Longtime Lexington bakery is closing its doors. How you can get a last donut or croissant
After 67 years as a Lexington staple, Magee’s Bakery is closing.
Owners Beverly and Greg Higgins announced in a Facebook post Friday night that the business, at 726 E. Main St., will be open May 13 and 14 “with limited amounts of your favorite doughnuts, croissants, cookies, pastries and pies. Depending on the amount of baking ingredients left, we may open the following weekend, as well.”
The bakery is not open this weekend. The owners had said in a Facebook post earlier Friday that they would not be opening because they had two bakers out.
The bakery will not be taking orders online or over the phone, and it will not offer sandwiches going forward, according to the announcement.
Next weekend, the owners said, will be “your chance to come by and say a final goodbye to your favorite neighborhood bakery, take some pictures, and buy a souvenir,” the announcement stated. “We would like to thank our loyal customers who stood by us throughout the years watching us grow. And, for understanding why we needed to make some changes along the way to keep up with Lexington’s ever growing food industry and new businesses.
“Thank you for allowing us to do what we loved, while serving your family for generations.”
Beverly and Greg Higgins are siblings who inherited the business from their parents, Joyce and Ralph Higgins, who opened it in 1956 as a spinoff from the Magee’s bakery in Maysville. Ralph Higgins had been a bookkeeper for the owner of the Maysville location, and he and Joyce Higgins initially operated the Lexington branch of the business for him.
The couple, along with a partner, bought the Lexington bakery from Magee in the late 1960s, and then the Higginses bought the partner out in 1972.
They said in a 2016 Herald-Leader article celebrating the bakery’s 60th anniversary that everything was still made from scratch, and doughnuts were their best seller.
They said they had expanded their offerings to include sandwiches, soups and other items in response to the market.
“We already make the bun; why not make the burger?” Greg Higgins said at the time.
Herald-Leader reporter Janet Patton contributed to this report.
This story was originally published May 5, 2023 at 10:17 PM.
