RICHMOND, Ind. – Starting a small business is never easy, and a global pandemic makes it even more difficult.
Adam and Nakyla Green did not allow themselves to be dissuaded, however. They took the opportunity and opened the bakery in downtown Richmond on December 23rd. Since then, her business has flourished.
“We put in some long hours and we still have long hours,” said Nakyla. “But I definitely think it’s worth it.” It made our dream come true. “
Just three weeks later, when The Bakery was only advertised on Facebook, the business required the purchase of a second oven and blender. And now not only have they hired the two who do all the work, three more employees.
“It went really well,” said Nakyla. “We had an expectation of what we wanted and we realized pretty quickly that we would do better. We were always very grateful that it was more than we expected.”
The bakery is open Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 817 E. Main St. and uses part of the Knollenberg building. It is closed on Monday and Thursday.
Nakyla has the most experience in the bakery and has been in the business for about 15 years. Adam worked in a factory and trained to be an auto mechanic before he started baking and found he loved it. Nakyla decorated cakes at Walmart and they both worked at the Joy Ann Cake Shop. In the bakery, Adam and Nakyla bake decorations, he said.
“She can do my job, but I can’t do hers,” said Adam.
The Greens started planning a bakery when they were still working at Joy Ann, which has since closed. They rented their part of Knollenberg for the first time in April 2019.
“We had a plan to do this for a while,” Nakyla said. “We really worked towards it. We worked 40+ hours a week to build the money, to actually get it going. We never knew whether it would actually happen, especially if COVID hit and things changed.
“We only had it so long that we just knew we had to start, so we did this last push and decided to do it the way it is.”
The bakery has boxes of cakes, cookies, cream horns, cupcakes, cannoli, and brownies. And of course the baking flavor.
Nakyla said the brownies were popular, and so were the cupcakes. The Greens like to change their offer and publish articles on their Facebook page every day.
“We like to explore different flavors, different desserts, different kinds of things,” said Nakyla. “We don’t like doing the same thing over and over, it gets kind of monotonous.”
Adam said finding the new tastes and flavors was one of the funnest parts of the job. On a final day, the cupcakes contained caramel and mint chocolate offerings while the brownies contained the flavor of a Reese.
The bakery also participates in the Wayne County Convention and Tourism Bureau’s Chocolate Walk, which leads to a variety of sweets across the county.
There are lots of sweets in the city center. Three bakeries have opened within three blocks of East Main Street. Hannahs Bakery & Cafe is located at 718 E. Main St. and Sweet Blessings is located at 625 E. Main St.
Nakyla said all three can thrive. She pointed out that Hannah has a lot of gluten-free products and Sweet Blessings has bread, jams and cakes.
“I think everyone has their own niche and there is room for everyone down here,” said Nakyla, adding that local businesses are necessary alternatives to chains and big stores. “I think our city needed it. Things are being made from scratch here, and that means a lot more to me.”
The Greens wanted their business downtown, and they liked the story of the old Knollenberg building.
“I always enjoyed the story down here,” said Nakyla. “You want to bring something back, so it’s not that bare. I just wanted to bring more life here. “
And the choice was obviously worth it. Nakyla said the support from the people on East Main Street and others in the community has been great.
“We definitely appreciate the people who came out and supported us,” she said. “They didn’t have to. We had so much support; it was great.”