For a lot of people the holidays is about parties, presents, and spending time with family. However, for workers at Pleasantville Bakery and Cafe, their holiday is a little bit different.

“Working at a bakery during the holidays is incredibly busy,” said Kemar Newell, owner and baker of the Pleasantville Bakery and Cafe. “People love holiday-themed deserts.”

And while people may love the desserts, Newell loves the business it brings. This holiday season, Pleasantville Bakery expects to have a 40 percent increase in sales, according to Tanya Rivera, baker’s assistant at Pleasantville Bakery.

“It’s the holiday season, and people go crazy with wanting to get stuff for the family or an event,” Rivera said. “Thanksgiving generates so much business, and then when that’s over, it’s already Christmas, just like that.”

Pleasantville Bakery opened its doors in April 2017, so this is its first holiday rush. But Rivera, who has been working in bakeries all of her adult life, believes that this gives the business a chance to establish its personal touch.

“This place definitely has more of an old school feel, it’s a mom-and-pop store,” Rivera said. “Whereas if you go to a Dunkin Donuts or a grocery store you won’t get that, so people appreciate our store. The elderly really like it because it kind of rewinds time and brings back some special memories, especially if they see something that they used to have as a kid.”

If the Pleasantville Bakery wants to achieve higher sales and have a strong reputation in town for the holidays, employees know that they will have to make sacrifices, such as working more days and longer shifts.

With Thanksgiving approaching, Rivera said the bakery has already had to make an assortment of pies such as apple, pecan, blueberry, and of course, pumpkin. And while she admitted the long hours may be difficult, customer satisfaction triumphs everything else.

“I’m very excited to see the children come in here and pick out all of the different holiday cookies,” said a smiling Rivera. “My favorites are the adults, because they come in here thinking that it’s like a toy store. The adults they know what they want, but once they take a look at our goodies, it’s total confusion.”