Local Ohioan produces tribute video for beloved Schwebel Baking Company

At 10 years old, Chris Kanakis found himself eating lunch at a friend’s house and digging into the softest bread he had ever tasted. He said he had never had bread like that before and asked his friend’s mom what it was.

Her reply: “Schwebel’s.”

Schwebel Baking Company announced late last month that it would start to formally liquidate its business after producing its bakery products for over a century. Several days following the statement, Kanakis posted a final farewell tribute video on X.

“That bread is what made Ohio quaint and nostalgic for me and probably lots more people will start having that sentiment too once they can’t buy it anymore,” Kanakis wrote in an email to Mahoning Matters.

Kanakis said he’s been a customer of Schwebel’s for nearly 35 years — even when he hadn’t lived in an area with one after college. For example: A new grocery store in Pennsylvania was opening, and Kanakis said he had been part of its focus group and explained to them he wanted to see Schwebel’s products in-store.

“Then someone told me the reason why that bread was always so soft was because it was ‘local’ and that if they tried to get it to their store it would probably not be,” Kanakis wrote. “Believe it or not it never occurred to me that it was regional because me and everyone else I knew always ate it.”

It’s a closing Kanakis didn’t see coming. He said Schwebel’s is part of Mahoning Valley’s culture, as the community made, bought and ate its products.

The video came to fruition as Kanakis was buying the last of his products. Kanakis entered Schwebel’s, and he said the workers gave him a sign of theirs from the early ’90s that said, “Smile. We’ve got you covered!”

That gift is what encouraged him to compile his footage and complete the video, according to Kanakis.

“Schwebels will always be a legend,” Kanakis wrote. “I, for one, am honored that they were still around in my lifetime. BYE SCHWEBELS, WE LOVE YOU!”