Beverly Armstrong was one of the first customers in line when Life Breads Gluten-Free Bakery opened for business on Saturday morning, April 28.
The Hampton, Illinois, woman bought a dozen gluten-free cookies – half of them chocolate chip, the other half snickerdoodle.
“I have celiac disease. So, I’m happy this bakery is here. … I live in Illinois and I don’t even mind taking the bridge to get here,” she said.
Ms. Armstrong was one of many pleased customers shopping at Life Breads at 1509 N. Harrison St., Davenport.
More than 60 people crowded into the new storefront bakery Saturday on what was the first day Life Breads was open to the public. (The bakery held a private, soft opening event a week earlier.)
Customers of gluten-free bakery goodies were shopping for cookies, loaves of bread, muffins, brownies and much more. Some of the items on the bakery menu included: “Happy Accident” white bread for $8 a loaf; English muffins – $6 for four; muffins – $24 a dozen; and cinnamon rolls – $4 each or $25 for eight.
All those items and more were popular. In fact, Life Breads was sold out of bakery items by 10:30 a.m. The bakery workers will be “baking like wizards” on Monday, May 1, to meet orders and resupply its inventory, Meg Reed, the bakery’s general manager, said on the business Facebook page.
“It’s awesome. It’s nice having all this in one location,” said Michael Averweg, president of the Quad Cities chapter of the National Celiac Association, who was one of the customers Saturday.
Before opening its storefront bakery in the Hilltop Campus Village neighborhood, Life Breads has been selling its gluten-free goodies on its website and at various farmers markets in the region.
During the public grand opening, Ms. Reed was kept busy getting the bakery ready to open. She also gave brief tours of the bakery – showing off the display cabinets of goodies and “Cat’s Corner,” a small section of the bakery showcasing a photo portrait of Catherine “Cat” Herzog, Ms. Reed’s late mother.
Ms. Herzog was one of the driving forces to open the bakery last year. That dream of opening a bakery was taking shape last August when Ms. Herzog died unexpectedly. The tragedy caused the dream to be delayed, but not denied.
During the recent soft opening of the bakery, Ms. Reed said her mother would have loved the storefront business. “It’s everything my mom would have wanted. In my head, I can hear her giggling.”
Just before Life Breads served its first customers on Saturday, Ms. Reed thanked people for showing up and supporting the new storefront.
“This is a little overwhelming. I am so happy to share it with you,” she added.
