Has Pratzel's Bakery Closed For Good?

Pratzel's Eastgate Bakery, a St. Louis institution for nearly a century, may once again be in danger of closing its doors for good.

St. Louis Magazine reports that the bakery, under new management since it reopened in the summer of 2011 at its former manufacturing plant at the Dielman Industrial Park in Olivette, has been closed for weeks, with no answers for at least one client, Straub's Market in Clatyon.

The magazine's attempts in recent days to reach Jon Mills, the documentary film producer who brought the bakery back to life months after it closed in January 2011, have been unsuccessful. Patch has also been unable to reach Mills by phone, and there was no answer at the business door in Olivette.

Mills, who bought rights to the Pratzel brand and recipes from the Pratzel family, that he had faced some bureaucratic hurdles in reopening the business, and that road construction in the area, now complete, was also a challenge at the time.

The business had been serving wholesale customers and next-day orders, with limited retail business at the Olivette site. 

Ronnie Pratzel, the former owner, had been a consultant for the business. He told Patch Wednesday that his contractual agreement with Mills expired in June and that he had not been involved with the bakery in roughly a year.

He praised Mills as bright and independent, and said Mills' family paid their sympathies when Pratzel's wife Elaine died earlier this year.

Pratzel said he's heard from customers in recent days asking him questions about rumors regarding the bakery.

"I wanted him to succeed," Pratzel said.