LEWISTON — The Bread Shack has closed its Auburn and Lewiston locations.
The bakeries, which sold homemade bread, pastries and sandwiches, closed Tuesday afternoon. The Auburn location will open Saturday to sell its remaining baked goods.
Dara Reimers, an award-winning pastry chef, opened her first location on Center Street in Auburn about five years ago. She opened her second location on Lisbon Street in Lewiston last fall.
She said this winter’s bad weather hurt business so badly that she couldn’t recover. Revenue stayed flat, but she had two locations to support.
“It’s just too much,” she said. “I lost a substantive amount of money over the winter.”
The Bread Shack has eight employees.
Reimers expects it will take her a couple of months to close down the business completely. She is considering returning to her home state of Montana, where her aging parents live.
“I’ve been so well received in the community. The customers who have come to the Bread Shack all these years have been really appreciative and super interesting for me,” she said. “I’m going to miss everybody so much.”
Reimers rents both buildings. She is willing to sell the bakery equipment to anyone who wants to open their own shop.
Reimers will sell her remaining baked goods at the Auburn location Saturday from about 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. or 3 p.m. Gift certificates will be honored at that sale.
“We’re just going to bake off as much as we can and sell off what we can,” she said.
Cafe Bread Shack, Reimers’ second location, shared a split storefront with Rainbow Bicycle on Lisbon Street. The bike shop had tried to run its own coffee shop in the space before leasing it to the Bread Shack.
Rainbow Bicycles owner John Grenier said he will seek another tenant for the space, preferably a cafe.
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- Dara Reimers takes down the open flag at The Bread Shack on Center Street in Auburn on Tuesday after closing it for good. Reimers will have a going-out-of-business sale from 7 a.m. to 2 or 3 p.m. Saturday.
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- Surrounded by empty shelves, Dara Reimers places calls to cancel orders at The Bread Shack on Center Street in Auburn on Tuesday after permanently closing both Auburn and Lewiston locations.
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- Dara Reimers serves Sharon Kinsman, her final customer, at The Bread Shack on Center Street in Auburn on Tuesday. Reimers closed her Auburn and Lewiston shops permanently Tuesday, but will have a going-out-of-business sale from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. or 3 p.m. Saturday “The amazing products at this place have changed my life,” said Kinsman, who added that it was the “sheer pleasure” of the baked goods.
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