For over 37 years, the Gales family has served up goodies of all kinds to locals and tourists at their Country Pie Shoppe bakeries in Donegal and Mt. Pleasant, PA.
It all began in 1984. Max Gales would frequent the existing bakery on Route 31 in Donegal for donuts on his way to work at Latrobe Die Casting. He told his oldest son, Jeff, that the bakery was for sale. They decided to purchase the bakery and Jeff received a 6 week crash course in baking from the previous owner. Jeff then went on to take Baking & Pastry classes @ WCCC and Wilton cake decorating classes.
The bakery quickly became a family business with Jeff managing the bakery. Max’s wife, Betty, would help out in the bakery on Sundays. Max and Betty’s youngest son, Jerry, was 15 at the time. Jerry also began to work on the weekends. Jeff trained Jerry to become a baker, and now he co-manages the bakeries with Jeff.
In 1994, the Gales family expanded the business by purchasing the Mt. Pleasant Bakery on Route 819 in Mt. Pleasant and turned it into a Country Pie Shoppe. It had been closed for a year when they bought it, but they were able to retain some of the original recipes. Chocolate ripple coffee cake and raisin & apricot squares were then added to the growing list of Country Pie Shoppe goodies.
The bakeries are still a family affair. Max and Betty are not as hands-on as they used to be. Jeff & Jerry have taken on the roll of managing both locations. Sherry, their eldest daughter & husband Kerry as well as their children, Elizabeth, Addie and Zac as well as Jerry’s wife Bonnie and children Cameron, Tiffany & Jerry all pitch in to help at times as needed. We employ 18 – 20 full and part-time employees.
We are proud to offer a selection of homemade baked goods, including; a variety of pies, specialty cakes, donuts, cookies and breads. We have a few signature items that are customer favorites, such as; our homemade buttercream icing, snails, scoopies, filled cupcakes, and homemade cinnamon rolls.
We encourage you to stop in at one of our locations the next time you are in the area. Both bakeries are open seven days a week from 6AM to 7PM. For more information, please call us 724-593-7105 or 724-547-7105 or complete our online contact form.
