By Gillian Graham

Staff Writer

Mike Reilly can’t help but smile when he looks around his bakery.

He loves his employees, he loves his products and, most of all, he loves the customers who walk through the doors of Reilly’s Bakery day after day.

“I love it that they like what I do. That’s what helps me get up at 2 every morning,” Reilly said.

The Biddeford bakery celebrated its 100^th anniversary this month with music, employee reunions, cookie decorating and a doughnut-eating contest. The Main Street mainstay is run by the third and fourth generations of the family that opened the bakery in 1910.

Edward Reilly and his brother-in-law, Bob MacFarlane, opened the Reilly-MacFarlane Bakery after moving their families to Biddeford, Reilly said. The bakery became known as Reilly’s Bakery after MacFarlane died.

Ed Reilly, Mike Reilly’s father, took over the bakery in 1936 with his brother, Norman. Mike Reilly took the reins in the early 1980s and has been there nearly every day since. The bakery moved several door fronts to its current location 11 years ago.

“I’m sure my grandfather would be shocked to know the business he started in 1910 is still going 100 years later,” Reilly said.

Reilly started working at the bakery when he was in eighth grade. He quickly fell in love with the business and decided to stay.

“In those early days I wasn’t sure that’s what I wanted to do,” he said. “But there was the family pride, the family history and owning a thriving business.”

Reilly credits the bakery’s success to its recipes and the family members who have staffed the store for four generations. Reilly works alongside his sister, Maureen Jariz, and his children, Shawn Reilly and Elizabeth Hussey. His grandchildren, 7-year-old Collin Reilly and 8-year-old Kaya Mosher, are the bakery’s official taste testers.

Twenty-two small aprons that represent each family member to work at the bakery are strung across the front window. Another window display features old family photos and recipe cards. 

Reilly said not much has changed in the past 100 years and that’s the way he likes it. Bakers use old family recipes and bake from scratch.

“We strive to keep everything exactly the same,” he said. “There’s a lot of history behind this place.”

Reilly said the bakery’s most popular items include maple cream and chocolate-covered doughnuts. (He eats a chocolate-covered or glazed dooughnut almost every day.) Each doughnut is cut by hand and the bakery makes about 250 dozen each week. Last Friday, bakers churned out 100 dozen chocolate-covered doughnuts.

During the holiday season, Reilly uses his grandmother’s pork pie recipe to make 1,200 pies. During Lent, Reilly’s sells 150 dozen hot cross buns per week, in addition to the 500 dozen hot cross buns that go out the door on Good Friday. 

Reilly said he and his employees take pride in connecting with their customers. Before opening the bakery in its current location, he designed the kitchen so he could see customers and they could see him while he bakes.

 “We treat the customers like they’re family. We know what they want before they walk through the door,” he said. “They appreciate that. I love it. It’s part of why I’m here.”

Ed Reilly, 88, stops by the bakery each morning for coffee and a visit. He has spent his whole life in the bakery business and takes pride in seeing his family continue the tradition, he said.

 “I liked meeting the people and doing the work. You meet a lot of nice people in a small shop,” he said.

Last Friday, Theresa Huot and Blanche Demers of Biddeford sat at a bakery table, chatting over coffee and chocolate-covered doughnuts. Demers said she goes to the bakery at least once a week, often to order her favorites: maple cream doughnuts and Neopolitans.

 “It’s just as good today as it always has been. They never change,” Demers said.

 “Everything is good. I love everything,” Huot added.

At a nearby table, Rena Michaud of Biddeford ate her daily sugar doughnut while reading a book.

 “I love the coffee, I love my doughnut and the staff is always wonderful,” she said. “They aim to please and that’s the sweet part of it. It’s a pleasant place to come. The doors are open, their hearts are open.”

Staff Writer Gillian Graham can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 213.