Vandergrift's Sugared Lace bakery ices custom cookies as shop opening nears

Lacey DePanicis started selling cookies almost two years ago and hasn’t stopped since.

The Vandergrift resident’s business — Sugared Lacey Bakeshop — along Washington Avenue near the Casino Theater is set to open later this year.

For now, DePanicis, 36, continues to take custom orders and sell holiday cookie batches via social media.

She didn’t grow up a baker, but when she lost her job in 2023, she began experimenting with cookie crafting.

“I just always like to have a creative outlet,” DePanicis said. “I’ve started a lot of hobbies, and this one stuck.”

When she started selling Christmas cookies that year, orders immediately began flowing in, she said.

A few months later, she began converting the former site of the Vandergrift No. 2 Fireman’s Club into a full-fledged patisserie.

DePanicis, a Kiski Area alumna, renovated the storefront with the help of her longtime boyfriend, Jerrod Thompson, an Allegheny Township police officer.

Thompson, 51, said he also helps with some “behind-the-scenes” work at the shop, like preparing dough, but he leaves the creativity to DePanicis.

“She does all the magic,” he said.

While Thompson has provided plenty of help along the way, DePanicis said Sugared Lace has truly become a family affair.

One of the biggest helps is her 70-year-old father, Joe, a retired carpenter. He has become her “bread guy,” learning to craft dough into loaves.

Plus, her mother, sisters, aunts and Steve Potoka from Vandergrift’s Hot Ash Pizza truck have pitched in.

“Everyone helps,” she said.

Beyond bread and cookies, DePanicis also whips up other bakery staples, such as cupcakes, cinnamon rolls, pretzels and pepperoni rolls.

So far, she said, she’s received solid backing not only from her family, but from customers and the community.

“People I haven’t talked to in years come out to sales to support me,” DePanicis said.

Vandergrift has gone from bakery famine to feast, according to Councilwoman Marilee Kessler.

Sugared Lace will mark the second bakeshop in the borough, after Simply Sisters on Columbia Avenue.

Kessler said she hasn’t tried DePanicis’ goods yet, but she’s happy to see the space in Vandergrift’s downtown filled with a local business.

“Bakeries are delightful; everybody loves bakeries,” she said.

DePanicis is eyeing late December or early January for her grand opening.

In the meantime, she said, she’s searching for part-timers to man the shop as she begins the flood of holiday orders.