If you haven’t visited downtown Holland in a while, you’ll want to stop by on the way to your next beach adventure. The quaint small town is still as delicate as you remember it, but with a new edge. Developments have lengthened 8th Street past River Avenue — all the way down to the recently renovated Civic Center — and its additions include multiple restaurants, a movie theater and The Cakabakery, a custom order and retail bake shop.
Jason Kakabaker and Peter Jacob, co-owners of The Cakabakery, had envisioned making West 8th Street their third West Michigan location for a while now. The new storefront serves cupcakes, cookies, cake by the slice, and coffee by Rowster. There’s at least one gluten-free and vegan option every day as well.
“We’ve always wanted to be part of the downtown shopping district. It’s so quaint and there’s so much traffic, and everyone is so friendly here,” Kakabaker said.
“I think our brand has been headed this direction for a while; to have two production kitchens that also have walk-in retail, plus just a stand alone walk-in retail store makes sense for us,” Jacob added.
However, downtown Holland didn’t have any vacancies for a new business for quite some time, so getting a spot in the heart of the town took more than a year of strategizing with friends and urban planners for Kakabaker and Jacob.
“The development company, as well as us, knew that Holland needed something like us here. We didn’t have coffee at this end of 8th Street until now, and we didn’t have custom sweets and desserts, so it’s a natural fit,” Kakabaker said.
Even with a new storefront, The Cakabakery has already proven its place in the area. Even during its soft opening, cookies and cupcakes couldn’t be kept on the shelves.
“I’ve been super happy with the reception we’ve gotten and the following we’ve gotten,” Kakabaker said. “I feel very lucky and fortunate that we’re successful and people love our product. It feels good when people come in everyday and spend their hard-earned money on our baked goods that we put a lot of love into.”
Love is one of the primary ingredients of The Cakabakery’s success. Whether hiring staff or providing customers with the perfect custom cakes, The Cakabakery is driven by being a business of diversity and inclusion.
“We want to be sure that we represent all types of people, that age is not a factor, that relevance is a factor, that race and sexual identities are not factors, that humanity is a factor,” Jacob said.
“We put out quality, consistent product everyday, and we connect with the community,” added Kakabaker. “We just want to be everyone’s best baker friend.”
Visit Cakabakery Near You
919 E. Fulton St., Grand Rapids
82 W. 8th St. Holland
48 E. Lakewood Blvd. Holland
thecakabakery.com
