ST. CLAIRSVILLE — There will be a smell of fresh baked goods on Main Street after Mary Jane’s Bakery opened its doors Monday.

Owner Julie Widen has fond childhood memories of her grandmother, Mary Jane Borrows of Columbus, Ohio.

“My grandparents owned some pubs and bars in Columbus and I remember when they retired and moved to Florida, grandma would always send everyone … at Christmas time a styrofoam cooler,” Widen said.

She recalls digging through the packing material.

“It would be full of her Christmas cookies, just elaborate cookies. Santa looked like Santa, the wreath was beautiful and painted.

“What I wanted to take away from her and keep her legacy alive was the baked goods,” she said.

“We started the business 12 years ago when my grandmother passed away. Before she’d passed away, she had given me the family recipes, so after she passed away we started the business, named it after her and we use our family recipes.”

The bakery was originally located in Chillicothe, Ohio, in 2010. After three years, Widen moved on to retail work.

“I’ve been in retail for the past seven years but decided to get back into it,” she said. “We’re known for our cinnamon rolls. We also specialize in cookies. We do a lot of different varieties of cookies, bunt cakes, cake pops.”

There will also be holiday-themed and seasonal products in the coming months.

“We like to pride ourself on fresh, local products. What you see, we make. We don’t do thaw and serve. We don’t do anything that comes in that we thaw and set out. All of our baked goods are made from us, fresh, local.

“I think that’s one of the big things. We work with the local farmers to get our eggs and our meat and produce,” she said. “We’ve seen a really good reaction from the community.”

In the future, Widen intends to offer DoorDash delivery and text ordering. The staff is currently at six plus herself and her daughters.

Widen said after the grand opening, the bakery will offer soups, salads and sandwiches. She said the grand opening has yet to be scheduled.

St. Clairsville Area Chamber of Commerce Director Wendy Anderson said a full-fledged bakery is welcome in the city.

“Now that we in St. Clairsville have Giancinta’s (Gelato & Café) and Newellstown Diner, we can accommodate anybody’s sweet tooth or coffee needs in St. Clairsville, so we are just very excited and very welcoming.”

The bakery is located at 110 W. Main St., the location that housed For the Love of Pirogies until that business moved to Center Street in Wheeling. The hours are 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Friday and 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays. Call 740-433-9390 for more information.