Beloved neighborhood bakery closes after 75 years – leaving customers devastated
A Colorado bakery has closed after 75 years, leaving locals in deep embarrassment.
Home Style Bakery in Grand Junction served its last batch of sweet treats on Saturday.
When news of the bakery’s impending closure spread, residents flocked to the bakery, sending the owners, who had worked there for 50 years, into a panic.
Customers, young and old, waited patiently in line outside the door for one last bite of their favorite treat.
“As far as I’m concerned, it’s a national treasure,” said John Rundle, who has been coming to the bakery since 1971. told CPR.
Home Style Bakery in Grand Junction, Colorado, closed its doors on Saturday
On August 17 at 8:30 a.m., the parking lot was full as desperate customers crowded to get in line.
“I just hope I get what’s left,” said regular customer Gwyn Nishimura.
“Anything I can get my hands on!”
Some customers have decided to stock up on their favorites because they are no longer available.
Dick Southwell told CPR he ordered a large batch of “the best apple fritters in town.”
“It’s a dying art form,” he said of the baking methods used from the beginning.
“Everything seems to be the big stores these days. And the way they bake things just isn’t the same.”
Others picked up boxes full of cannolis, gingerbread men and chocolate brownies.
Owners Jan and Don Wilke purchased Home Style Bakery in 1976 from the previous owners.
“The relationship is everything you know, you can make the best product in the world, but if you don’t have customers who appreciate it and come back,” says Jan told Western Slope Now.
“We know so many people by their first names and even the ones I don’t know by name, I know by face. So that’s a really nice feeling.”
The couple decided to close the bakery to have more time for their family.
“There are health issues in our family that need to be addressed and will take more time,” Jan told the newspaper.
Jan Wilke bought Home Style Bakery together with her husband in 1976
Customers picked up boxes full of cannolis, gingerbread men and brownies
The bakery closed its doors for the last time on Saturday
Loyal customers formed a line outside the door to pick up their favorite treats
Andrew, Jan and Don’s son, told the outlet about his fond childhood memories of the bakery.
‘My first cradle was a 140-quart mixing bowl. I grew up in the bakery.
‘I always went outside to greet everyone and at the end of the day I would crawl under the freezers to look for the coins that people had dropped.’
The move follows a series of restaurant and retail closures across the US, many due to rising food and labor costs.
Popular Italian restaurant Buca di Beppo filed for bankruptcy earlier this month, just days after abruptly closing 13 underperforming locations.
World of Beer Bar & Kitchen was named one of the fastest growing restaurant chains in the US in 2013.
This month, the company also filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, saying it owed suppliers about $50 million.
Businesses are struggling with declining sales as Americans eat out less after two years of steep price increases.