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Steve and Margaret Suik are saying goodbye to a bakery that’s belonged to their family for more than 68 years.
After decades of serving many happy customers from across the country, the couple who owns the Wadena Bakery & Coffee Nook have made the decision to retire and sold the business.
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“We’ve had a good life here,” Steve said, while customers hurried in and out of the shop.
Steve’s father, Leo, first took over the bakery after coming to Canada from Holland, now known as the Netherlands decades ago.
The departure from the business leaves behind bittersweet feelings for Margaret, who said she was incredibly grateful to everyone who sent well-wishing messages.
“It’s very emotional,” she said.
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The bakery located about 200 kilometres east of Saskatoon has become popular, with people coming from across the country and the United States to sample some of its products.
“We’ve had someone take Boston creams over to Britain,” Margaret said.
The new owners took possession of the store on Tuesday. The Suiks will stay on as staff for the next few months to teach them some of their secrets, before hanging up their aprons for good.
The Suiks are excited to start their retirement, and is eager to sleep in a little longer, after decades of starting work at every day at 3 a.m. They also plan to go for trip across Canada with their trailer, and visit the Netherlands.
The store’s most popular item is its Boston cream doughnuts. (Gillian Massie/ 980 CJME)
A bakery secured after a flour debt settled
The Suik family first started running the store when Steve’s father Leo settled the former baker’s debts.
“The individual that had been running it had gotten into some financial difficulties,” said Steve. “In exchange for paying the former baker’s flour bill, they moved us, lock, stock and barrel from Delisle to here to take over the operation.”
His parents rented the bakery for a few years before they bought the store in 1962.
Steve said his father was a veteran in the Dutch army, and spent five years in Indonesia right after the Second World War.
“When they were on the transport ship, they put him to work in the bakery,” he said.
With his experience in the kitchen, Leo and his wife left everything behind to move to Canada.
Steve was five years old when his parents started operating the bakery.
“I spent a lot of time in here, especially once I got to be a teenager,” he said. “I worked Saturdays and summer holidays.
“I grew up in this business.”
Steve and Margaret met at high school in Wadena. After they got married, the pair lived in Saskatoon before moving back to work at the bakery with Leo.
The couple had been working for the store for 10 years when Leo decided it was time to retire.
“We bought the business from them, and never looked back,” Steve said.
Leo died in 2009, but Steve said he would be pleased to see the amount of people coming in and out of the store.
“We knew the business and what it was capable of,” he said. “I think if my dad had seen where we are today with the business, I think he would have been pretty proud.”
Rakesh and Maulik Patel said they have already learned lots from Steve and Margaret. (Gillian Massie/ 980 CJME)
New beginnings for new owners
Like Leo, Maulik Patel came to Canada looking for opportunity after running a bakery in India for three years.
Patel and his relative Rakesh, bought the Wadena Bakery seeing it had a “wonderful reputation on the market.”
“I’m very happy for the business,” Rakesh said with a smile. “It’s also it’s challenging for the us because I want to learn everything.”
After taking over on Tuesday, they are please that Steve and Margaret will stay on as employees.
“We’re doing our best to make sure that the legacy will live on, and helping the new owners to learn the business,” Margaret said. “They’ve really want to continue with what we’re doing here.”
Salted caramel Boston cream doughnuts sit on a plate. (Gillian Massie/ 980 CJME)
Doughnut diehards from coast to coast
The bakery’s apple fritters, triple chocolate chunk brownies, and Boston creams are on Marion Jackson’s list whenever she travels to the store from Ontario.
“Every time I come to visit family, I come in here because everything is excellent,” she said. “There’s no failures. It’s perfect every time.”
Steve and Margaret said by far their most popular item was their Boston cream doughnuts — something Steve said he has made a few million of over the years.
Piping filling into the doughnuts is something Margaret said she won’t miss.
“Some days it seems like they’re never ending,” said Margaret. “I’d be starting to fry 5:30 a.m. or 6 a.m. When it’s busy, we can still be finishing off around noon.
“That’s a lot of time making Boston creams.”
The doughnuts’ popularity began to soar in the mid-2010s, and then spiked during the COVID pandemic.
Some mornings, Margaret said there would be people lined up down the block just to get in line to get a taste of the doughnut.
“You kind of chuckle about it now, but it was pretty amazing,” Steve said.
While Margaret will hold onto fond memories of staff birthday parties, she’s excited to spend some time with family.
“We’d like to take the whole family on some kind of a trip somewhere, or just get together,” she said. “It’s been many years since all the kids and us have been able to get together at one time.”
Steve and Margaret Suik both say they are excited to take a trip across Canada in their trailer, and spend time with their family during their retirement. (Gillian Massie/ 980 CJME)
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