggested with a smile. “Maybe, just maybe.”

Customers the priority

She attributes the family’s long-running success, in part, to its popular cookies, such as the hermit, oatmeal and jubilee, or spice, and to the freshness of the goods.

“We don’t use any mixes. … Nothing frozen, brought in pre-made,” Weagle said.

“They’re hand-cut and baked. We have no timers back there” in the kitchen. “Everything’s just eyeballed.”

But equally important is customer service.

“I really think that the bottom line is you treat your customers with respect and honour, and you treat them as they’re the most important person in the world,” Weagle said.

Customers have taken time out of their busy day and gone out of their way to visit the small shop. 

“If it wasn’t for them, we wouldn’t be here. So they’re the priority,” said Weagle, a lesson instilled by her “extremely loving and kind” parents.

‘Great people, great food’

She fought back tears as she greeted regulars by name, accepting cards, flowers, chocolates and hugs.

Arthur Crowley told her he’s gong to miss her “almost as much as the bread.”

Crowley has been buying from Titus Bakery since he was nine years old. “That’s many years ago,” he said without revealing exactly how many but his head of white hair betraying him.

For the past 20 years, he has visited on a “steady basis,” about three times a week for the “great people, great food.”

“When you’re dealing with the Tituses, it’s more than a store,” Crowley said. “It becomes like a family affair.

“They know everybody and everybody’s welcome. So it’s not like going to a big store [where] nobody knows anybody [and] you’re a  number. It’s a total loss to the community and a tremendous loss to me.”

4 generations of customers

Abby Chenier heard about the closure from a friend and “couldn’t believe it.”

Four generations of Cheniers have frequented the bakery.

“Very nice place. And the people were nice. Always joking, always having fun.”

He started when he attended nearby St. Malachy’s High School and continued when he later worked at the fire hall up the street.

“I would come down for the bread for the sandwiches, very fresh. And another guy would take off to the [City] Market, get the cold cuts.”

Chenier still visits twice a week, mostly for the bread. He said he joked with the Tituses that he’s going to show up on their last day with an old bread truck and buy 400 loaves. “Next week, I’ll sell them for $10 a loaf. That’s how good their bread is,” he said.

His granddaughter Jordyn describes loading up the molasses brown bread with butter and polishing off a whole loaf in one sitting.

Chenier will also miss the blueberry Danishes. “I’ll lose more weight if they close. I mean, I depend on those.”

Felt like a part of the family

Dawn Durley and sister Crystal Koven said they have eaten “pretty much everything” the bakery offered, and “it’s all been delicious.”

They went with their parents as young girls and have taken their own children and grandchildren.

“We’re going to really, really miss it,” Durley said as she finished signing a card and inserting some gift cards.

“We just wanted to let them know … how happy we are for them, and bring them … a little something and just to show how much we appreciated them.”

They have been a part of almost every family celebration over the years.

“Christmastime, we ordered from Titus’s. If we’re having a shower — baby shower, wedding shower, we came to Titus’s … and unfortunately even funerals, we would order from Titus’s,” Koven said. “So they’ve really been a part of every aspect of our life.”

“It was almost like we were part of their family and they were part of ours. That’s how we felt,” Durley said. “And I’m sure they’re like that with everybody, not just us.

“Their baking is, you know, out of this world, but more than anything, I think it’s them being them. You know, it’s a family tradition that their parents would be so proud.”

Weagle, who has known some customers since she was a child, said they do feel like family and will be fondly remembered.

“We’re very thankful,” she said. “Thankful is a big word and that’s what we are -— thankful with an exclamation mark.”