about us

Our History

Take a novel concept, a catchy theme, blend it with a diverse menu, great locations, and lots of hard work and planning, and the outcome is PureBread: Deli, Bakery & Café.

PureBread, an upscale deli, bakery, and café concept, opened for business on September 19, 2001 in Stoney Creek Plaza, in the Pike Creek Valley. Less than 15 months later, the second PureBread location opened its doors in the Greenville Crossing Shopping Center on Route 52 in Greenville, Delaware. After much planning, market research and hiring a solid management team, PureBread Christiana opened in 2004, Downtown Wilmington in 2007 and Glen Mills, PA in 2010.

For several years, partners, Ken Alkire and Mike Nardozzi, had been working together as general managers for a local restaurant group. Ken handled the financial operations while Mike focused on the marketing, and they shared operational duties. During their tenure, the pair was responsible for opening, closing, and renovating several restaurants in the group.

Alkire and Nardozzi believed they could run a successful restaurant, but also knew that they wanted a concept that would differentiate their product. Sharing a passion for dogs, the pair came up with the concept of combining canine monikers with gourmet sandwiches on fresh-baked bread resulting in “PureBread”. Their main theme revolves around a sense of fun and relaxation. It is reflected in the décor – photos of dogs – all sizes, shapes, poses and breeds surround you as you enjoy a cup of coffee and a muffin or a sandwich – identified by the breed. Mike says, “We wanted to bring a sense of the community into our deli, so we went to local parks and photographed dogs in action. When the owners see their dog’s photo pictured on the wall, it’s the best advertisement we could have,” says Mike.

PureBread prides itself on using only top-quality ingredients and the freshest-baked bread. Baking starts daily at 12:00am and continues throughout the day. All leftover baked goods are donated to the Delaware Food Bank at the end of each day. In addition to sandwiches, PureBread offers gourmet coffee, pastries, soups, salads, take-out catering and much more.

Nardozzi shares the reason for PureBread’s success: “We have been very fortunate to find great managers and staff. Our people are hard workers and are extremely dedicated to the customer. Our goal is to exceed expectations and it starts with our staff. We are proud to employ over 90 full and part-time staff members.

Ken and I both believe that being honest and doing what’s right is the proper way to do business. Sometimes that’s not the most profitable way, but to us, it’s the only way.”

Life is Ruff…We make it Better!