A small store on Detroit’s southwest side, People’s Bakery, is the kind of building that can be easily overlooked if you don’t know what you’re looking for.

If it’s sweet potato pie, freshly baked rolls, a wedding cake or something sweet for any occasion, People’s Bakery has quite a selection made fresh every day.

Word of mouth and a loyal clientele has helped sustain nearly 31 years of service.

Brothers Eugene, Mack and James Peoples moved to Michigan from Alabama in the late 1960s.

James was the first to move. He took a job as master baker for Cephas (pronounced “See-Fus”), which would eventually become known as People’s Bakery.

Eventually the owners of Cephas Bakery sold the business to the Peoples brothers.

“Another thing that helped us was that we were already established with Cephas,” Eugene said. “Anytime you go into business they’re going to find fault.”

Some of the customers had a hard time adjusting to the change. A few even claimed they had changed bakers.

“Now I was the baker all the time,” said James, “but you had to prove it to people and after it got going, we were the best, they say.”

Mack recalls the initial reservations over the brothers running the bakery.

“I think that first year when we took over the bakery a lot people were skeptical about buying, but people came, they got to know us,” he said.

From there, the rest was a matter of the customers continuing to come and referring People’s Bakery to others.

“You think they would have forgotten you,” James said. “We’ve gotten older now, so you have to try to figure out a way to make things easier.”

Consistency of not only ingredients, but also great service, has kept them afloat. The brothers are committed to keeping all the recipes the same and getting up early every day.

“We almost work around the clock. If you don’t get up in the morning and get it, you’re not going to get it,” James said. “You have to get here at 4 o’clock. Kids nowadays, they’re not going to do that.

“If it weren’t for the three of us, people wouldn’t get anybody at that time of morning. That’s what we do.”

The brothers haven’t seen the need to advertise on the Internet or on television and radio. Word of mouth has sustained them.

“Word of mouth is the best advertising. If you have a good product and people like it, they’re going to tell somebody,” Mack said.

But it hasn’t all been easy, especially with the recent layoffs from the auto industry.

“When Ford and GM catch cold, I guess we get pneumonia,” he said.

“We appreciate the customers that stuck with us,” James said. “The economy now is bad. It’s hard times, and you want to please your customers as much as you can.”

“Thanks for sticking with us through good times or bad,” Mack said. “If you want to get a good sweet potato pie, dinner rolls and cakes, come to People’s Bakery.”

People’s Bakery located at 2765 S Fort St. is open Monday through Saturday from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

For more information, call (313) 383-9090. – ADV