Gerry Frank’s Konditorei

310 Kearney S.E.

Salem, Or 97302

Phone: (503) 585-7070

Gerry Lewin, Ten color film positives of Gerry Frank, mostly standing in front of Konditorei, 2016.023.0022.002

Nineteen years ago, Gerry Frank’s Konditorei was founded by Gerry Frank and Barney Rogers. Gerry, the heir to the Meier and Frank department stores and Senator Mark Hatfield’s Chief of Staff for 25 years, and his longtime friend Barney Rogers, gave birth to the idea of a cake shop in Salem, Oregon. While looking for a joint venture of a business nature, Barney spotted a picture in the Statesman Journal of Gerry taking a huge bite of chocolate cake while judging the Gerry Frank Chocolate Layer Cake Contest at the Oregon State Fair. From this picture and Gerry’s near-famous love of chocolate, came the idea to start an Austrian-style Konditorei, which in short stands for “a place for coffee, confection, and conversation”. This was in 1981, and the Konditorei has been growing in the same location at 310 Kearney Street SE ever since.

The Konditorei specializes in over 30 varieties of cakes, many of the chocolate variety, and others are savory assorted cheesecakes. The Konditorei is billed as a gourmet cake shop that also serves meals, including breakfast, lunch, and dinner. There are five sandwiches, Gerry’s Franks (yes, as in hotdogs!), lasagna, three daily-changing soups, two salads, and a fruit plate, along with cake and ice cream, topped off with specialty coffee choices.

Part of the charm of the Konditorei is the European decor of red, white, and black, including the always-shining black-and-white harlequin floor and spotlessly clean tables and chairs. Food served by attractive servers dressed in black skirts or pants and white blouses add to the theme.

A major part of Gerry and Barney’ s mission is to provide an appealing dining and dessert shop for the Salem community where all ages, young and old alike, can come to enjoy themselves. After-theater, late-night patrons are a mainstay. Alcohol is not served in order to maintain an environment that is conducive to young people. Many is the night you will find large groups of young adults enjoying the comfort and warmth of the Konditorei. Special occasions such as ‘Snowball’ and prom often include a special stop at the Konditorei.

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Information submitted by Barnes D. Rogers, President, Konditorei, July, 1999

This article originally appeared on the original Salem Online History site and has not been updated since 2006.