Categories: Food, News

In the New Year, you’ll have the option to order Perreca’s bread online and have it delivered to your home.

Maria Perreca Papa, co-owner of Perreca’s Bakery in Schenectady, said the business is getting ready to launch its online store next week. The plan is to first offer bread delivery and later expand to include other bakery products.

“We’re going to start after much vocal demand to have online shipping,” she said. “That will begin hopefully next week. We’ll make a big announcement on our Facebook page.”

The bakery, which has been run by the Perreca family for 100 years, recently was named the top bakery in New York by FlipKey, a subsidiary of travel website company TripAdvisor Media Group.

FlipKey chose Perreca’s as part of TripAdvisor’s “50 State Series: Best Local Bakeries Worth Traveling For.”

Papa said she was surprised and honored that the bakery was recognized as one of the nation’s best. Papa’s parents and grandparents previously managed the bakery; she now co-owns it with her brother Tony.

“We’re just a little, tiny bakery, but we work so hard,” she said. “I looked up a lot of the other bakeries on the list, and they are all so fancy, like a bakery in Boston with several outlets in the area and the owner is a Harvard graduate.”

Perreca’s popularity went into overdrive after Schenectady learned that Academy Award-winning actors Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep had fallen for its bread while filming “Ironweed” in Albany in 1987.

The list, which includes one bakery per state, was posted online Nov. 30. It includes each state’s “top charming, local bakeries,” according to FlipKey.

Perreca’s — located at 31-33 N. Jay St. in downtown Schenectady — opened in 1914. Adjacent to the bakery is More Perreca’s, which is owned by Papa and serves Italian meals.

“We’ve put together a list of the best local bakeries in each state worth traveling for,” FlipKey said. “These bakeries have the art of cookie-making, cake-frosting and pie crust-crimping down to a science and serve up their baked goods with a friendly smile.”

Papa said she believes social media has helped Perreca’s Bakery increase its customer base. She said the bakery has been busier than usual this holiday season.

“Traditionally we have a line out the door on Christmas Eve,” she said. “But this year there was a line out the door all Christmas week, which was an extra blessing. I think it’s because of the weather too, and people were able to travel to the area.”

Papa said customers have been pushing for a while now for Perreca’s to deliver its bread and other products via the online store.

Perreca’s has been preparing to launch online delivery for more than a year, she said. Papa said she believes putting Perreca’s online is the next big step for the family business.

“We’re anticipating a lot of older individuals using this system who now live in Florida or Arizona,” she said. “A lot of Facebook people are also from out of the area.”

Papa said despite going national with Perreca’s, the plan is to always keep the business in Schenectady’s Little Italy.

“We will always remain true to our North Jay Street location,” she said. “We love the neighborhood and we love Schenectady. I really take pride in our social media voice.”

A previous version of this story gave the wrong name for the film “Ironweed.”

Reach Gazette reporter Haley Viccaro at 395-3114, [email protected] or @HRViccaro on Twitter.