LUZERNE COUNTY, Pa. — For more than 60 years, Royal Bakery has been best known for one thing, nut rolls.
This week the storefront off route eleven in Exeter, has been selling 400 to 500 per day.
"I'm from Baltimore. I didn't know what a nut roll was until I came up here two years ago. It's a sweet dough and it's filled with a nut mixture that's kinda sweet and it's just rolled up real tight like a jelly roll," said Royal Bakery's General Manager, Becki Hayman.
The hand-formed rolls are made from scratch and they're always a best seller.
But during the Easter season, demand is off the charts and off the map.
"They call from Florida, they call from California and Texas. They want them mailed to them all the time," says Hayman.
If you want the goods you have to show up early or order early.
New York resident Ron Blinkovitch drove an hour and a half to pick up his order. He's here for the main attraction: nut rolls.
"The Paska, the Easter bread with the raisins. With COVID now, there's only a few churches that are doing it. This beats them all, I hate to say it," he said.
And it's not just for him. Blinkovitch has taken requests this Easter, bringing home the baked goods for friends, family, and neighbors in New York.
"This one wants five, this one wants seven, I got one lady that wants eleven. She's only going to keep three, she's 89 years old. She's giving the rest for gifts," says Blinkovitch.
No trip would be complete without stopping to pick up kielbasi.
Hayman says business has actually picked up since the start of the pandemic.
Right now, everyone is craving a little extra comfort.
"People are sitting at home. They want something sweet, so they swing by and grab it."
"Especially with COVID and all, you gotta have something good. What you get here for the price, it's delicious."
Blinkovitch says he'll return at Christmas and Easter every year or sooner than that.