Kosher bakery in Oakland sells for just $1

OAKLAND, Calif. (KRON) — The Grand Bakery in Oakland has a new owner, having recently sold for the price of $1.

Oakland native Bear Silber was chosen over 2550 other applicants to buy the Bay Area’s oldest kosher bakery. Silber and former Grand Bakery owner Sam Tobis closed the deal on Feb. 19: The exchange of that single dollar.

“The recipes, the routes, the customers, the IP, all of that was a full dollar,” Silber said.

The wholesale business operates out of a kitchen above the Food Mill building on MacArthur Boulevard.

Tobis, who also owns Saul’s Restaurant and Delicatessen in Berkeley told KRON4 he didn’t have time to operate two businesses. So back in October, he put out the news he was looking for a new buyer. Applicants were asked to write an essay describing themselves, their qualifications and why they want to own a bakery.

Over 250 submissions later, Silber was the ideal candidate. Tobis described Silber as having a unique combination of operating experience and passion. In the early 1900s, Silber’s great grandparents opened a well-known Jewish bakery chain called “Silber’s.” The business closed its doors before 1980.

“My grandfather and seven siblings were raised above the bakery it grew to at least 36 locations in the Baltimore area,” Silber said.

Silber picked up that entrepreneurship gene and ran several businesses in the Bay Area and is now ready to take on his next role.

“The next chapter, the next steward in a long line of people who have shepherded Grand Bakery and a lot of what it’s owed today is due to Sam and Bob and all the previous owners, so I look to carry on that legacy,” Silber said.

While Silber will maintain Grand Bakery’s legacy, he plans to bring new additions.

“Right now, we’re kosher, and I’d like to add dairy at one point in a new facility,” Silber said. “That would allow us to make different products like a really good babka, rugelach and some family recipes from Silber’s that I would like to bring back. They were really well known for their rye bread and their sugar cookies.”

Silber met the former owner of Grand Bakery back in 2021 and, at the time, shared his family’s history in owning a Jewish bakery and his dreams to bring it back one day.

The $1 deal did not include the price of the equipment Silber purchased.

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