Bay Area Jewish bakery Grand Bakery is selling for only $1

For the past seven years, Sam Tobis has learned the ins and outs of running the Bay Area’s oldest kosher bakery, from holding all-night challah-making sessions to delivering food to both bar mitzvahs and families sitting shiva.

Now, he’s trying to find someone else to take on the “joy and hard work” of Oakland’s Grand Bakery, and he’s pricing the 64-year-old business to sell: It’s only $1. 

“The goal is to generate as much interest as possible, and find someone who is truly the best candidate,” Tobis told SFGATE. “I wanted the price tag to be accessible, so that anyone who’s interested could afford it, and that’s not going to be the barrier.”

The bakery turns a “small but real profit,” Tobis added, and solicited people to reach out via an online form. The form asks prospective owners to explain why they want to buy Grand Bakery as well as how their experience will help them “successfully steward this business into the future.” 

Interest had already started pouring in as of Wednesday evening. 

Tobis’ decision to sell comes as he shifts more of his attention to a Jewish deli in Berkeley, Saul’s, which he became co-owner of last year. He hopes to find a “young Jewish baker who is passionate about the food and is sensible about business,” to maintain Grand Bakery’s legacy. 

“It’s more than just a bakery, it’s a community institution,” Tobis said. 

Under his ownership, Grand hosted challah-braiding events at schools and hamentashen-making events at Purim carnivals. It delivered bagel and lox breakfast kits all over the Bay Area during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

While Tobis expects that he will spend some time with whomever he finds as the “right person” to take over the business, “God only knows” how long the process will take. “We have the luxury of time in terms of trying to orchestrate a smooth transition,” he said. 

Tobis isn’t alone in his decision to prioritize connection over profits for his business’ future: Earlier this year, a pet shop owner in San Francisco gave away his business for free.