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Topps Bakery’s Rebirth at 84

Pictured: Topps' new owner Rashid Sulehri

By Susan Miele

March 12, 2025: The Bronxville buzz questioning the status of Topps Bakery will soon come to an end with its anticipated reopening in the coming weeks. We spoke with the new owner in order to dispel rumors—and to determine the fate of the jelly donuts, marigolds, and carrot cake.

The shop changed hands in August 2024, when Rashid Sulehri took ownership with his wife, Javaria Sulehri. The couple have owned and operated several Long Island food-service businesses, including Stuart’s Seafood Market in Amagansett, Hampton Eats in East Hampton, and Sweet Surrender Bakehouse in Levittown. Their son Hassan, a student pursuing a CPA at Hunter College in Manhattan, is also involved in the family business.

Rashid Sulehri was born in Pakistan. He came to New York in 1995 to attend college in Rockland County. There, he worked at Monsey Glatt, a kosher grocery store and bakery, and learned about kosher food laws and the operation of a kosher bakery. He later obtained a master’s degree in finance in Oklahoma.

In Oklahoma and Colorado, the Sulehris got their start in gas stations and in franchising with Papa John’s pizza and Chester’s Fried Chicken. Sulehri’s interest in food service grew, and the couple decided to relocate their young family to New York, where their two children could be raised in “more of a melting pot.”

Sulehri acquired Villa Italian Specialties in East Hampton and eventually expanded his food-service footprint. When the Jewish community on Long Island’s East End feared the loss of the kosher Beach Bakery & Grand Café when it was up for sale, Sulehri was tapped to save it. Drawing on his earlier experience in Monsey, he applied his kosher know-how and savored the opportunity to bridge the Muslim and Jewish communities. “We’ve hosted Muslim events, Jewish events, Christmas, and Thanksgiving,” Sulehri noted.

When Topps was up for sale, a business broker encouraged Sulehri to consider adding it to his portfolio. Upon taking ownership last summer, he continued to operate Topps “as is” for a few months. But the oven was nearly 100 years old, he said, and needed to be replaced before the holiday season. As renovations often go, new problems revealed themselves in the process, and the decision was made to fix everything all at once.

When the shop reopens, there will be all new electrical, HVAC, and plumbing systems; new walls and flooring; new display cases and shelving; new coffee machine, fryers, bread slicers, and proofers. The final touch before reopening is the installation of new cabinets.

What’s expected to remain the same are the Topps name, the Topps staff, and the beloved products that the community has savored for decades.

What’s new? Topps will reopen as a kosher bakery, and several of the top-selling products at Beach Bakery will be added—such as the jelly croissant, of which as many as 1000-1500 are sold daily in the Hamptons.

A September 1942 issue of the Bronxville Review-Press announced the second anniversary of “Topp’s Pastry Shop at 106 Pondfield Road,” which means that today the shop is 84 years old.

This next iteration of the business will be one of many at one of the oldest establishments in Bronxville.

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