At Cherbourg Bakery, the morning rush begins long before the doors open. Behind the flour-dusted counters and smells of fresh pastries is a family aiming to satisfy their customers.
Owner Geri Peacock said she started Cherbourg out of necessity. The 2008 recession burdened the family financially and prompted them to seek out a new source of income, she explained. She began selling her baked goods at farmers markets where they were in high demand.
The beginning was not easy, Geri said. Baking out of her home while her children slept, packing the car and keeping the kids occupied at markets were constant challenges, she explained.
When she opened a retail space, she said the pressure shifted to sustaining the business, keeping their doors open and hiring staff.
Geri said the bakery has grown considerably since then: Cherbourg now has a cafe and bakery in Bexley and 35 employees, compared to four when it first opened. Geri added she has changed some aspects of how the bakery runs.
“We stayed open way too late and tried to fulfill every idea and we never said no,” she said. “Now we know our strengths.”
Senior Jake Peacock, Geri’s son, said he has grown up in the bakery. The business, he explained, is as much a reflection of the people behind it as it is a place to buy food.
“The bakery is a warm and kind space full of loving people who want to make you feel good,” he said,“which I think reflects us as people perfectly.”
Jake said he does not have a set role at Cherbourg but works on both the service and baking sides of the business. He often closes down the kitchen during the week and serves customers on the weekends, he explained.
Working in the family business came naturally, Jake said, because he and his sisters had been helping at Cherbourg since they were young. This made the transition to official employment in high school feel less like a decision and more like an inevitability, he explained.
Jake said because Geri typically works early morning shifts, the two do not always share the floor at the same time. Even so, Jake said their collaboration extends past scheduled hours as he is always willing to help carry groceries and weigh in on business decisions.
“I try to help her with the craziness of operating a business in any way I can,” he said.
That closeness, Jake said, is one of the bakery’s gifts. Working alongside his mother, he added, has given him insight into who she is beyond the parent-child relationship.
“I see her struggles but also her triumphs,” he explained. “I understand her very well because of this. Working with someone tends to help you understand who they are.”
Working with family isn’t always easy, Jake said. He explained he places a lot of pressure and expectations on himself as the owner’s son.
“I want to be our best employee, but obviously that cannot always be the case,” he said.
Minor disagreements with his sisters used to arise occasionally over cleaning duties or work pace, Jake said. However, he said serious conflicts are rare because the bakery allows each person a degree of autonomy in how they approach their tasks.
Balancing work and home life comes more naturally than people might expect, Jake said, which he credits his mother for.
Geri said she puts a lot of emphasis on making sure her children have time for friends, sports and themselves outside of the bakery in order to maintain a work and home-life balance.
“Sometimes they just need to do their homework and let the bakery run, even when we are short-staffed,” she explained.
Beyond family dynamics, Jake said he takes pride in what Cherbourg offers to the community. The bakery specializes in gluten-free and nut-free baking, he explained.
“I believe that Cherbourg has the best gluten-free
and nut-free pastries in the world,” he said.
Having selection matters to customers whose dietary restrictions mean they rarely get to freely choose from a bakery menu, Jake said.
Geri said the lessons Jake and his siblings have learned from their years working at Cherbourg extend beyond baking.
Jake explained watching his mother pour herself into the business daily has reshaped how he thinks about work, especially in small businesses.
“The truth is that being a small business owner is not easy,” he said. “In fact, it is very challenging, but the bakery has taught me that the people who are up to the challenge are the ones who are the best to be around.”
Jake said he likely won’t be as involved in the day-to-day operations of the bakery as he grows older, but he wants to continue to stay involved in the business.
“I will always be invested in my mother’s success even if I am not present in the building working as I am now,” he said.
Published and digitized April 2026.
