ABOUT US & OUR HISTORY
Westees Bakery
Westees has moved towns and generations but the recipes and friendly staff have remained the same.
Westees represents good fresh home style baking with every recipe tried and tested through the years.
We are very proud of what we produce. Every day, every item is baked fresh and we don’t use preservatives.
Started in 1966 in Port Alfred by Ann and Laurie Fleischer.
After running the business for a number of years alone, Maryann decided it was time to sell the business. She sold to Dean and Nicolette Copley, who took over on the 1 March 2024. Nicolette having had many years experience in the Catering industry.
Both Dean and Nicolette are very excited to be a part of this establishment. They have kept all the staff as well as the tried and trusted recipe’s and strive to uphold the name and to offer a wider variety of both baked goods and cooked meals.
In the Beginning
Originally started on a flower farm in Matopas, now Woodridge Girls Hostel. Ann and Laurie Fleischer packed everything they owned and their four children and moved to Port Alfred where Ann’s bakery started as a corner in her husband’s Lagoon café in the caravan park.
As Port Alfred marina was being developed, Ann and Laurie were moved to West Beach cafe at West Pier in Port Alfred. And so the name was born Westees, the tea room on West Pier.
Not too long after that, Ann moved the bakery into Port Alfred town so that it was run as a stand alone bakery and now longer a section in her husband’s cafe.
Moving To Port Elizabeth
The children started to move on as they grew up and started finishing school in Grahamstown and Maryann finishing Grade 7, the couple decided a move to Port Elizabeth was next on the cards especially as Port Alfred had become very seasonal with most people visiting during Easter and Christmas.
Again, this power couple packed up everything into a little blue Cortina and moved their family to PE. Hotly followed by staff who only wanted to work for them as part of an extended family.
So in 1979, Westees found it’s new home in Hancock Street, Port Elizabeth and has been there ever since. Ann was the baker (and the boss), and Laurie was the driver.
DEAN AND NICOLETTE
..To Present Day
On the 1 March 2024, Dean and Nicolette Copley took over the running of the business.
Nicolette concentrating on the “back of house and front of house”, Dean doing all of the “paperwork” as well as helping with deliveries, thus meeting with customers and ensuring all goods that are delivered are of the same high quality as what is being sold in the Shop.
We are both loving running the bakery and enjoying meeting all the customers that walk through the door and also meeting with new potential customers.
Our Staff and Service
Westees employs 14 staff members with some having worked for Westees for over 40 years.
We’ve always tried to hire from within our staff’s family circle making us a multi generational team. Children of our staff have joined over time starting as dishwashers and are now some of our best bakers.
We support the Capsicum Culinary School as well as International Hotel School and their students who need work experience. They place students with us every year so they can gain hands-on experience from our existing staff passing on their experience to the younger generation.
What better experience can you gain from working with a baker who has been making pie pastry for the last 30 years!
Our Customers
We’ve got clients who have been coming to us for years and we are so grateful to them. Lawyers from the local law courts pop in regularly for breakfast or between their cases. We love seeing every customer come back and are proud of our client base.
We take pride in our wonderful staff and training them to be good to our customers. We always focus on providing good food and friendly service.
We appreciate all the feedback from our customers on social media or when they contact us to order again. This feedback is always passed on to the staff member who made the item as everyone loves fantastic feedback.
Bakery Opening Times:
Monday to Friday
Saturdays
Sundays & Public Holidays
041 484 5630
orders@westees.co.za
078 499 7003
Address:
Hancock St, North End, Port Elizabeth