Rebeca Oliveira
A When Pigs Fly bread company store is scheduled to open at 619 Centre St. on June 1, offering fresh-baked breads.
While When Pigs Fly breads have been available at Harvest Co-op for at least five years, those available at the Maine-based company’d store will be even fresher than that.
“Breads available at company stores are baked fresh that day, while breads available in retail stores are baked the day before,” said Jeanne Hodurski, a When Pigs Fly representative.
The company store will also carry 15 varieties of bread not available in retail stores, for a total of 25 varieties. Bread not sold at the end of the day will be donated to as-yet-undetermined food bank, co-owner Andrew Siegel told the Gazette.
The biggest draw for When Pigs Fly, however, might be the simplest— the company stores offer free samples of everything they carry.
“We carry olive oil and jams. You can taste anything you want. You don’t have to buy anything blind,” Hodurski said.
Hodurski also said that she is particularly fond of the whole wheat honey nut loaf, though noted that the orange cranberry with toasted walnuts is probably the most popular. When Pigs Fly does not make white sandwich bread, favoring hardier varieties like sourdough and peasant white.
“It’s a whole fun experience to go through our stores,” Hodurski added.
The new When Pigs Fly location is a five-minute walk from Blue Frog Bakery, a staple on Green Street. Owner Brad Brown told the Gazette that he doesn’t expect the new Pigs store to affect his business.
“We’re the only [bakery] in JP that makes fresh bread in-house…If you’re going to buy pre-sliced whole wheat, you’re not coming here [to Blue Frog],” Brown said.
When Pigs Fly have company stores in Somerville and Brookline, as well as three stores in Maine and one in New Hampshire. They are headquartered in York, Maine.
The name, When Pigs Fly, is derived from the extremely low likelihood of a new business’s success, Siegel said.
Though the building at 615-619 Centre St. is finally up and filling with new businesses, the corner storefront is still vacant. Gazette calls to Christ Stamatos, the property owner, were not returned. The building, the former home of Century 21 Pondside Realty and three retail businesses, had been vacant since a 2006 firebombing.