Upcoming News!!!
Well, on this beautiful snowy day, I thought I would share some exciting news with you all. After a year of praying, research, more research, and more praying.... we are moving the bakery out of our home!! ( with much excitement and a little apprehension ) So how did we get to this point? Where are we going? When will we open?
My Story:
Five years ago, (yes it has been that long:) I started taking baked goods to the Wapello Flea Market, one time a month for 7 months of the year. I did this honestly for a "break". My husband was working lots of hours and I was home with the kids all the time and, so one Saturday a month he "babysat" (which is not babysitting when they are your kids:) After a while a few people from my church asked if they could order for church serving, and of course I said yes. Then the word started to get out and others started to order. Word of mouth in a small town is the best advertisement ever. Fast forward a few years, and here we are....moving out of the house!! (I still cannot hardly believe we got to this point:)
Where are we moving to?
You all know that awesome ice cream place we have in Mediapolis...yep... Sprats. There is a backroom that has been used for meetings and we are remodeling it for the bakery!! Just to be clear, this is two separate businesses. Yes, we will be offering many exciting new products and will be working together on some things, but they will be run as two different business. I look forward to working with Jaci Steffener (as she has been great to work with so far;) and I know I can speak for both of us in saying we are both excited for the opportunities this could bring to our customers:) This will be a walk in bakery, not a sit down. We will have different hours then Sprats (hours are yet to be determined) and we plan on being open year round.
When will we move?
We have started the construction process and our tentative moving date is January 3rd, 2020. That being said you know how construction can go, so we will keep you updated. If you want to follow the construction process I will be putting updates on THE FLOUR BARN VIP GROUP: https://www.facebook.com/groups/326051164987513/?ref=bookmarks
How will our products be sold?
As of right now we are planning on continuing to sell our products baked, frosted, frozen. We are experimenting with getting fresh to our customers. So, there is a high probability we will offer fresh at some point.
By freezing my product it does a few things.....
1. Gives you a better product because fresh baked items do not stay fresh very long. The breads you buy at the store are full of preservative that makes them be able to stay fresh tasting longer.
2. It keeps the product more moist.
3. You can plan ahead, keep stuff on hand, or order more at a time, so you have extras for guests.
4. It gives me the ability to not bake at 3am:)
A thank you note:
I really don't know were to start. I feel beyond blessed to be at this point and I couldn't have gotten here without my family, friends, employees, etc. But no business is successful without customers. Not only do I have the best customers, I have very much enjoyed working with each and every one of you. Thank you for being flexible. Thank you for allowing my kids to help you. Thank you for spreading the word. So thank you from the bottom of my heart for helping me get to this point.
A note to other bakers:
I just want to say to the other bakers out there (especially in our area) there is room for all of us. If you are just starting, believe that you can make it work. Put an awesome product out there and you will do awesome. There are so many incredibly talented people in our area. I am more than willing to send my customers to someone else, to fill their order when I am booked, unable to create what they would like, or think that another area baker will be able to fulfill their request better than me. Please feel free to ask me questions. My second dream job would be to help small (especially home) businesses get started and run the most efficient.
Kelli