Baker Samantha Cohen, left, and Manager Elle Desrosier were first hired at the European Bakery and Tea Room in Falmouth in 2012, and have been with the business under three different owners. Eloise Goldsmith / The Forecaster

The European Bakery and Tea Room in Falmouth has a new owner and will soon have a new non-pink exterior, too. But the bakers and the rest of staff – the hands that make and sell the bakery’s famous treats – have all stayed on post-sale.

A couple in Cumberland, Carla Manganello and Jeff Allen, have purchased the European Bakery and Tea Room on Route 1 in Falmouth. Eloise Goldsmith / The Forecaster

Carla Manganello of Cumberland said she and her husband, Jeff Allen, purchased the European Bakery early this month from Adam Johnson, who had owned the Route 1 business with his wife since 2017. Helen and Emil Budri of Falmouth opened the bakery on Route 1 in 1990.

Manganello approached the Johnsons to see if they were interested in selling and they were, she said.

“I’ve driven by hundreds of times. I grew up around here,” she said.

She went into the venture with a background in retail and without much baking experience, but she’s already learned a lot, she said, adding that “there’s lots more to learn.”

Manganello previously was involved in her family’s business, Olympia Sports, the now shuttered Maine-based sporting good retailer that once had over 200 stores in multiple states. Olympia Sports was acquired by a Colorado company in 2019, and later filed for bankruptcy. After Olympia Sports sold, Manganello moved into commercial real estate and is now an agent with Keller Williams. She plans to continue in that job in addition to overseeing the bakery.

For the most part, the plan is to keep the European Bakery the same – though Manganello said she is planning to rehab the outside of the building starting this week, including getting rid of its pink exterior. It will be painted black and white with black and white striped awnings added to the entrance and window. She also has plans to upgrade the interior, but that will likely happen more slowly to disrupt the flow of business as little as possible, she said.

Samantha Cohen, one of six bakers who works for the business, said the staff is a lively, close-knit group. She was originally hired in 2012, by the original ownership, though she took a few years off to work elsewhere before returning.

“It’s a lot of fun. We’re kind of goofballs in the back. We play, like, Disney music every day, and silly stuff like that,” she said.

Elle Desrosiers, the European Bakery’s manager, grew up in Falmouth and went to the bakery as a child. She started working there in 2012 as a senior in high school, and she’s stayed with the business since.

“I live in Bridgton now so it’s a long drive, but I just love this place so much. I didn’t want to leave it,” she said.

On a recent Thursday, a steady stream of customers came in to buy treats, despite it being the middle of a work day. A Freeport man, Ed Boutin, was there buying a carrot cake. The occasion? No occasion. “Life is like that sometimes,” he said. “It tastes as good as it looks.”

Another customer, Laura Gremmel, a nanny in Yarmouth, was there with the two children she looks after. She said the three of them stop by two or three times a month and get a treat. That day, the treat was a cheesecake.

Desrosier said she’s excited for the changes that Manganello has planned for the outside of the building. “I feel like the pink is kind of iconic, but she’s going to make it look amazing. And it needs a facelift, especially on the inside.”

Gesturing to the array of baked goods in the glass cases, she said, “As long as this stuff is staying the same, which it is, that’s what really matters.”