On June 1, Pigs will fly to Coolidge Corner

Brothers Andrew (left) and Ron Siegel at the new Brookline location of their artisanal bread chain, set to open June 1. (Wendy Maeda/Globe Staff)

It was only about three months ago that a Brookline woman visited the When Pigs Fly store in Portsmouth, N.H., and encouraged co-owner Andrew Siegel to set up shop in her hometown. Siegel told her to let him know if she found any locations.

Within three weeks, Siegel said, the woman e-mailed a list of three sites. To this day, Siegel can't recall who she is - he's lost her e-mail - but we'll all soon have an enduring reminder of their encounter.

On June 1, When Pigs Fly plans to begin selling its artisanal breads and other baked goods at a Beacon Street storefront, just west of Coolidge Corner.

The 15-year-old company, based in York, Maine, has built up a loyal following in New England by selling its products in supermarkets, as well as four stores in Maine and New Hampshire. The first Massachusetts store opened in Somerville's Davis Square last December.

"What's great about Brookline, there's a lot of food diversity," said Siegel, who owns the company with his brother Ron. "There's a lot of good food down there," he said, noting that he and Ron have eaten at a sushi restaurant, several delis, and some dessert places in town. "Where you find all this great food, it seems like a perfect fit."

"I totally agree," said Marge Amster of Brookline's Department of Economic Development. The store's plan for a retail space for bakery products and a small area for coffee is a good combination for this area, where small cafes are always busy, Amster said.

Despite the national economic slump, Brookline's business vacancy rate remains low, Amster said, with plenty of turnover of new businesses. She added that while consumers may be cutting back on purchases of premium goods, the bakery offers items in everyone's price range.

Prices for When Pigs Fly breads range from $4 to $6 a loaf, and Andrew Siegel said he hopes the Brookline location will generate weekly sales of $12,000 to $15,000 within about a year.

The Brookline site, at 900 square feet, is nearly triple the size of the Davis Square storefront, which sells about 400 loaves a day. The opening in Somerville was part of that city's push to attract small businesses that can offer unique products and reflect the character of the neighborhoods, said Jackie Rossetti, the city's public information officer.

Acknowledging that Brookline may be more established and upscale than the still-evolving Davis Square, Siegel said both communities boast a variety of culinary establishments, and that both sites benefit from heavy foot traffic.

One special attraction of Brookline is its large population of Jews who buy kosher products, said Siegel. Early in its history, the bakery decided to seek kosher certification as part of its goal of producing great-tasting products for the widest possible customer base, he said.

On a recent morning, the Siegel brothers were pacing around the Beacon Street store, which is sandwiched between an art gallery and a nail salon.

A stream of carpenters, painters, security-equipment installers, and town officials came and went, conferring with the owners over paint colors, shelf space, and store design.

The location has "a little bit of everything - professional people, college students, lots of foot traffic, restaurants," said Ron Siegel. "It's lively. This is where we should be."

While customers may be familiar with the bakery's more traditional rye, whole wheat, and sourdough breads sold primarily in supermarkets, the retail shops open up a new world of choices.

"There's something for everybody," Andrew said. "If you like Greek olives, jalapeño peppers, mangoes - name an ingredient, we've made a bread with it."

More than 25 varieties of bread have been created by Ron Siegel, who left his career as a chef and restaurant owner to follow his dream of baking bread. At When Pigs Fly, the loaves are baked around the clock in York, and usually are still warm when they reach the shops.

The Brookline store will debut a blueberry-lemonade bread pudding bread that Ron hopes will become a signature item. The bread, which has a cake-like texture, is made with fresh lemonade and will be baked in small angel-food cake pans. Bread pudding breads also will be available in chocolate and apple.

The Siegels also expect to sell challah, a Jewish-style egg bread, on Fridays, as they do at Davis Square.

But unlike Davis Square, where the Siegels agreed not to compete directly with the cupcake store next door, the Brookline store will sell cookies.

One product is a variation of the black-and-white cookie, a traditional Jewish treat that Ron Siegel recalls enjoying as a child in New York. His version has vanilla frosting covering the entire cake-like round cookie with swirls of chocolate.

"I like to cook and I like to create things," he said.

"That's all I do; I try to think of things to bake."