PALM HARBOR, Fla. \u2014 Big news for fans of the popular dessert location JJ Gandy\u2019s in Palm Harbor. After closing late last year, there are now plans to reopen.<\/p>\n
As you walk through the front door, it\u2019s hard to believe the bakery has been closed for the past six months. From the newspaper clippings to the signs to the menu, everything has been perfectly preserved.<\/p>\n
WATCH: JJ\u00a0Gandy’s prepares to reopen this summer under new ownership<\/p>\n
JJ Gandy’s prepares to reopen this summer under new ownership<\/p>\n
Rob Marvenko said it\u2019s amazing how many people still come to the door every day looking to buy pies, one of the many reasons why he decided to reopen JJ Gandy\u2019s, a staple in the Palm Harbor community since 1982.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt actually became sort of a tradition, when we came into town, hit Clearwater Beach, we would say, \u2018let’s go to JJ Gandy\u2019s, grab a key lime pie,\u2019\u201d said Marvenko.<\/p>\n
Like so many families across Tampa Bay, Rob was surprised to hear late last year that the bakery founders, the Schmidt family, were closing their doors for retirement.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust like everybody else, I was a bit saddened. I started to look into it, and I got in touch with the owners, \u2018I\u2019d love to talk with you about the possibility of keeping this place alive,\u2019\u201d said Marvenko.<\/p>\n
From the pie pans to the boxes to the ovens, everything about the bakery is still in place.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll tell you I know my way around a kitchen, I\u2019ve always had interest in restaurants, I\u2019ve worked in restaurants and bakeries and things like that,\u201d said Marvenko. \u201cAnd my theory is, if it isn\u2019t broken, why fix it, right? So I just think with something that has been around for such a long time, 40 plus years, these people knew what they were doing.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, Rob said that if he was going to continue JJ Gandy\u2019s brand, he needed the secret recipes. With more than 1.4 million pies sold, customers will know the difference.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to make exactly what they made over the years, so when they presented me that book, of course, I opened a safety deposit box for it,\u201d said Marvenko. \u201cMany people have said to me when people tasted the pie, I\u2019ve been working in my own kitchen, and they say, \u2018Hey Rob, you got this, it\u2019s perfect.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Looking through an old scrapbook, Rob can\u2019t wait to start adding new memories to this iconic bakery while honoring those who came before him.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of people have been reaching out to me, and they have been super nice, and I thank you for that, just telling me how pleased they are that I\u2019ve stepped up to the plate and want to bring this brand back to the community,\u201d said Marvenko.<\/p>\n
JJ Gandy\u2019s is expected to reopen later this summer.<\/p>\n
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Puppy thrown and kicked by woman dies during amputation surgery at vet<\/p>\n
Tampa Bay 28 reporter Jada Williams finds out more on the one-year-old\u00a0male\u00a0Maltese\u00a0puppy that died after spending\u00a0days\u00a0recovering from abuse.<\/p>\n
‘He was loved’: Tampa puppy thrown and kicked by woman dies during amputation surgery at Pet Resource Center<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PALM HARBOR, Fla. \u2014 Big news for fans of the popular dessert location JJ Gandy\u2019s in Palm Harbor.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":262827,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[113391,113392,113393,1701,596,113394,18143,135,5910,3670,137,136,208],"class_list":["post-262826","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-113391","tag-jj-gandys","tag-key-lime-pie","tag-palm-harbor","tag-pinellas-county","tag-rob-marvenko","tag-robert-boyd","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-bay-28","tag-tampa-bay-local-news","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news","tag-wfts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262826","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=262826"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262826\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/262827"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=262826"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=262826"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=262826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}