Bellingham bakery grows into this downtown storefront location

A nearly decade-old Bellingham bakery business is finally opening a storefront location.

After years of operating out of various commissary kitchens and transporting bread by bicycle, Raven Bakery will open a brick-and-mortar store on Saturday, March 11, in the Cascade Laundry Building at 205 Prospect St.

The bakery will sell whole-grain sourdough, wheat, rye and buckwheat bread. The bakery will also sell whole grain pastries including cookies, scones and shortbread.

An in-shop bread slicer will allow the owner and baker Sophie Williams to slice individual orders as they are requested. The bakery will also have an internal, grocery farmstand featuring products including eggs and vegetables from Well Fed Farms in Skagit Valley.

The bakery will be open Wednesday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Those hours may be expanded in the future depending on demand.

History

Williams started Raven Bakery in 2014, baking at night in the basement commissary kitchen at La Fiamma Wood Fire Pizza.

“I had no bakery experience. But I baked that first year and made a lot of ugly bread,” Willams said in an interview with The Bellingham Herald.

Williams sold her bread at the Bellingham Farmers Market and through personal bread subscriptions. Then, during the pandemic, she switched to contactless pickups on neighborhood front porches around town.

Now, the plan is to operate out of her storefront while continuing to sell at the farmers market.

The new building

The new bakery has taken months to prepare for opening in March. Williams has been focusing on building out the space since the city approved the final permits in November.

The building previously served as the prop room for Bellingham’s Idiom Theater.

“It was just studs. No lights, no nothing,” Williams said. “We had to build everything.”

Contractors added plumbing, sewer and drywall. Then Williams started the finish work.

“I’ve had a lot of fun. All of the finishes and pretty much all of the equipment are second-hand or refurbished or salvaged.”

Business philosophy

Raven Bakery has always been built with community and limited impact in mind.

“I’m always trying to find ways to do less harm,” Williams said. “That means paying attention to the humans in my supply chain, using bicycles and building this space all-electric.”

The menu is also built around local ingredients. Williams focuses on making products out of flours, grains and produce that is grown nearby and in season.

“We’re not starting with a product and then finding the ingredients from wherever in the world to make that product,” Williams said.