Ruhi Kaneria | The Chronicle
Maria Ataya | The Chronicle
The Mason community finally got a slice of premium shopping with the opening of the Dorothy Lane Market (DLM).
The DLM store debuted on August 20, 2025, as the fourth and largest DLM location in Southwest Ohio. Shoppers were captivated by selections ranging from an Italian-style coffee bar to a plant market to the bakery. But for Mason High School (MHS) students, the opening of the DLM in Mason ended their search for jobs.
Sophomore Sofia Seitz stands in Dorothy Lane Market uniform excited for work.
For sophomore Sofia Seitz, the Mason location opening down the street from MHS allowed her to work at a familiar place that was even closer to home. Having previously worked at the Springboro location for three weeks as a bagger, Seitz was excited to be part of such a good work environment and meet new people near her.
“Everyone is nice and polite because one of [Dorothy Lane Market’s] main things is that they like to hire nice people,” Seitz said. “If you’re a social person, it’s a great place to be, because they’re going to treat you so kindly.”
DLM makes sure its staff is filled with welcoming people, one of the main reasons Seitz got hired. From her time working at the store, Seitz can recall multiple times when employees at DLM performed acts that made them stand out compared to employees at other grocery stores.
“They’re really willing to drop whatever they are doing to help anyone,” Seitz said. “One of their [core values] is that you’ll never get in trouble for stopping whatever you’re doing to go help a customer.”
Seitz credited the great shopping experience to the way employees go out of their way to ensure customers have the best experience possible. Seitz can recall an incident where a customer disliked an item he had bought, and the employees insisted he not leave with something he didn’t enjoy free of charge. Such moments remind Seitz what is so unique about the work culture at DLM. She explained how she is treated with respect not only by the owners of DLM but by her co-workers as well.
“I’ll meet the owner, and they’ll come shake my hand, and they’ll say, thank you so much for working with us,” Seitz said.
Showing how the owners are interested in knowing their workers on a face-to-face basis, not something many grocery stores do. She points out how her co-workers are social, and that is what makes her job so enjoyable, as she is a very social person.
Sofia Seitz packs grocery bags for customers at the checkout stand.
Seitz recommends that if interested in working at DLM, the number one rule is to be very kind and to smile. Don’t be afraid to be your true and bubbly self.
DLM is more than just any other grocery store. It has created a workforce that is passionate about their role. They treat all their workers with respect, both new and existing employees.
As the baking manager for the Mason location and DLM’s employee for the past 15 years, Tanner Quincy has seen firsthand why so many students choose to work there.
“My first job was working at Dorothy Lane Market when I was 16, and one thing that attracted me to work there was the flexibility,” Quincy said. “Between extracurriculars, training, games, and sports, [teenagers] live busy lives, and having a job that is willing to be flexible is always important.”
Quincy oversees all bakery operations from slicing bread to setting up the pastry case to pulling stale merchandise from the shelf. He also helps prepare unsold merchandise to be donated to three local Mason charities.
New baking associates for the Mason location were hired in April, and Quincy helped to train them at the Washington Square store location. He also aided in creating new bakery items for the Mason location based on the needs of the diverse clientele.
“I came from the Springboro location where we have had the same system set up for the past 20 years, and many people didn’t care about gluten-free or vegan items, but here at Mason, they do,” Quincy said. “We are now working with the cake shop to make more vegan items.”
Quincy notes that everyone is so involved in making sure the Dorothy Lane Market caters to the needs of the shoppers, even the CEO, Norman Mayne, who came to the store, learned everyone’s names, and really got involved. Quincy notes that the work culture at Dorothy Lane has only progressed through his 15-year career.
“You started to see more emphasis on the passion for food and progression toward us doing everything, which makes the quality even better,” Quincy said. “With the bakery, we used to buy a lot of our baked goods for other companies, and now, we are making our items in-house from scratch.
Senior Max Gogul applied to Dorothy Lane Market after his mom recommended the store as a ‘high-quality place’, but it has become more than just a job. It is a way for him to connect with people and explore new sides of himself as an associate at the Dorothy Lane Market bakery. During the summer, Gogul worked two to three times a week, but with football and school, he now works weekends.
“Serving the customers is my favorite task,” Gogul said. “[At work] we do a lot of chores and prep work, but I am definitely my happiest when I am working at the counter and serving people.”It allows me to get a lot more in touch with my people-person side, meeting new people, seeing different sides of every person each day, and being able to tell a little bit about a person from their order is always interesting and fun.”
The new store offers diverse options through a variety of produce and food stations.
For Gogul, working at Dorothy Lane Market also keeps alive a long-standing family tradition. His favorite tradition is making his annual birthday cake, a marble cake with vanilla and chocolate layers and chocolate frosting.
“[My family] has a third-generation cookbook,” Gogul said. “My grandpa passed it on to my mom, who passed it on to me. It has just been a way of life for my family.”
Despite baking being more of a creative self-care practice for Gogul and football being more structured, he is still able to see the similarities between the skill sets needed for working at a bakery and working with a football team.
“The communication and the team aspect definitely carry over from football to working at the bakery at Dorothy Lane,” Gogul said. “In our little baking area part of the store, I work with five to six people at a time, and everyone has to be on the same page.”
Still, his classmates and teammates are often surprised to discover this unexpected side of him.
“I recently went to the Ronald McDonald House, and we did a fun fact sheet with some of the kids there,” Gogul said. “My fun fact was that I work at a bakery, and that was like everyone’s last guess when they looked at me and saw my Mason football shirt on.”
For Gogul, proudly displaying this side of himself at Dorothy Lane Market or with his friends is more than just showing his passion. It is about challenging assumptions that people make about student-athletes.
Senior Max Gogul waits to assist customers behind Dorothy Lane Market’s bakery counter.
“Baking definitely adds individuality to who I am, and it is part of me and my identity,” Gogul said. “Being around all the athletes, I know that they are all individual and that they all have their own unique things, and it is definitely nice to know that everyone is their own person.”
As the varsity kicker, a senior Students Involving & Befriending Students (SIBS) intern, and baker at Dorothy Lane Market, Gogul has a lot on his plate. He finds balance by choosing what he loves, and baking has become an important part of that balance.
“This year, my schedule is very busy, but it is a breath of fresh air, because having a job at Dorothy Lane was something that I was able to choose to do,” Gogul said. “I am definitely busy, but I am happy that I can enjoy what I do all the time.”
For now, Dorothy Lane Market has become a continuation of the Gogul family traditions and a creative outlet. But it is also a launchpad for future career opportunities.
“My dream is to become an architect and then build my own bakery one day,” Gogul said. “That’s the goal.”
