Downtown Penetanguishene is getting a bakery
Sweet Treats Factory is set to officially open its new store at 83 Main St. on Sunday.
The shop, owned by Matt MacKenzie and his wife Tara Leadbetter, will be selling brownies, cookies, scones, bagels, tarts, pies, muffins and lots of other sweet treats.
Big brownies is their signature item. That's what inspired MacKenzie to start baking when he was 15.
"My mom would bake but it was never enough for me ... I wanted brownies all the time. I learned how to do it and was doing so much that my friends would all steal them from me so I created order forms and took orders and it evolved from that," MacKenzie said.
While still in high school he baked up the name Sweet Treats Factory, made signage and worked vendor shows. MacKenzie has been running his small home-based bakery, on and off, since 2010.
In January the couple made the decision to get serious about Sweet Treats Factory.
"We put our all into it this time," said Leadbetter.
The decision came after the family of six found they had virtually no family time with MacKenzie juggling two jobs. Leadbetter suggested re-opening Sweet Treats with her input on sales and marketing.
They created Facebook and Instagram pages where they posted pictures of baked goods and started taking orders. Their home kitchen got approval from the Simcoe County District Health Unit in early February. The first venture was an offering of heart-shaped cookies for Valentine's Day.
"It exploded over Valentine's Day. We had 50 orders," said MacKenzie.
This summer, they worked the Midland and Orillia farmers' markets, got a booth at Ontario's Best Buttertart Festival in Midland and worked other festivals.
Then, Hock Stars Penetanguishene offered up a storefront to them and they got to work creating a counter service bakery.
"It's a whirlwind. It's all thanks to our customers. We just operate out of people ordering," MacKenzie said.
All the baking will continue to be done at their home and distributed at the store front. Everything is wrapped as per health guidelines. They plan on having a daily feature item so there is something new every day.
MacKenzie, who still works full-time at Boston Pizza, says he wants his new business to grow.
He's also looking forward to continuing to serve the community. Even before opening the store, Sweet Treats Factory donated 200 cookies to the Georgian Bay General Hospital. They also held a bake sale with 30 per cent of the proceeds going to the Southern Georgian Bay Air Boat Rescue Initiative.
MacKenzie will continue doing vendor shows. This Saturday he'll be at the Port McNicoll Lions Christmas Craft and Vendor Show at the Port McNicoll Community Centre.
Orders can be made through the store, over the phone, by email or through Facebook.
The store will be opens Tuesdays through Sundays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information, call 705-433-1766, email [email protected] or visit their Facebook page.