Bakery Blitzed With Business In Hatboro For Philadelphia Eagles Items

HATBORO, PA —Kathleen Lochel loves the Philadelphia Eagles. But she loves the team even more this year because the Birds have given a boost to her bakery with its deep playoff run.

"Historically, January is a slow month for bakeries," said the co-owner of Lochel's Bakery on York Road. "Everyone is either on a diet or on vacation."

But with the Eagles playing in the playoffs and hosting the NFC Championship Game against the San Francisco 49ers Sunday, Lochel is trying to keep up with demand for the bakery's team-inspired cookies and cake creations.

Lochel and her bakery team were hard at work Thursday trying to make and bake 500 more cookies with plans for another six racks —or 2,000 cookies —on Friday to prepare for Sunday's game.

Lochel and her husband have owned the bakery since 2005. She said her husband is a third-generation owner with the bakery opening in the 1940s.

Patch mentioned the bakery in a story about the Eagles last weekend. And since then, like the Eagles' slogan, "Fly Eagles Fly," Lochel said the bakery's publicity has soared.

First, it was featured on Fox 29. This week, CBS Philadelphia came out for a feature. But the biggest publicity Lochel said she received was from the United Kingdom.

"It was an NFL show there. They sent out a crew for the game for a few days," she said. "They found us on Instagram."

The bakery anticipates a lot of customers coming Saturday to pick up sweet treats for the game. Lochel's features pound cake that says "Go Birds," screaming green cream doughnuts, vanilla cake with the Eagles logo, and cupcakes decorated with both footballs and helmets.

"Everything is good," Lochel said. "People are getting things for parties and gatherings. Having a Philadelphia sports team going far in the playoffs is great for business. It will be even better in the end when they get to the Super Bowl."

The bakery also decided to make its version of the new popular phrase the team unveiled before its game against the New York Giants last weekend, "It's a Philly thing."