04/17/2026
Our bakery used to be a credit union that sat for many years vacant.
Together with our customers we turned that blank space into a tiny jewel box with sweet, delicious things and wholesome, comforting things.
To be a business is to be in public and on display.
It means smiling when you have a headache and your feet hurt.
It means knowing your neighbors and creating glimmers of joy.
It means taking the one-star review when you deserve it, and learning from it even when it burns.
It means getting pictures kiddos colored, a note saying thanks for being there because the bakery was a destination after cancer treatments, a giddy regular telling you (the first person outside their family) that they are expecting their first baby, because telling someone makes it that much more real and exciting.
There is a fine line, though, between public and private.
And that fine line includes some important boundaries.
The adage that the customer is always right is no longer true.
While it is true that a business can exist only because of its customers, customers do not earn any prerogative to treat our space as though it is theirs.
Unfortunately we had a situation at the bakery today, and one that has been simmering for a while, and if you saw it we apologize profusely to you.
Particular guests have had a habit to come and stay for a long while (we have 14 seats), and other guests are forced to take food to go.
And while community and fellowship has its place, those particular guests have had a litany of problematic behaviors that we've addressed to them, including bringing in outside food and drink (Starbucks cups, coffee mugs, and even lunch in a Tupperware container). We've had complaints from customers that these guests engaged their small children (without going through the parent) and gave them stickers. They treat our space like it is their space, with great entitlement.
Today, with a line out the door and several customers lamenting to me that they could not find a table, I encouraged this group to leave. Some did. One individual did not.
He had previously brought Starbucks and outside coffee mugs to our bakery, sometimes purchasing product and sometimes not, and I had addressed this previously. I inquired about his insulated mug today and he labored the point that it was water and that my previous requests to not bring in outside drinks were not founded because he looked up the health code (in food safety classes we learn that this is a health standards violation).
With the situation with this guest escalating, I asked Steve to come into the dining room and speak with this individual. The individual swore and yelled that we are rude and are poor business owners and that he would tell everyone he knows and through Facebook not to come ever here. He said he had been treated rudely in the past, and Steve asked, then why did you come back? He said he was never coming back. Steve told him that he had the opportunity to speak his mind and now asked him to leave. He said 'make me leave.'
We told him we'd call the police for trespassing if we need to.
He's still in the dining room now.
And so it goes.
Another guest came in a short while ago, and I asked him if there was anything else I could get for him. He said simply, 'world peace.' I told him if I had it to give, I would. He settled for a bagel and a couple loaves of bread.
And so it goes.
Again, so many apologies, and if you see denigrating statements online that need our attention, please let us know about them.
