Local Bagel Shop Owner Bids Farewell in Woodbury

After almost two decades, Lori Harper is trading in her 3:45 a.m. wake-up call for warmer weather and the promise of a great golf game.

Lori, who has owned Ayla’s Bagels & Deli for the last 19 years, recently sold her thriving deli business to new owners who plan on moving it to a new space at 787 Main Street South.

Lori is having a gathering to say good bye to long-time friends and customers on Sunday, September 28. The celebration will be complete with food, wine and music and Lori invites all her customers to pop in, have a bite and say farewell.

She has some big plans for her future --a move to South Carolina to be near the ocean and work on her golf game, something she said is the reason she took the job behind the counter at the deli that became her’s in the first place.

“I needed some extra money to play golf,” Lori smiles as she reflects back on her beginnings with J Paul’s, the name of the deli when she began 19 years ago. “I was raising my kids and worked 16 hour weeks.” The next thing she knew, the owners were selling the business and she went from counter help to owner of the deli in a matter of days. “It was very serendipitous,” she says.

With a name change to Ayla’s – after a female character “with a serious attitude” in Clan of the Cave Bear -- Lori took over. She grew the business, expanded it to twice its size, grew the great reputation as a gathering place and it became a Woodbury fixture with something for everyone.

And the rest, as they say, is history. And Lori has had a great run, but says of the sale of the business “it’s time.”

She reflects back on her memories over the years and is quick to say her fondest ones are the customers themselves. “They have become friends and family,” she says. “I enjoyed seeing the little kids grow up, go off to college and then come back here to Ayla’s with their own kids. We have had lots of laughs and I worked with some great people.”

She says she will miss Woodbury, too, at least from May through December. “I will miss New England, my favorite swimming holes, White Memorial. Martha’s Vineyard.”

She will not, however, miss being the owner of a food business during the winter months or having no one to call in sick to. “I certainly won’t miss being the boss!”

Come visit Lori and the Ayla’s crew for the farewell celebration this Sunday between 1:30 and 3:30 at the 20 Sherman Hill Road location.