LOUISVILLE, KY — Kuno Plehn, a native of Kiel, Germany, first flipped the ‘open’ sign of Plehn’s Bakery in 1924. Since then, the Louisville, KY, staple has maintained its long-standing tradition of serving assorted baked goods to eager consumers.
Jennifer Brownlee, one of Plehn’s Bakery’s owners, shared her insights into the business’ 100-year milestone, emphasizing that the bakery plans to maintain the same approach that’s worked for the past century.
“I’m really proud we made it this far, but it also brings quite a bit of pressure that we’ve been here so long,” Jennifer shared. “We just want to keep this business running where people who came in as kids are now bringing their children and grandchildren. We need to be able to keep that going.”
As the bakery geared up for its 100-year anniversary, Jennifer noted that on top of serving traditional menu items — coffee cakes, donuts, Danishes, kuchens, cakes and breads — Plehn’s also ran promotional marketing for daily items.
“On Tuesday, we sold glazed donuts for a dollar,” she explained. “On Wednesday, we had free slices of cake, and following that, we’re doing free chocolate chip cookies.”
Plehn’s yellow and chocolate cakes with white buttercream or chocolate icing were packaged in individual containers and given to walk-in customers while supplies lasted. The bakery also sold grab-and-go assorted dessert boxes — valued at $28 — for a commemorative price of $19.24. The boxes included decorative iced sugar and thumbprint cookies, cake dips and orange cake blossoms.
Plehn’s is also offering raffle tickets for a free decorative, hand-painted cake through July 20.
When looking ahead to the bakery’s next 100 years, Jennifer shared Plehn’s key to success.
“The plan isn’t much different than what we’re doing every day right now,” she concluded. “We’re a small, single-location retail bakery store. We plan to continue doing what we’ve been doing for a long time.”
