Cindy Dobo-Hoffman
Dobo’s Delights Bake Shoppe
417 N. Main St.
Piqua, Ohio 45356
937-773-7923
www.dobosdelights.com

Ever since Cindy Dobo-Hoffman was a child, she wanted to own a bakery. It all started when Cindy was seven years old and her aunt gave her a chocolate mold with the ingredients to make heart shaped suckers. Her aunt told her to make the suckers and sell them for 35 cents. Since that time she was hooked on business and wanted to own her own bakery. She still has that sucker mold in use!

In 1997 the opportunity became available for Cindy and her husband, Kevin, to buy a bakery in Piqua. They purchased the bakery and started getting used to the 3 a.m. to 6 p.m. baker's hours. It was particularly difficult in the beginning since they lived in Cincinnati. Cindy stayed with a friend in Dayton during the week and went home to Cincinnati on the weekend for the first three months. They finally rented out their Cincinnati house, pending sale, and moved to Piqua.

The bakery retails and wholesales their homemade cakes, pies and donuts but specializes in Hungarian pastries which they sell nationally via mail order and their website. In 2001 the owners of the leased building the bakery was in wanted the building back for their own use. Cindy and Kevin found a new location, and with the help of an SBA LowDoc loan through Unity National Bank in Piqua, they resumed operations in their new facility. Dobo's Bakery has nearly doubled sales since they purchased the business.

Cindy has been quite active with the baking and business associations. She in on the Board of Directors of the Retail Bakers Association, is past President of the Business Network International, and is a member of the Main Street Piqua Association.

When asked, what do you like the most about being in business for yourself, Cindy replied, "The thing that my customers and friends see is how happy we are owning our business. It is great to enjoy what we do. This reflects in our products. My father is from Hungary and this spurred my interest in Hungarian pastries. I have learned how to make them from many people including my mother and people in Hungary. We like being able to provide pastries to people who want items like their grandmother used to make."

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