OLD FORGE, Pa. — A closed sign now hangs in the window of Agostini Bakery in Old Forge.
"I wish I didn't have to end it like this. I wish I could keep impacting, but it is just too much," said Bob Agostini.
The bakery opened in 1907, delivering freshly baked rolls and pizza shells to local eateries.
Bob Agostini took over the family business more than a decade ago. He says the decision to close is due to a combination of things like rising prices and not enough workers.
"Especially the gas prices, flour doubled in the last two years, so it was pretty much impossible to keep going, as a business with five trucks on the road, to deliver all of the stuff it just got too hard to sustain."
Businesses like Berlew's Hoagies in Moosic rely on Agostini's for rolls which owner Buddy Prusinski says have been a staple at his shop since the 1940s.
"We are sad, sad for the Agostinis and sad for us. We'll get through it, find something, and hope the customers stick with us. We'll try to get the freshest buns we can," said Prusinski.
Berlew's serves upwards of 300 hoagies every day. Prusinski says customers have grown to love the rolls from Agostini's just as they have grown to love the local partnership.
"They are two blocks down the road from us. If we are running short, we could always run down, and there was never an issue of, 'That's too many.' They always delivered, and we are going to miss them," Prusinski said.
Agostini says word got around quickly of the decision to close. He didn't even have the chance to call all his customers before they started calling him.
"I was surprised at the phone calls that I got. I was trying to make a lot of the phone calls myself, but I truly didn't realize how many customers we had. A lot of people cried on the phone. I was taken aback by that," Agostini said.
Agostini said there is interest in someone else taking over the business, but nothing has been decided just yet.
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