CHELSEA —   In an era when many small businesses are shutting their doors and calling it quits, a family-owned bagel shop is still servicing customers.

Katz Bagel Bakery, a Chelsea institution, has been making Jewish-style baked goods for more than 70 years. Russian immigrant Harry Katz opened the tiny, triangular store in 1938.
Although Harry died 20 years ago, his son Richard is carrying on the family tradition with help from his own progeny, Jimmy, 39, and Jeremy, 33.

The trio arrives early in the morning, while most people are still in bed. Richard and Jimmy make a beeline to the back, where they spend their time maneuvering large, rectangular baking sheets in and out of an ancient oven. Jeremy handles the front end of the business, bagging bagels and joking with customers who wander into the unassuming storefront.
Richard Katz has been baking professionally for 43 years. The still boyish-looking 66-year-old is a pro at his craft. At this stage he no longer requires recipes — baking to him is an automatic process ingrained in his head.

However, for a long while, Katz avoided following in his father’s footsteps. He earned an undergraduate degree from Boston University and contemplated going to dental school. He thought he might teach, and was three courses away from a master’s degree in education before changing his mind. Although he attended law school at night for a year, he decided not to pursue it as a career.

“I am a very educated bagel maker,” Katz said, noting that he has no regrets about ultimately joining the family business. “It’s given us all a very nice living,” he said.
Katz, who was born in Chelsea right above the shop, remembers when the urban neighborhood had a real Jewish feel. “Years ago there were lots of Jewish places — Mel and Murray’s Deli, Pressman Deli, and Sea-Lect, where you could buy smoked whitefish and lox. Now they’re all gone, and we’re the only ones left,” he said.

In its heyday, Katz’s was selling 36,000 bagels per week and was open around the clock from Friday morning through Saturday evening. “People would smell the bagels baking and come around the back at 3 a.m. to get a few after the bars closed,” he recalled.

Marilyn (Safon) Epstein has fond memories of that era. “We always went for bagels after getting belly lox on Second Street at the smoke house. Katz’s had the BEST bagels. We always compared any bagel to Katz’s, and I still do,” said Epstein, who now lives in Austin, Texas.

Over the years, many of his customers drifted to the suburbs. Like them, Katz also fled Chelsea for greener pastures. He and his wife, Lynn, reside in Marblehead, where they are members of Temple Sinai.

When the Jews of Chelsea began migrating en masse, Katz explored relocating the bakery. In the 1970s he opened a branch on the Lynnway in Lynn; however it didn’t do well and he closed it after eight months. He also contemplated opening in Swampscott’s Vinnin Square, but felt the rent was too high.

Although sales have dipped in recent years, Katz’s has remained viable because many loyal stalwarts regularly return to Chelsea to purchase the freshly baked goods.

“People come from all over — Everett, Malden, Revere, and even New Hampshire. Most have been coming here for years. I remember them as kids, but now they have gray hair and are bringing in their own kids,” Katz said.

Long-time customer Kevin McNeely of Melrose swings by the bakery every week to pick up a dozen bagels. His wife, Lori Sue, is from Chelsea, and her brother used to work at Katz’s. McNeely likes all the varieties, but says his favorites are the onion and egg bagels.

James Abbott drops in once or twice a week from Derry, N.H. to buy a half dozen pizza bagels. “I grew up in East Boston and have been eating these things since I was five years old. They are the best,” said the now 32-year-old.

Katz thought his big break would come via pizza bagels, which he claims to have invented in 1972. The tasty snack is basically a flattened bagel, smothered with pizza sauce, spices and shredded cheese. For years it has been one of his most popular items — and he still sells about 200 of them per day.

When he secured a contract to manufacture pizza bagels for BJ’s Wholesale Club, he invested a small fortune in automation equipment and opened a separate factory next door.

“At one point, we were servicing 120 stores across the country. But suddenly one day, BJ’s made the corporate decision to drop the product. I fell on my face and lost a lot of money,” said Katz, who closed the factory six years ago.

“I got back on my feet, but the experience made me realize that I’m a little baker, not a big businessman. And I’m okay with that,” he added.

The menu today at Katz’s is pretty simple. One can buy pizza bagels, bagel dogs, and a variety of pastries, including whoopee pies and black and whites. For Shabbat, there is challah and bopka. But the mainstay at Katz’s is, and always has been, the simple bagel.

“Making bagels is easy. Making good ones is hard,” remarked Katz, who says the secret is to boil them.

But Katz maintains that every bagel has its own personality. “They are like snowflakes — they should all be a little different. If they all look alike, then something is wrong,” Katz said.

Katz Bagel Bakery is located at 139 Park Street in Chelsea. Visit http://www.katzbagels.com.