Lloyd's Bakery

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Lloyd’s Bakery was one of the first successful bakeries in North Adams. It was opened in 1912 by Ralph and Harold Lloyd on the corner of River and Houghton Streets. By 1916, business was so brisk that the brothers realized they had to update their ovens in order to keep up with customers’ needs. They contacted the Dukrokop Oven Company of New York and ordered a new kiln with solid concrete base 16 feet by 4 feet and weighing roughly 100 tons. With this new oven the Lloyd brothers could now bake up to 7,000 loaves of bread a day.

In the mid-1930’s, the old store had become tiresome with squeaky floorboards and leaky windows. Customers began move on to more modern confectionaries. On Ralph Lloyd’s insistence, the store underwent another up-grade with a complete renovation of the shop. The bakery went from having a dull white-washed edifice to one of a bright clean brick exterior, new doorway, windows with Swiss curtains and much improved lighting. Inside, the store added a new floor and attracted display cases. The result of these improvements? Store receipts increased by 40% and business continued to improve into the 1940’s.

Near the end of the 1940’s Ralph Lloyd’s heath began to decline due to a heart ailment. As a result, Lloyd’s Bakery closed its doors in 1951 much to the chagrin of many North Adams customers.