While Three Twigs Bakery is a relatively new business, owner Emily Lewis said it had already reached the point where she had a decision to make – whether to scale back and accept fewer orders, or look for a new location to be able to expand.
“I thought about scaling back and not taking on as many weddings next year,” she said. “But I want to grow. I want to be able to take more orders, and I’m ready for something bigger. Over the last few months, it all came together.”
On Jan. 12, Three Twigs Bakery will open a retail location at 1370 Toronto Road, which was formerly home to Free Press Coffee until it closed last July. Shortly after that, Three Twigs Bakery began selling products wholesale to Free Press Coffee to sell at the South Grand and Pittsfield coffee shops. However, Lewis said that although she has built a relationship with Jane Ann Petty, owner of Free Press Coffee, it’s a coincidence that her business will now occupy the same location.
Lewis and her husband are originally from Springfield and, after a few years in Chicago, moved back in the summer of 2017. Lewis had recently started her business and wanted to be able to continue selling her baked goods.
She explained, “When I first reached out to the owners of Custom Cup in October of last year, I was just looking for a kitchen. It was sitting empty because they do coffee. Brent and Kendra use half the kitchen for sifting beans, and we use the other half. But we hit the maximum capacity in there, we can’t use any more space.”
While Lewis was reluctant to leave, she saw it as the only way to continue to grow her own business. “It’s bittersweet, because we love downtown and our partnership with Brent and Kendra. We talked about it with them, and they understood.”
“The next step came down to finances, where could we go without having to do a lot of work? We looked at (the former) JoJos, but another place got it first. We kept looking, and every building we found, we would have had to start from scratch.”
While she had initially hoped to stay in the downtown area, Lewis came to realize that the former Free Press Coffee space on Toronto Road would be an ideal set up for what she needed. “The kitchen is double the size we’re working with right now, and there’s all these hook ups for ovens,” she said. “We decided to go for it. It’s all about space, because we do a lot of special events, holiday events and weddings.”
Lewis said that by vacating the kitchen at Custom Cup, it will allow Brent and Kendra the opportunity to grow their business as well. Lewis plans to use the additional space at her new location to expand the menu, although she will keep the gluten-free and vegan items for which Three Twigs Bakery has become known.
“This past year has been a huge blessing for us,” she said. “We’re excited to see what the future holds.”
