John and Shirley Glodt joke that theyd tell you the secret to their light, flaky pie crust, but then theyd have to kill you.


Some appreciative customers, though, might fantasize that there would be worse things than being smothered to death with one of the Glodts mocha-chocolate cream, apple-raspberry, or huckleberry sour cream pies.


The couple owns White Box Pies, a 15-month-old Spokane Valley bakery that produces fresh, handmade, from-scratch pies in 45 flavors, and a few other treats such as apple dumplings and brownies.


Though the business occupies a small retail and production space at 520 S. Pines and employs only the Glodts, a wholesale salesman, and two part-time helpers, its sales have soared, the owners say.


Sometimes, its busier than we can keep up with, says Shirley Glodt, during a brief break between selling pies at the front counter and helping her husband with production-related tasks.


Though the Glodts decline to discuss the ventures revenues, they say it was profitable in its first year, and production has more than tripled from a year ago. It now is producing 150 to 200 pies a day, they say, for a growing number of wholesale and walk-in retail customers, and is mulling opening a second location.


We get a ton of word-of-mouth (advertising), Shirley Glodt says, adding that many people who order slices of its pies in restaurants here come to its retail store later to buy whole pies.


The average retail price for its pies is $10, the Glodts say, but sugar-free pies go for $13, and its seasonal favorite huckleberry pie is $18. True to the bakerys name, each pie sold to walk-in customers is placed in a white box secured with a bright red ribbon.


Recalling how she and her husband came up with the business moniker, Shirley Glodt says, It just sounded like a good name. We wanted it to be special. We want it to be an experience when they (the customers) come in. They pay a premium price for a premium product and the whole shebang.


A modest, but steady stream of customers cycled through the store on one recent weekday afternoon, all of them cheerful, though torn in some cases over the delectable dilemma of what type of pie to buy. The happy demeanor of the walk-in customers, who often are buying pies for special occasions, is one of the most enjoyable aspects of operating the business, Glodt says.


Most of White Box Pies roughly 1,200-square-foot space on Pines is devoted to bakery operations, including tables where the pie shells and cream, fruit, and nut fillings are made. The tiny storefront space seems to fulfill its needs, though, thanks to a large glass display casejust inside the front doorthats loaded with a mouth-watering assortment of the companys products.


For customers who want something other than whats displayed, the Glodts often apply finishing touches such as fresh whipped cream and sprinkles while the customers wait.


They bake a different mix of pies each day, however, so they encourage customers who have favorites to place their orders 24 hours in advance48 hours for orders of 10 pies or moreor to check their daily bake list. Customers also can submit orders by e-mail through the companys Web site, although White Box Pies doesnt ship its pies or normally deliver them to retail customers.


The retail side of the business might be the most visible to consumers, but the wholesale side probably accounts for 75 percent of the bakerys overall revenue and is crucial to its success, the owners say.


It takes a huge customer base to be able to survive retail, and your wholesale trade also compliments your retail trade, John Glodt says.


He and his wife say White Box Pies now has 40 to 45 restaurants in the Spokane-Coeur dAlene area to which it makes weekly deliveries, and it also has some wholesale clients, such as caterers, who place orders with it for special occasions. Among the restaurants here that serve its pies are Franks Diner, the Second Avenue Grill, Downriver Grill, C.I. Shenanigans Seafood & Chophouse, the Longhorn Barbecue outlets, and Halletts Market & Caf in Spokane Valley.


It has received inquires from some potential wholesale customers about the possibility of producing private-label pies in sizable quantities, but has decided at least for now not to pursue that potential market because the company just isnt large enough to handle that volume, the Glodts say.


A key quandary for the business as it grows, they acknowledge, is how to boost volume without forsaking the made-by-hand production attentiveness that gives its pies their premium stature. For now, the couples inclination is to grow the business slowly. Theyre considering opening a second locationpossibly on the North Sidebut are in no rush to do so, and havent agreed yet on whether it should be strictly a retail store or also should include a full bakery operation.


Finding the time to contemplate possible growth strategies is a challenge in itself for the Glodts, who say theyre working 12 to 14 hours a day just to meet current demand. They note, for example, that they produced about 1,900 pies in two days for the Thanksgiving holiday, which they figure is about the maximum theyre capable of.


If youre going to succeed, youre going to work your seat off. You have to, says John Glodt.


Originally from Salem, Ore., he says he learned much of what he knows about business and about cooking from his father, who worked at a pie bakery in Portland in the 1930s and owned a number of restaurants. John Glodt later owned a number of restaurants himself, and sold one of them, in Monmouth, Ore., to his brother, Jim, who he says continues to operate it today.


His own focus on pies began emerging, largely by happenstance, in the 1980s while he was operating a tiny restaurant called The North Forty in the isolated town of Eureka, Mont., near the Canadian border. He began making pies there to supplement the menu, and before long was drawing regular customers from Libby, 80 miles away, and making 20 pies a day. Coincidentally, one of his customersthen just a boy traveling with his father, a propane-truck driver, but who still remembers The North Fortys piesnow is a cook here at Franks Diner, Glodt says.


He left the restaurant business in 1989 to go to work for the Home Depot Inc. home-improvement store chain, and was transferred here from Federal Way, Wash., in 1998. He met Shirley soon thereaftershe, too, was a Home Depot employeeand they were married about three years ago.


The couple opened White Box Pies in January 2003, but John and Shirley didnt leave Home Depot until March and July, respectively.


White Box Pies produced 13,000 pies in its first eight months, the couple says, but John Glodt adds, We can remember jumping up and down when we sold 20 pies a day. Now, his wife says, one of the bakerys part-time helpers just makes pie shells, the other just makes fruit fillings, John makes cream all day, and she handles the paperwork, makes some of the deliveries, and enjoys assisting with sales and marketing.


The couple attributes the bakerys success partly to the original pie recipes that John Glodt has developed over the last two decades, andparticularlyto the crust.


When I first started making pies, I was just having a heck of a time with the crusts, he says. The cooking knowledge he gained from his father enabled him finally, through tinkering, to achieve the consistent pastry shell he had been striving for, he says.


Its a very simple, basic recipe, Glodt says, declining to be more specific. His wife, shushing him when he appeared on the verge of saying too much, described it differently, saying only, Its a technique.


Baking secrets aside, the couple say theyre enthused that dessert aficionados here are responding well to the end product.