VIDEO: Silvek's bakery closed after nearly 30 years in Little Rock

Silvek and Irena Pupkowski
Silvek and Irena Pupkowski

Silvek Pupkowski rolled a large mixer out of his namesake bakery and into the parking lot Tuesday morning. That and the empty display racks meant one thing: Silvek's was closing.

The bakery just inside the door at the Heights neighborhood Kroger has been a Little Rock mainstay. After nearly 30 years, Tuesday was the final day.

"You prepare mentally. This is your last day working, and you have to put your mind in a different direction," Pupkowski said.

It's time for the "next chapter in our lives," added his wife, Irena.

As of 4 p.m., the bakery had sold out completely, save the reserved items still waiting to be picked up.

Silvek and Irena Pupkowski immigrated to the United States in 1984 from Poland, opening the bakery on June 24, 1986. So after nearly three decades of rising as early as 2 a.m. to bake the bread, rolls and desserts, what is that next chapter?

“Well, rest,” Irena Pupkowski said through her Polish accent. “Maybe for a month or two, do nothing. Just get lazy.”

Customer Dennis Heinitz, 67, of Little Rock said the couple has "earned it."

"It's a wonderful thing that they did well and made a lot of people happy," he said. "Silvek's made a lot of people happy in Little Rock."

The bakery’s contract with Kroger has run out, and the daily grind of running a bakery — the early mornings, the 10- or 12-hour days — took a toll.

“Silvek got so tired,” Irena said.

“I need rest,” he added.

The Pupkowskis were sure to thank Kroger for the support the store gave them over the years. The grocer even threw them a going-away party.

“It was amazing what they did,” Silvek said.

The bakery established itself as a Little Rock favorite with many longtime customers, including Joan Pytlik, a 20-year customer and friend of the Pupkowskis.

"It's like a neighborhood bakery. It's like I'm in Poland," said Pytlik, who is also Polish.

The couple joked that the customer reaction to the bakery’s closing has been similar to that at a funeral.

"Silvek's has been an institution in Little Rock for 30 years and the fact that this is now going away, it's sad," Heinitz said. "They've provided a good service for the people of Little Rock."

Customers like Pytlik and Heinitz, who has bought his favorite almond macaroon cookies at Silvek's since he moved to Little Rock five years ago, are what the Pupkowskis said they will miss most about their business.

"They supported us for so many years, many from the beginning," Irena Pupkowski said.

As the clean-up and move-out began late Tuesday morning, customers stopped for one final purchase and to say goodbye, lamenting how much they’ll miss the Pupkowskis and the bakery.

"They'll be immortal in the minds and memories and stomachs of the people of Little Rock," Heinitz said.

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The racks at Silvek's were getting low on stock as the bakery prepared to close for good.

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