Longtime owner of Ybor City's La Segunda Bakery dies at 80

Tony Moré, a member of the third generation of the Moré family to own and operate Ybor City-based La Segunda Bakery, died April 2. He was 80.

Tony Moré’s grandfather, Juan Moré — an immigrant from Spain who fought in the Spanish-American War in Cuba, where he developed an affinity for the island’s unique, crusty bread — founded La Segunda Bakery in 1915. Today, the business is owned and operated by Tony Moré’s son, Copeland Moré, who pushed the company into the retail bakery-café business in 2018 when it opened La Segunda Bakery & Café at 4015 W. Kennedy Blvd. Prior to that, La Segunda had primarily been a commercial bakery focused on the wholesale market.

In 2022, La Segunda expanded again, opening a bakery-cafe in St. Petersburg. 

Tony Moré began his career as a teacher before joining his father, also named Tony, uncle and cousin in the family business. He would spend the next 50 years of his life working for La Segunda, baking bread, fixing ovens, making pastries and improving recipes.

After Copeland joined the company in 2009, Tony and his son took the business to a new level, producing more than 20,000 loaves of Cuban bread per day and turning La Segunda into a nationally recognized brand. The Columbia Restaurant Group, which also has deep roots in Ybor City, is one of the bakery’s longest-tenured customers.

“The Moré family and my family have been friends and business partners for more than 100 years, ever since the bakery opened in Ybor City in 1915,” says Richard Gonzmart, fourth-generation owner of the Columbia Restaurant Group, in a 2018 interview with the Business Observer. “We serve it at all seven of our Columbia restaurants. It’s a relationship that has made us both world famous.”

Tony Moré was born Nov. 29, 1942, in Tampa, to Anthony Moré and Aida Cuyar Moré. He is survived by his wife, Judy Copeland Moré, whom he married in 1966; children, Jennifer More Stauffer of Tampa, Suzanne More Paul of Denver; Anthony Copeland More of Tampa; and seven grandchildren.

Palma Ceia Presbyterian Church in Tampa will host a memorial service at 4:30 p.m. on April 11. Donations to Tampa Bay Little League are encouraged in lieu of flowers.