Brownstein's Bakery and Deli, which has served Brighton and the Rochester community for nearly 40 years, has made the difficult decision not to reopen after the catastrophic fire that hit its Twelve Corners location at 1862 Monroe Avenue in Brighton this September.

However, most of its dedicated bakers will continue Brownstein's legacy with a new business, Gianni's, located in Greece. Gianni's will initially serve primarily the wholesale market but is also exploring additional options for future retail opportunities. Further expansion of the new business may also occur in the future. Brownstein's longtime owner and proprietor, Irwin Brown, has retired but will serve as an advisor to the new business.

The decision to close was not easy. Even after reducing its retail business to two days a week in recent years and closing its Monroe Avenue storefront, Brownstein's remained a thriving business that was often the top-ranked deli in the Rochester area on Yelp. It had also been featured in local media on several occasions and maintained a successful wholesale business. Even if you had never gone to the store, you likely had Brownstein's food: over the years, the bakery had provided food to countless schools, hospitals, houses of worship, and events. The damage in the fire, however, has proven far too extensive. Combined with market conditions, loss of equipment, Irwin's impending retirement, and other concerns, it would be impossible to restart the business in a timely and economically sensible manner.

Irwin, his sister-in-law Maureen, and the rest of the Brownstein's team would like to thank all the customers and businesses in the community who have frequented and supported Brownstein's over the decades. They are disappointed that they will no longer be able to see so many of the regular customers who have become friends over the years.

Anyone interested in wholesale or large retail orders from Gianni's can contact Bryan Hofstra at 585-369-8448.

As you may have heard from news reports, our building on Monroe Avenue suffered a catastrophic fire on the evening of Tuesday September 9th.

While we are still awaiting more details from the authorities and have not yet inspected the interior damage, we are relieved that it appears no one was injured in the incident. Regardless, we will be unable to open for retail or wholesale and must begin determining whether we will ever resume normal operations.

We want to thank the emergency workers from Brighton, East Rochester, Henrietta, Penfield, West Webster and Bushnell's Basin and any others we missed for their prompt response.

We will provide more updates when they become available.