The Interview Jody Bourgeois, president at Mallon’s, has been satisfying Ocean City’s sweet tooth for 30 years the holiday season we are jamming, basically baking every day between Thanksgiving and Christmas for mail orders. What have been the biggest successes of the year? My children (Robin and Max) stepping up in the responsibility of working in the business. They’ve become a real part of the business. Max is a hands on person and works in the kitchen. Robin works the internet and mail order side of the business. They have basically grown up here, but they are taking a more active role in the bakery now that they are out of college. What is your weakness? Do you have a sweet tooth? The butter cake we have here, it’s just exceptional. We always have some stuff in the back to munch on – doughnuts or something, but I always go for the butter cake. It is my favorite thing to bake. What are the challenges of running a sticky bun business? Finding good help. I’ve been blessed with the greatest help of my kids. Other than that, trying to figure out how much to bake on a day-to-day basis. We have no day old stuff – we make sure everything sells out by the end of the day.
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ETTING up long before the sunrise seems a tough challenge, especially in the winter months when our beds are always so warm. Jody Bourgeois gets up excitedly, however, as she gets to spend each morning baking her famous sticky buns at Mallon’s. Her holiday season is just as busy as the summer, as the demand for sticky buns never stops. Reaching 30 years of successful business this season, she gets to work with her family day in and day out to produce a commodity people near and far from Ocean City marvel over. How did Mallon’s Sticky Buns get started? I went to school for accounting, and worked as an accountant and decided it wasn’t for me. I decided to open a restaurant, because I always liked the kitchen aspect. There was a niche for sticky buns around here, and so I went to Atlantic Cape Community College for baking. I got a recipe from an old bakery in Ocean City called Dana’s. I baked there, switching this ingredient and that one, and came up with the recipe we use today. Mallon’s makes things the old fashioned way. What is the old fashioned way? We do not use shortcuts. We use real butter, top grade cinnamon, and a lot of love and care into our product. You can take short cuts and get to the same result of a sticky bun, but it won’t be as successful as ours have been. Why was Ocean City a perfect place to establish Mallon’s? I grew up here! My family would come from Oreland, PA to Ocean City the day school let out and we would not go back until the day before school started again. How many sticky buns does Mallon’s produce in a day during the season? We have two ovens that hold 90 dozen at a time. [That’s over 2,000 sticky buns!] We run multiple ovens throughout the day in season. Our 14th Street store bakes for all of our locations, and we are always baking. Everything for the other stores is made daily and ships in a truck that leaves at 5am. During 20 OCEAN CITY MAGAZINE NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2018
What were some of the rewarding parts? Customer satisfaction, that’s always the goal. What is your favorite childhood memory of Ocean City? The beach! I grew up on 37th Street beach. I was a surfer. What is it like working with your family? How does it add to your relationship? Some people may call it a challenge, but we all get along real well. I love getting to see my kids all day, and then we get to go home and have meals together. Do you have a motto? “Don’t just do it, do it right.” I have it posted in the bakery for the kids to see. What are your hobbies? Anything that involves the ocean. Paddle boarding, fishing, boating, just being outside. What do you look forward to during the holidays? I love that Mallon’s has become such a tradition to people. We have a product good enough that people want to incorporate into their traditions. It’s like they have invited us into their own homes. Once the holiday baking is done, what is your Christmas like? On Christmas Eve we are usually pretty tired. I cook a Christmas brunch, and then we head up to the Poconos for a week to ski and watch TV. Then it’s right back down here and back to work! Do you ski or snowboard? My husband and I ski. Robin and Max are snowboarders. - Text by Nick Matousch. Photo by Kerri Janto.
