Giminetti Baking Company to reopen under new owners

Giminetti Baking Co. will reopen in Northern Kentucky after being purchased by the owners of Pompilios Italian Restaurant. The wholesale bakery, which operated in Walnut Hills for 37 years, shuttered its doors in March when co-owners Jim Ciuccio and Richard Ferguson decided to retire and lease the space.

The historic Northern Kentucky restaurant Pompilios, which will turn 90 years old next year, has been serving bread from Giminetti since the bakery opened. Restaurant co-owners Mike Mazzei, Joe Bristow and Larry Geiger, who also own Kentucky-based value-added food producer KHI Food Brands and Sweet Tooth Premium Ice Cream & Candies, finalized their purchase of Giminetti on Monday.

"We had planned to get into the baking business for pastries and such, and we also own KHI Food Brands, which manufactures sauces, salsas, barbecue sauces, etcetera," Mazzei said. "We're in the manufacturing business, so this sort of fit like right in the middle of what we're doing."

At first, Mazzei said purchasing the bakery was a "defensive move" so they wouldn't lose their bakery wholesaler.

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"We thought we'd have to make our own bread, so we went to them and asked, 'Can you help us make it?' That sort of led to, 'What are you gonna do with all that equipment?' Next thing you know, we're buying most of their equipment, getting their name and recipes and customer list, and now we're gonna be in the bread business," he said.