Enchanted Bake Shoppe: Closedde for Renovationsse

Allow me to be blunt here, folks. The Enchanted Bake Shoppe was one of those downtown businesses that always left me frustrated. I’d heard some really intriguing things about it, (namely tales of how they won the GREAT CUPCAKE WAR OF 2009) yet the countless times I passed by with hopes of snagging an after meal (or even afternoon) treat I was left disappointed by a dark interior and empty looking display case.

When this sort of thing happens to me,  I start honing in on tiny nit-picky details, like how much I hate places that add extra letters to words in order to sound more magical….*cough* shoppe *cough* (This is what happens when you deprive a girl of a cupcake, people.)

Despite all this, I was more than a bit shocked to see the windows covered in paper. I hunched down and took a peek to see what was going on inside…

A peak beneath the paper

Now, having never been inside the place while it was still Enchanted, I can’t say for certain, but it looks like the walls have been painted, and is that a new floor? Regardless, it’s looking pretty sharp in there.

Having learned my lesson from 12 hours ago when I was prematurely fretting about having a Subway downtown, (no permits have been pulled so it’s not official) this time I checked in with Assistant City Clerk Rick Barber FIRST to see if he had any insight into what’s going on at 108 Washington. And he did! After renovations the bakery will reopen under new ownership and a new name.

Best of all, the word on the street (my new nickname for Rick- what do you think?) is that so far, the new owners are planning on keeping later hours to cater to the after dinner dessert seekers like me! Awesome!

IMPORTANT BUSINESS IDEA: I would like to propose some sort of arrangement between this new bakery and England’s Microcreamery where if you buy a slice of cake you can run across the street and have a scoop of ice cream plopped on top. Genius, right?

I know some of you really loved Enchanted Bake Shoppe, so before you mourn the demise of what was (by all accounts other than me) a really great business with tasty confections, chin up! Enchanted Bake Shoppe is still around and happy to take your order…it’s just moved to a less retail-oriented space. I found this explanation on their Web site:

We opened our storefront in downtown Haverhill in September of 2007. After enjoying much success there, our lease came due and proprietor Kristen Eastman felt that a change was necessary and therefor the business will be moved in May 2010 to a non-retail commercial kitchen space. Despite enjoying the daily banter with regulars, we feel that our work will be better focused on custom work and projects that can reach further than our storefront. Our focus will continue to be on quality, attention to detail and creativity. We pride ourselves on creating confections that make your guests say “WOW”. We invite you to try our products and see for yourself what everyone is talking about!

Sounds like a win-win for downtown Haverhill and dessert lovers everywhere!