History

Gerald Matthes started the Give Thanks Bakery in 1998, after completing a successful career in global advertising in New York and Detroit. Gerald was born in Germany, raised in England, and came to the US to pursue his dream of an advertising career on Madison Avenue in New York.  

During a business trip to Germany in 1985, Gerald learned about the rich baking tradition of the Matthes family in Germany dating back to 1762 when Johann Conrad Matthes was born. He learned the craft of bread baking early in life and passed it on to the next generations. A grandson, August Matthes, established a guest house and bakery in Braunsbach, Germany. Two generations later, Wilhelm Matthes and a brother moved to England where they grew a family baking business into 33 outlets over 80 years and several generations, until it was bought out by a competitor in the late 1970's.  

On that business trip, Gerald visited Braunsbach to find his ancestors' bakery. He was so inspired by the discoveries and turn of events that he decided in 1997 to open a Eurpoean-style bakery. Gerald had met Jean-Marc Seranon, a skilled pastry chef from Nice, France and they became partners. In 1998,  Trale Broudy, a fine Artisan bread-baker from Sonoma County, California joined them - just as the finishing touches were being put to the bakery's retail store in Downtown Rochester. And the bakery has been serving the local community ever since.