South County bakery McArthur’s Bakery has officially reopened for front-of-house sales again, as well as launching two new concepts at its location at 3055 Lemay Ferry Road.
In August, McArthur’s, which was founded in St. Louis in 1956, reopened its bakery to foot traffic, and also introduced an additional location of The Pioneer Café and The Scoop ice cream inside the bakery. The bakery had been operating on a bake-to-order model that was adopted during the pandemic, General Manager Heather Nickel told The Call.
McArthur’s, The Pioneer Café and The Scoop are all owned by Scott and Sheila Rinaberger, who purchased McArthur’s eight years ago. The success of The Pioneer Café’s original location in Kirkwood prompted the Rinabergers to expand that concept to the South County bakery. The decision also expands employment opportunities for adults with disabilities, since The Pioneer Café operates a partnership with Lafayette Industries, a sheltered workshop.
Lafayette Industries is a local organization that trains and employs adults with disabilities in warehouse work.
“The Pioneer started with the mission of training adults with intellectual disabilities, so after we saw the success over there with The Pioneer Café and the Step-Up Program with Lafayette Industries for the last three years, we decided to introduce it (in South County),” Nickel said. “It was actually the height of the pandemic when the idea of The Pioneer started. … Lafayette Industries does great training programs, but there wasn’t a training program centered around front and back of house restaurant training. So that’s where it starts … learn how to do different jobs … and from there after they finish the program, they go out and get employment.”
The cafe location in Kirkwood acts more as the training cafe, while the South County location is “the next stepping stone, it’s the ‘okay, you’re ready, now let’s give you meaningful employment,” Nickel said.
McArthur’s will continue to offer typical bakery fare such as donuts and Danishes, while The Pioneer Café will offer breakfast and lunch, as well as brunch on the weekends, a press release from the company stated.
The third concept at the location is The Scoop, which serves Wisconsin-based Cedar Crest Ice Cream.
Even the coffee at the bakery/cafe goes to a good cause. According to Nickel, the company uses Aspire Coffee, which is based out of Chicago and is another training program for adults with intellectual disabilities.
“We’re looking for a way to continue to integrate other programs and further the opportunities,” Nickel said.
McArthur’s and The Scoop are open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the weekends. The Pioneer Café is open daily from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.
“With the success of my other concepts … adding them to the McArthur’s location seemed like a natural fit,” Scott Rinaberger stated in the press release. ”While this is a win for our loyal customers, the bigger win is that I will be able to further pursue my efforts to create more competitive employment opportunities for adults with IDD, intellectual and developmental disabilities.”