Boulangerie Marguerita

To get a sense of what it’s like to run a business that has served a neighbourhood’s evolving tastes over the course of decades, just ask Peter Petrella, owner of the famous Little Italy bakery Boulangerie Marguerita. “It all started in 1904, when a man named Alary bought a city lot, which he gave to his son, a master baker,” Peter explains. “He opened his bakery in 1910, and spent the next few years kneading his dough.”

The bakery would then change hands a number of times over the years. “Sometime in the ’40s, an Italian immigrant bought the business out and changed its name to Boulangerie Marguerita,” Peter continues. “Then, ten years later, his son-in-law bought him out, and, around 1965, he decided to expand the bakery’s capacity to meet demand. Since he needed capital to fund the expansion, he sold parts to his employees, among whom was my dad. Flash forward to 2004, and the partners wanted to unload their shares; I couldn’t bear to see the business disappear, so I bought them all out and have been sole owner of Boulangerie Marguerita ever since.”