Owner of specialty Lexington bakery, cafe says she’s forced to close after nearly a decade
A popular Lexington cafe and bakery known for its gluten-free treats will be closing at the end of October after nearly a decade in business.
Gluten Free Miracles owner Denise Walsh said in a post on Instagram that the shop will have to close its doors on Oct. 29.
The bakery and cafe opened in 2013 at 145 Burt Road after Walsh discovered that both she and her son, Connor, couldn’t tolerate gluten, a protein composite found in wheat and related grains.
The business was a success from the beginning, providing specialty baked goods and other items for customers with needs, including keto, vegan and paleo diets.
She said in the post that the ongoing difficulty finding employees, coupled with higher rent and production costs, are forcing the shop to close.
Walsh was not immediately available to comment.
“We used to work with 12 employees, to 14 ... now we have three,” she said. “We can’t do what we’ve always done. We have an inflation and supply chain crisis, and our rent was jacked up 162 percent. I don’t know what’s going to happen but what I do know is I can’t continue the way I am.”
She said the bakery will take custom orders for as long as they can.
“Just want to say thank you for your love and support and prayers and hope that you don’t give up on us,” she said. “When COVID hit, we had to reinvent ourselves to survive that moment. Well that’s what we’re doing now. This crisis is actually hitting us harder than COVID. And so we again are reinventing ourselves to try to survive it.”
She said they hope to be able to keep wholesale baking going through the end of the year. Her items are in Whole Foods and she’s been approached by other vendors.
And she’s looking for a commercial kitchen to use going forward that will allow her products to maintain their gluten-free standards.
She said they plan to “take a pause until we can be reinvented in a new place ... hopefully with the cafe and counter bakery. That’s where my heart is.”
This story was originally published October 21, 2022 at 11:44 AM.
