Sweet Stop Bakery Closure Leaves Hole in Doughnut, Cookie-Loving Customers – BG Independent News

By JAN McLAUGHLIN

BG Independent News

Eight-year-old Wynn Ruffner stood on tiptoe as she searched the bakery window for her favorite: long johns filled with vanilla cream and covered in chocolate frosting on top.

“We had to come before they closed,” said Jessica Ruffner, as she and her daughters Addison, Reese and Wynn stopped at Sweet Stop Bakery in Bowling Green on Wednesday.

“We come here way too often,” said Ruffner, who often went to get doughnuts before heading to school. “We’ve loved this place since it was called Stimmels.”

The closing of the Sweet Stop on Friday will leave a hole in many stomachs in the city.

“We’re already developing a strategy” on how to fill that hole, Ruffner said.

Others waiting for treats felt the same sadness over the loss of the local bakery.

“I knew this store when it was Tyrrell’s,” Jenni Morlock said. “I just hope someone steps in and saves him.”

The owners, JENN Investments, would be happy about that too. But Jim Grames, the co-owner who operates the bakery, can no longer wait for this miracle.

The Sweet Stop opened in November 2019, hoping to preserve the traditions of Stimmels, the former store located at 1220 W. Wooster St.

The bakery survived the Covid pandemic, but continued to be bogged down by rising ingredient prices, shortages of goods and labor difficulties. Over the past two years, the store has continued to lose money, Grames said Friday morning.

“Our costs are increasing, but our revenues are not,” he said.

Running a bakery is tough, Grames said. The hours are tough and it’s hard to find people willing to work them.

“We’re just a little donut shop. I have people working 24 hours a day,” he said. ” I’m tired. I’m exhausted. »

“If anyone is interested, I would definitely sell it,” Grames said.

Bowling Green residents love baking, he added, but his health had to take precedence over pastries.

“Unfortunately, the decision had to be made,” Grames said.

A few days before the shutdown, Mayor Mike Aspacher went to the Sweet Stop to buy some treats to take home. Visits to the bakery have become a tradition for the mayor and his grandchildren, Macey and Max, when they spend the night at their grandparents’ house.

Aspacher memorized the baked goods that satisfy each family member’s sweet tooth. Max likes strawberry donuts with sprinkles, Macy prefers white donuts with chocolate frosting, and his wife Toni prefers old-fashioned glazed donuts. The mayor said he tries to avoid sugary treats himself, but in the spirit of full disclosure, Toni revealed that her husband has a soft spot for traditional whole-wheat donuts.

Her grandchildren will miss their breakfasts at the Sweet Stop, Aspacher said.

“It’s a very interesting niche business,” he said.

Maria Steiner, who comes to buy treats on special occasions, agrees. She went there earlier this week in anticipation of the store’s closing.

“We knew they were closing, so we wanted to get some before they did,” Steiner said. “These donuts are locally made and baked fresh on site.”

Steiner’s daughter, Alanna, 9, was hoping to get her favorites: doughnuts filled with blueberry and vanilla cream.

“She got the last one,” Steiner said as she and Alanna showed off their box of a dozen doughnuts.

Gene Robinson, of rural Bowling Green, who was on a mission from home, also stood in line.

“My wife sent me here to buy doughnuts,” Robinson said. “It’s kind of sad.”

Friday morning, manager Amanda Asztalos was busy finalizing the last orders at the bakery. She had previously decorated sugar cookies for a baby shower and moved on to applying buttercream frosting to a graduation cake.

Asztalos and other vendors at the store satisfied customers’ cravings, with top sellers including Bavarian cream pastries, raspberry-filled donuts, chocolate chip cookies and peanut butter cookies.

“We make everything from scratch,” she said.

Last week, Asztalos heard from customers wanting to help the store stay in business.

“They asked, ‘Can we have a fundraiser – anything that will help you stay open,’” she said.

If there had been a way, Grames would have continued to offer pastries and cookies, Asztalos said.

“He loves this place. He was trying to get by,” but on Monday he came to the conclusion that he was done, she said. “It definitely tears him apart to do this.”

Most customers are regulars, Asztalos said, as she moved the second layer of the large cake onto the first.

“We get people coming in every day and they get the same thing,” she said. She usually doesn’t know their names, but she knows their preferences, like the customer she calls “Tom Raspberry.”

While Asztalos smoothed the icing on the graduation cake, Isabel Loznao prepared cherry turnovers. For almost a year and a half, Loznao has worked at the bakery at 4 a.m.

The bakers start work at 8 p.m., then Loznao arrives in time to put the filling inside and the icing on the doughnuts – so the treats are ready by 6 a.m. for the first customers.

“I get here at 3:58 in the morning, I’m grumpy,” and I quickly get to work finishing the baked goods with no time to chat, Loznao said.

In addition to pre-orders and walk-in customers, Sweet Stop also provided pies to Brinkman’s Market and cookies for Frosty Fare’s ice cream sandwiches.

As news of the store’s closure spread, business was brisk this week, with the bakery selling out by 10 or 11 a.m. each day. One day, the store sold 12 pounds of doughnuts before 10 a.m. It was bittersweet for Asztalos, who wondered, “Where were you before?”

“She’s going to cry,” Asztalos said of his colleague Loznao as they finished the last orders in the kitchen.

“And that stain of dirt in your eyes this morning? » Loznao replied to his boss.

“I’m going to wake up Monday and be lost,” Asztalos admitted. “Were sad. Everyone is sad. It’s just a terrible, terrible thing.