'Cake Boss' visit brings customers to Bing's

NEWARK –

Sylvester Johnson, on a sugary mission Thursday morning, was happy to spy what he was seeking.

"There it is," he said, pointing to a tray of peanut butter cookies topped with Reese's Peanut Butter Cups at Bing's Bakery on East Main Street.

Standing in line with about two dozen other customers, Johnson, the University of Delaware's Director of Facilities Custodial and University Services, said he had been to Bing's a few times before, but he wasn't a regular. The old-school bakery, founded in 1946, is a short hike from the college's main campus.

Then, Johnson watched the July 1 premiere episode of "Buddy's Bakery Rescue," a new TLC series hosted by Buddy Valastro. The celebrity pastry chef, known as "Cake Boss," visited Bing's Bakery in October 2013 to help owners Tom and Carla Guzzi and their four sons turn around the struggling family business.

Johnson, and anyone who watched the show, soon learned the Guzzis were $650,000 in debt, almost lost their home and were constantly scrambling to pay bills. Carla Guzzi, who works another full-time job to keep the bakery afloat, also cares for her 16-year-old son Jonathan, who is mentally disabled.

If business doesn't turn around, the Guzzis said they will be forced to close the 68-year-old business, a downtown Newark landmark and the state's longest-running bakery.

"That was a shock," said Johnson, who now plans to become a repeat Bing's customer. "It was an eye-opener. These are real good people and it hit close to home. You really feel for them."

It's a sentiment shared by others, who have been walking into the bakery since Wednesday morning and walking out with bags and white cardboard boxes filled with baked goods. Some were nostalgic longtime customers hungry for sprinkle cookies, some were TV-watching newcomers who wanted to try the "pocket pastries" Valastro introduced.

And some, like one woman who stood outside the bakery Thursday, seemed most interested in breathing in the intoxicating aroma of buttercream and sugar that perfumes the bakery.

"I love that smell," she said, before walking in and eyeing the cases filled with chocolate-covered pretzels, eclairs, cupcakes, cannoli, baba au rhum and cheesecakes.

This week has been a humbling experience for the Guzzis, a proud, private family who never wanted to share their financial challenges with their customers, let alone air them on national TV.

"People didn't realize. They didn't know what we've been going through," said Carla Guzzi, who has been overwhelmed by customer response.

"People have been giving us hugs. People have been taking our pictures. People have been traveling to support us. That story really came from our hearts. It was real. Trying to pay the bills is real," she said. "I was on the phone trying to negotiate paying my gas bill when the TV cameras came in and asked me what was going on. I had to tell them."

"At Bing's every week, I have to think, 'How do we keep going?' " Guzzi said. "You could see on that show, the bags under my eyes. I'm tired."

Her husband, Tom Guzzi, the shop's head baker who took over the business from former owner Selina Bing in 2005, stopped baking and decorating pastries with his two sons, Tom and Vincent, to talk about the TV experience.

While he bonded with Valastro, who comes from a similar baking background, Tom Guzzi said, at first, he was dead set against appearing on a reality TV show.

"I didn't want to do it," said the baker, who watched similar shows and didn't like how the families were portrayed. His wife convinced him it might help the failing business.

"Maybe, it's from the Lord," Tom Guzzi said. "I thought, 'Let it happen.' "

The Guzzis said Bing's was already struggling when they acquired the business nine years ago. "The rising cost of ingredients is killing us," Tom said. Yet, he said he can only raise prices so much. "We're a mom-and-pop bakery. How much money am I going to charge for a strawberry shortcake?"

Valastro's biggest contributions to aiding the business was convincing Guzzi to bake less products. Some weeks, Bing's donated or tossed away almost $2,000 in baked goods. Valastro also convinced the Guzzis to market to the nearby UD campus, its employees and its more than 20,000 students.

It appeared to be working. "Look, I think those are college kids," Carla Guzzi said gesturing toward a group of four men in their late teens to early 20s standing in line Thursday.

The Bing's makeover was mostly cosmetic. Walls were painted white and a powdery-blue with a hint of green. Four new white tables line the front windows. Valastro repaired broken equipment in the kitchen.

The Guzzis are fine with renovations. "The store looks so much more inviting," Tom said.

There is still more to be done, Carla Guzzi said, but any major renovations will have to wait. "The big-ticket items? Well, we're just trying to survive."

The family hopes the TV show sparks greater interest that won't just stop with once-a-year purchases for birthday or anniversary cakes. "In the short time, it will help. But time will tell. It has to be continuous," Carla said.

Bing's challenges continued this week. Early Wednesday, the bakery had a temporary power failure. Carla Guzzi said she initially worried they would have to throw away most of their baked goods when the freezer and refrigerators weren't operating, but an electrician came to the rescue and quickly fixed the problem.

On Thursday morning, they were dealing with replacing a blown fuse.

"Don't panic," Norma Alexander, Carla's cousin who manages the bakery, called out to customers Thursday as the lights flickered off before quickly coming back on.

And, unlike past years, there is no closing for an annual one-week family vacation.

"We can't close for a week. It will hurt us," Carla Guzzi said.

Bing's Bakery, 253 E. Main St., Newark, is open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays. Special hours for Friday, the Fourth of July, are 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Visit www.bingsbakery.com.

Contact Patricia Talorico at (302) 324-2861 or ptalorico@delawareonline.com. Read her culinary blog Second Helpings at www.delawareonline.com/blog/secondhelpings and follow her on Twitter @pattytalorico.