Bakery on Maple to close doors in mid-August

Community members and allies stand in front of the Pride Flag at Bakery on Maple. | Laura Bailey Photo

Posted By: David Fortier July 23, 2024

Bakery on Maple will be closing in mid-August, a note on the door has informed customers since Friday, July 12.

“This part of our journey has come to an end,” a letter in red type below an announcement that the bakery would be opening at 10 a.m. on Saturday said.

The letter ends, “We will be open as much as possible for our farewell to Maple Street tour.”

In between the opening and the closing, the letter thanks patrons for their support and love, stating, “We could not have made it as far as we have without you.”

The letter informs patrons that there have been missteps and missed opportunities on both the business and social arenas.

“We were told if we didn’t support certain people in power we wouldn’t be treated equally by them. We heard from people that we were too vocal when it came to social issues, but that’s who we are and what we wanted to accomplish.”

The letter continues, “It’s one thing to make good things but it’s another to do things that make this world better for everyone. We hope we made our community better even in some miniscule way.”

Taking stances to make the community more diverse and inclusive, may have affected the business negatively, but in the end, the letter does not apologize for its efforts.

“We became the Black Sheep of the business flock,” the letter states,” but we love to be different and stand out in a crowd.”

The letter states that the business will be reformed under Black Sheep Baking Co. and focus on subscription and gift box sales as well as small wholesale accounts.

“We love ewe all!” the letter ends. It is signed, Bakery on Maple/Black Sheep Baking Co.

Bakey on Maple is owned by Ericka Stirk and David Landi, who began their venture in early 2020 at the tail end of the COVID pandemic, with the idea of creating a bakery and a safe place for people to gather.

This past January, the two posted on Facebook that they were closing their doors, and the community responded with increased orders and foot traffic. An ongoing evaluation of the business began at that time, which has ended with the decision to close.

The storefront will close, but as the letter announced, the bakery will be reopened under Black Sheep Bakery, with a business based online sales coupled with wholesale accounts.

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